NYC 2008

http://publish.photobox.co.uk/TravelerC/New-York-Sept-2008.html

I hadn't been to the allotment for three consecutive weekends prior to this weekend as we went to New York for an Autumn break.
Our recent trip to New York city was going to be the trip of a lifetime; I had never been there before and M hadn't been since he was 18 in 1964 . He was there at the time of the World's fair and there are photographs to prove it; but not on this slide show. However; our trip was marred somewhat by a ghastly bug I picked up on the plane; I was ill for the whole time we were away. Nevertheless we still managed to do a lot but, site seeing was a something of a trial rather than a pleasure. Having said all that I loved New York and really want to go back.
We were lucky enough to go to Queen's, M's cousin lives here and he took us on an extensive tour on our first day in NYC. he took us to see the Queen's Botanical Garden; not as well known as the Bronx Botanical Gardens; but no less interesting for all that. The entrance is a wonderful sculpture of a tree to commemorate the 9/11 disaster victims; we had our picture taken here. The gardens were quite extensive and were divided into different areas; notably there was an allotment for Seniors, quite a lot smaller than a full size allotment that we are used to. There was a separate area for wedding photographs and there was a research centre too. We saw squirrels scampering about in the trees and an abundance of insects including the biggest bees I have ever seen.
We saw New York at ground level, walking, from a bus and by boat, and aerial views from the top of the Empire state building and other high vantage points. On the second day we saw "Ground Zero" both from the water when we took a boat trip and also from the land when we went downtown by bus. On subsequent days we visited The Met, The Guggenheim and MOMA museums of art. We went shopping in Macy's Bloomingdales and Sak's.
I took as many pictures as I could and some of them turned out OK; the best ones I have made into a Tableau and slide show which can be viewed either by clicking here or on the title or the link.
As I came back ill from NY; I wasn't able to go down to the allotment for about three weeks. in spite of this it wasn't too bad when I went this Sunday as people had been very kind and looked after it for me, also it is quite near the end of the season too so there isn't much going on. A friend visited me from York and she gave me a hand getting barrow loads of the municipal compost that had been delivered in the week for communal use. You have to get in quick, otherwise it's gone before you look round. It is marvelous stuff and is a really good soil improver; essential for my extremely heavy clay soil. One of the things I aim to try is a no dig system; for this loads of compost is required every year.