Off Harrow Road, 20th June 2011

Some have been close to home, none had been this close to work before. I let the door slap happily shut behind me as I left into the rain, and before I'd even stretched out my umbrella I spotted this, sat hymenopteran beneath a car in the modest car park. It was small, shadowed and sorry, but I love it regardless, and was very glad the overhanging roof provided shelter for the shot.

Magdalen Road, 19th June 2011

Another gift! High on the telephone wires in a corner of London soon to be left by the sender, my might-as-well-be-brother-in-law. Will these last longer here than he does..?

Off Av. 5 de Outubro, Olhao, Portugal, 4th June 2011

A busy morning at the market, which means this shot may need a bit of a longer look than most. We'd stocked up on fish and were easing into the morning with a coffee when this rolled into view. Unlike most, its origin was clear - on a pedestal not ten metres away stood a tall man dressed in a tight white cloak with a white-painted face, clutching a handful of balloons that he was handing to children. There were a few of those living statue people around too, standing very still in metallic-painted clothes and skin to attract children and their Euro cents, so he may have been part of that odd band, or unrelated, but whatever, he had a fair few balloons.

The children, and there were many, lost interest in their balloons quickly after having been handed them, and that and the sea breeze made it very likely there'd be an escape. I had my camera out ready for this, feigning interest in architecture and swallows to my companions, until one rolled and bounced away and into the crowds. It didn't last long, under their tables and feet.

Wellington Street, 3rd June 2011

A second grounded yellow in a row, but I didn't take this one myself, and I was a long way south of the scene at the time. So thanks then to my mother, whose enthusiasm for this whimsy evidently knows as few bounds as my own.

I've also just noticed that this is the 100th grounded balloon. Mercy. I don't know whether to salute the pavilion or just weep. That's in just shy of six years. How long before 200, then..?

Off Harrow Road, 26th May 2011

Another leap off a bus, this time only one stop early, but I was only going to work and was in no danger of being late, so it was hardly that big a deal. It would have seemed a lot more annoying had I not got it though - I had time for one snap only before a small gust took it behind the wall to its right here, and with no way into the estate past the tough-looking barriers, my angles were gone and it remained out of sight until I decided to walk to the office.