Reston Multi-Cultural Festival

A very warm day today and we went to Reston MultiCultural Festival at Lake Anne.  The first part of the day was a Naturalisation Ceremony for a number of people who were becoming American citizens.  Each was presented with their certificate having taken the Oath of Allegiance.  Above, this lady is singing 'God Bless America', at the end of the ceremony - after which white doves were released.

There were many stalls around the lake demonstrating traditional crafts and games from different countries ..

...and encouraging participation of those from other cultures in voting, volunteering and community life.

As ever on a warm day the fountain looked very appealing.

We had some lunch and watched and listened to a very talented A Cappella singing group from Baltimore, Maryland.

The festival was due to run until 6pm with many different musical and dance performances.  We moved on to Trader Joe's to do our shopping.

Sunset, Sunrise

Last night there was a beautiful pink sunset in a mainly clear sky.

This morning started early for me - 4 o'clock alarm for a 5.15 bus to Heathrow.  As the sun rose over the M4 during our journey, the fields alongside the motorway were all shrouded in mist, after a clear, cold, night.

Visiting Pheasant

In between the rain showers today a handsome cock pheasant visited the garden.

The colours and patterns of his damp feathers were just beautiful..

He wasn't that keen on being photographed and soon strutted off..

Hydrangea Mania!

It seems that hydrangeas are becoming more and more popular both as a garden plant, houseplant and even as cut flowers.  There are so many different varieties and colours.

Today in the cut flower section of Marks & Spencer in Bath they had bunches of named varieties of Hydrangea.  These first two photos show two different bouquets of 'Rodeo Purple Classic'.

This colourful bouquet was labeled as 'Ruby Red Classic'.  Both very colourful varieties and probably quite long-lasting flowers.

Flowery Phone Box

Now that we all carry a mobile phone with us at all times, I suppose the iconic red British phone box is now rather an endangered species.

Many villages seem to have retained them as mini-libraries and I have also seen them housing emergency equipment such as defibrillators.

Rather more frivolously, in Bath city centre, several have been turned into floral displays..

This is in the Southgate area of the city and, as you see, the parasol installation has also returned for a second year.

Village Show

It is many years since we have attended the Annual Horticultural Show in Shillington but Saturday happened to be the day and as we were there, we called in to see what had changed.

It was much as I remembered it with spectacular dahlias, chrysanthemums and of course vegetables..

There were some very well trained and straight cucumbers and beans!

Handsome specimens in all the classes!

The children's class for an animal made from vegetables had some interesting entries..

And the baking sections of the Show were obviously popular, even in the 'Culinary Mishap' category (how do you plan for that?)

Evening Walk on Sunday

After enjoying a lovely lunch in a local village pub/restaurant with David's parents, sister and brother in law and elder nephew,  we had a quiet afternoon at home with all the family.

In the early evening with a break in the rain showers, we decided to talk a short walk around the village.

At the top of the hill, the light in the churchyard was low and quite atmospheric..

The colour of the light was very different looking towards the setting sun and bathed in its warm glow..