Riverside abodes
It was a quiet Saturday without Kakak at home. She has been spending her girlie nights at a friend's place in London since Thursday [it's Easter school holiday over here]. Adik was bored and restless; there was no Kakak to annoyed and cartoons on tv weren't that entertaining. So, I decided to take an afternoon stroll with her along the River Thames; a few steps away from our home.First I noticed was, there wasn't any bread-thrower as normal at the riverbank.... a clear sign of how nervous we all are of the bird flu/H5N1 that has indeed landed on our shore recently....
And these Queen's swans must be wondering... what's happening to their daily hand-delivered (expired) bread... poor them. As soon as we came to the water edge, they simultaneously swam to us, as they normally do.Unfortunately, I was concerned too... and left my expired bread at home; not today swans, sorry.
Last Saturday, we had the honour to be visited by a celebrity couple, KT and AG, who came to our neck of the wood... courtesy of their love one who packed them for a young-again weekend at the nearby riverside village of Pangbourne, the home of 'The Wind in the Willows' author. KT mentioned about those jaw-dropping private dwellings along the River Thames at the village; with their immaculate gardens and own moorings. Indeed there are many such abodes along the riverbanks. So, I invited them to explore the Thames closer when the river cruise re-commence (they operate between easter until october). From my place, we could either go upstream towards Pangbourne/Goring, or downstream to Henley. I promise, I'll pack a few 'kelosong' of nasi lemak provided AG bring along some 'khepok leko'.
Nevertheless, when I strolled Adik upstream earlier this afternoon, I managed to take a few snaps of such abodes. Here are some of them:
and I particularly adore this one:
It's indeed the newest among these houses. If you notice, there's an orange windsock on the left hand side... simply because the owner, a property developer, commutes with his own small helicopter; a mobile helipad is stationed above the swimming pool on the left, with a little guesthouse in the background.
.... and when the sun started to come down, we headed home, with Adik peacefully fast asleep in her buggy, leaving the swans and ducks to wonder: when will their regular feeders return.
posted by Atok @ 11:45:00 pm
