about JohnH
Sorted, fit. Current activities are photography, hiking, motorbiking, trail biking, music, geology/geoscience, dinner-at-home, travel and more.
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Christmas decorations at Gémenos near Marseille
Wishing a Merry Christmas 2023 and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2024 to all my Friends and Followers
Christmas and the end of another year and time to look forward to 2024. 2023 has been a mixed year, there were some real high points but I’ve had a fight keeping my garden in Keswick sensibly trim. And I had to fight to keep my toy after a car reversed in to me on the bike near Mont Blanc. But a lot of other fun in between.
Sincere thanks to everyone who has followed, critiqued and commented on what I post online.
Merry Christmas!
Here are half a dozen highlights from 2023
- Snow hike in Keswick
- Aiguille du Midi (3842 m.) - Mont Blanc
- Route de la Bonette (2802 m.): cols du Restfond (2680 m.) & Bonette (2715 m.)
- Logan Botanic Garden - Rhins of Galloway
- Farleigh damson - Keswick
- Marseilleveyre - Parc National des Calanques
- Les Oules du Diable (Devil’s Cauldron) - Valgaudémar
Lounge-wear and a black Corsa, is this the future? Whatever happened to “Live to ride - ride to live”, #rideallyear and #allyearbiker ? Or even “If you want to get about, get a bike”. Is this where it all leads when motorbiking is no longer practicable? Will it be a Corsa or a Harley? Or just a Senior Railcard and Freedom Bus Pass?
Photo with this week’s hired Corsa, the 1199cc go-faster version.
First fruit on Terry’s banana grove in Preston Park, Brighton. The tree’s less than ten years old and this summer is the first time we have seen fruit.
August is a classic month to prune Wisteria, this one’s been here in West London since the Sixties and is pretty vigorous. I alternate where I prune it most radically: this year it’s the turn of the branches nearest the house, which clears the area for the latest house painters, expected this week.
Relocating Terry’s tree fern, it was a birthday present about 25 years ago but it’s not been happy in the ground in his back garden in Brighton. It seems Dicksonia antarctica do draw from the soil, unlike most other tree ferns. Further, Brighton soil is alkali, due to the underlying limestone but Dicksonia antarctica prefer neutral or acidic soil. So we’ve replanted it in neutral compost in a pot and also moved it to a location which is less exposed to the wind.
