Southwark Park and King's Stairs Gardens

Sundays can be lazy, but they can also be days spent walking along one of the world's most famous rivers. Although polluted beyond all recognition, the Thames is still quite lovely as it paints a path through many famous landmarks throughout the city of London. One can walk for hours along that river with no lack of interesting sightings. The other day I ventured to Canada Water area for no other reason than curiosity about the name. Southwark Park was a pleasant surprise, along with the incredible amount of birds and ducks about. Beyond the park was the King's Stairs Gardens which also boasted unique trees and wildlife. Tower Bridge was were I unexpectedly ended up and although I had already seen it before it was fantastic to be able to spend over five hours walking (in the dead of winter) and end with a sight like that!

Nothing Gold Can Stay

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay."

-Poet Robert Frost

Homemade (Christmas) Decorations

Making your own decorations sounds like something out of a Martha Stewart book but I assure you it is something I found quite accidentally on the streets of Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. If you look closely you will notice the ingredients being used are oranges (or any citrus fruit), berries, pasta, and nuts. The secret is not just to dry the ingredients, but in some cases cook them and then dry them. I'm not pretending to know everything about the process but it seems like a quick online search can provide instructions for just about anything these days. The ones pictured were taken throughout the Christmas holidays but the decorations can naturally be made anytime for any occasion.