Elgin Avenue, 20th May 2011

I was tempted to add a new category, "binned", but decided against it. I was waiting for a bus when this appeared from nowhere and bobbled around the feet of my fellow commuters. I tried a snap but it was eclipsed by a lady's legs, before being picked up by an elderly gent with white hair, a beige suit and a drinker's hands. I first thought he was going to crush it, but instead he merely picked it from the paving and placed it in the bin. Or tried - at first it bounced off the rim and rebounded to his chin, but his second attempt with no more malice saw it in place. I snuck around the back of the bus shelter and snapped it just as my 31 arrived.

Gaisford Street, 14th May 2011

I'd only left the flat for a local haircut, a mere few steps away from my door, but I was glad I took my camera as this yellow was wedged under a big 4x4 near the foot of the road. At least I'd thought it was wedged, so squeezed it looked, yet when I emerged shorn several minutes later it had gone, with no sign of movement from the behemoth above it.

Kings Arms Court, 13th May 2011

We weren't meant to be here, but my poor knowledge of this corner of East London saw us get off the tube at the wrong stop, en route to see a friend's band. I was darting looks up all the alleys to try to get my bearings, and although I hadn't fully got them by this stage, this small white at least provided a welcome distraction from my muttered "I'm sure it's this way"s. We made it eventually, although I wasn't ever 100% sure.

Coincidentally like the last, Google Maps doesn't show Kings Arms Court on its street map. I know it exists as I took a photo of the alley sign to remind me, but on the street map there's nothing, and I had to drag along the main road on streetview to locate it exactly. It is a staggeringly wonderful tool, but the last two show it's not totally reliable. Still a lot better than my knowledge of East London, though.

Grand Union Canal, 2nd May 2011

A second that day, and a third in a canal in a row. This wasn't far from the last, a short walk down the Paddington Basin arm of the canal. Oddly, Google Maps doesn't appear to show that arm on its map, although it's plainly visible on the satellite view, so it'll look a trifle odd when the map next to this floating example shows nothing but dry land.

Little Venice, 2nd May 2011

It may not look afloat, but that is water there beneath it, albeit water completely covered in dead cherry blossom and fallen leaves. Little Venice was hosting a canal cavalcade this day, which was a riot of old-school whimsy aimed mainly at children, and the balloon wasn't out of place alongside bunting, Punch & Judy and some energetic elderly Morris dancers. The ale tent was more my speed, before the amble continued.