Last Blog of the Year 2018 Part 2

Photos from the second half of the year, above is the reflection of Walmer Castle on the pond in the Queen Mothers Garden, taken on a calm  October afternoon.

JULY

Just a few of the beautiful flowers in pots, in part of my garden :)

An amazing Atrium in one the buildings in the Discovery Park, Sandwich. 

The local Sailing Club out in force on a lovely day.

AUGUST

Above and below, two beautiful blooms in Walmer Castle Garden.

SEPTEMBER

Canon trained on the sea, just in case of invasion!! Walmer Castle, built by Henry V111 in 1539. One of three castles built by Henry in the area (Sandown, Deal and Walmer) to protect the Downs in the English Channel.

One of my lovely cats, Loki, enjoying some sun in the garden. The washing basket is obviously very comfortable :)

Decorated trees in St Peter's Garden, Sandwich. They looked lovely :)

OCTOBER

A perfect Dahlia in my garden, I had lots this year, they make the garden very colourful in October :)

Sunrise from my usual spot on my way to work in Sandwich. The mist hovering on the ground made it so beautiful.

NOVEMBER

A favourite place for lots of people to sit for a few minutes in St. Peter's Church Garden, the gate on the right leads into the 'secret' part of the garden :)

The wonderful Viking Ship 'Hugin' at Pegwell Bay on a very cold and windy day in November. The Hugin was a gift from The Danish Government in 1949 to commemorate the arrival 1500 years earlier of Hengist and Horsa, leaders of the Anglo-Saxon invasion. The boat is a modern replica, and was rowed from Denmark to Broadstairs by 53 Danes. When we were young the shields were all different colours, which personally I preferred, but it is still lovely.

DECEMBER

Part of our Christmas Tree this year, more of a memory tree than anything with lots of hand made decorations :)

My lovely cat Loki, posing next to my Christmas Azalea :)

That is my year in photos, it is always hard picking which ones I will include in these two blogs, but it will hopefully give you a small taste of my life :)  Onwards to new photos in 2019 :)

Merry Christmas 2018

Pugin's Church, St. Augustine's R.C. Church, Ramsgate Kent. Part 1

St Augustine's Church  was the personal church of Augustus Pugin, and is situated in Ramsgate, next to Pugin's home The Grange, shown to the left of the Church of the photo.

The Church was started in 1846, and sadly, Pugin died in 1852, before it was finished. His sons completed the work and the project was finally roofed in 1849, although further work has been carried out since then.

I have driven past this Church many times, the front of the Church is on one of the main roads into Ramsgate, and is enclosed by a tall stone wall together with The Grange, Pugin's house, so is not obvious from the road. The view above is from the back of the Church, which faces the sea and shows part of the Churchyard.

Looking from the Nave towards the Chancel and the High Altar, showing the beautiful Rood Screen. As it was Lent when we visited this beautiful building, the statues are all covered.

The crucifix above the Rood Screen, also showing part of the lovely ceiling.

The High Altar in The Chancel.

The Organ Gallery in the Chancel.

The baptismal font in The Nave.

The Lady Chapel with Pugin's stained glass window above.

One of the beautiful doors leading into the Lady Chapel.

The Garth (small garden) surrounded by enclosed Cloisters.

Above and below are two of the Gargoyles (water spouts) in the Garth.

A beautiful ceiling in one of the Chapels in the North Cloister.

Looking through to the North Cloister from one of the small Chapels.

 The following photos show the amazing carvings of The Stations of The Cross which are situated on the North wall of the Cloisters.

This is an amazing sight, the painted carvings were made in 1893, this and the two chapels in this cloister were finished by Pugin's son, as Pugin died in 1852.

The Shrine of St. Augustine, which holds a relic of St Augustine. 

St Austine's Shrine was originally in St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury which was dissolved in 1538 as part of The Reformation, when most of the Saints body and his Shrine were destroyed. A small piece of bone belonging to the Saint was moved to its present position in 2012.

The Altar in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, originally this was in Pugin's House, note the beautiful tiles. 

Pugin's Church, St. Augustine's R.C. Church, Ramsgate, Kent. Part 2.

An effigy of Augustus Pugin in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, Pugin and other members of his family are buried in a vault underneath this Chapel.

No dog for Pugin to rest his feet on, two doves instead, a lovely idea :)

Part of the carved marble behind Pugin's effigy.

Tiles in the Pugin Chantry Chapel, which I believe shows the Pugin Crest.

Examples of some of the beautiful tiles to be found in the church.

Part of the Augustine window in the Pugin Chantry Chapel.

Pugin's stained glass window above the High Altar in the Chancel. 

Another part of the Augustine window in the Pugin Chantry Chapel.

Gorgeous stained glass 

Memorial plaques in the Pugin Cancery Chapel. Pugin and various members of his family are buried in a vault underneath the Chapel.

Memorial to Pugin's son, it looks as if there should have been a few more details about his wife?

A silver candle holder.

Pew end carvings on the Choir Stalls in the Chancel.

A wonderful brass memorial 

We had a great time looking round this wonderful church, the next time Pugin's house is open to the public my friend and I intend to visit it :)

Beijing - Houhai

Houhai is not far from where my daughter lives, Houhai means 'rear lake' and is a popular place with locals and visitors.

The streets leading down to the lake are full of really lovely shops, brilliant for buying all the presents. The shop above had amazing jewellery :)

So pretty :) I particularly love the little boy in the photo below, trying to post his letter :)

Yes the young lady is wearing a wedding dress with a denim jacket. Before the actual wedding ceremony the couple dress in their finery and have 'pre-wedding' photos taken in a pretty place. The dress the bride is wearing in this photo is not the one she will wear for her wedding. We saw two or three couples having their photos taken in this area, I think it is a lovely idea.  

Looking towards the main lake from the bridge. We were on our way to one of the lovely restaurants for food :)

Tourist boat trips :)

Another photo looking towards the main lake, can you see the crocodile in the front of the photo? It is of course a stone one, with a matching one on the other side of the canal, both were fenced off, but I am not sure why.