Chandos Place, 19th April 2009

Back in London later that afternoon, but there was no let-up. It was a rare moment of being incommunicado, as my phone battery had died immediately after my arrival back in London. I was meeting friends for dinner but the plan was on a text message and I only had a vague memory of where we were meeting - I knew the restaurant began with "W" and the street had a "Chandos" in it.

Hopefully, I wandered to the Chandos part of town looking out for a restaurant beginning with "W". I was walking idly looking up, and there suddenly was a red bunch hanging in my eyeline. So mentally fixated on Ws and dead phones was I that I very nearly forgot to take a photo, but fished my bar camera from my pocket to grab the day's fourth sighting.

Even better, I ran into my friends, or vice versa anyway. I'd just taken my gaze down from this cluster when I was hailed from across the road. They were loitering outside the restaurant, and had seen a man taking photos of balloons. One said to me, "We were wondering what someone was doing taking a photo of balloons when I twigged it was you". That made me smile as much as finding them.

Incidentally, the restaurant was called Wahaca, and decent it was too.

George Street, Oxford, 19th April 2009

So it was getting more surprising by now - there haven't been many hat tricks, and to see three balloons in a couple of hours is a rare thing indeed. Only that ludicrous day in London matches this, then, and that was a festive retail party around the country's busiest shopping street, not a shires town on a Sunday afternoon.

I'd been thinking that London must be covered in balloons for me to see them so often. Perhaps it's not just London, perhaps it's the whole country? How many balloons are out there?

Off Queen Street, Oxford, 19th April 2009

And I wasn't even that surprised to see a second a few minutes later. Some days just have such a public feeling of bonhomie and celebration that balloons are inevitable, and few things bring out public joy in England than a sunny spring day.

More surprising is that this street, this square indeed, isn't marked on Google Maps. I don't know Oxford well so I don't know the name of the square, but I know where it was on a map, and if you have a look at the map you'll see the area has no name, and that even streetview shows a building site. A new square then. Its makers would be happy I'm sure, as it was bustling and cheery.

Queen Street, Oxford, 19th April 2009

A rare foray outside London, celebrating both the marriage and pregnancy of some old schoolfriends, but this red heart balloon was nothing to do with us. It was a glorious spring weekend and spirits were high across the sun-drenched town, and there was a balloon air about the place. I wasn't overly surprised when I saw this, then, but it was still a joy.

Brixton Road, 16th April 2009

My inability to get out of bed compelled me to take the tube to work, and I was steeling myself for a viewless commute when this blue brightened my journey.

And yes those are my feet in the background - quite what I'm doing with them I don't know.

Strathleven Road, 12th April 2009

Among the front-runners for the most deflated balloon, I had to tread on this one to confirm its status: diminutive but entire. It was a grey, calm and mild Easter Day, which in the absence of both faith and egg-appreciation passed like any other Sunday. For all their usual festive work it seems balloons have never been big at Easter, so I suspect this was just a random, and it's safe to say it wasn't resurrected.

Barry Road, 9th April 2009

It had been a couple of weeks, which after the rich seam of the winter was a surprising wait. Perhaps inflatable decorations just don't do the job when people are on a natural high due to light evenings and soft-leaved trees. Whatever, this sturdy blue was a welcome sighting.

It was the first time I'd ever been to this corner of London too, visiting friends who'd just moved to the area. I'd just arrived and they were in the pub behind me, so they didn't see me snap this on my way in. I didn't want to keep them waiting, of course, and it was just a happy coincidence that the passing van matched the salt box in that fleeting moment.