doomedballoons

Strand on the Green, 20th November 2011

2011-11-22T01:37:00.006Z

When the seasons change, I hope for a balloon that will reflect it. When it snows I crave the snowbound, in summer I desire them atop sharp deep shadows and when it's spring I want, I dunno, crocuses or daffodils or something. Anyway, in autumn, this is pretty much the ideal shot. I leapt.

I was on a Sunday morning stroll westwards along the river, my first Sunday stroll for a while, and they've served me well before. This time, oddly like the last, London was submerged beneath fog, so dense that for much of our amble the opposite riverbank was invisible. But the sun came out for this and for lunch, and illuminated balloon, leaves and a tasty pie. We stayed in the pub all afternoon while the fog descended again, and left to haloed streetlights, giggling and car crashes.

La Rochelle harbour, from Quai Louis Durand, France, 12th October 2011

2011-11-19T17:25:00.004Z

Always nice to see them away from London. These two were floating in a channel of the harbour, to which it's connected by the large doors behind. The light was just fading so this was a stroke of luck, as they all are. Although these were seen over a month ago, there's been nothing since. I've missed chances though. London is getting darker every day, which doesn't make it easier to spot them. I hope for a change of fortunes soon...

Pancras Road, from 214 bus, 8th October 2011

2011-11-19T17:09:00.005Z

Not the prettiest shot, but it's been a while since I've got one in flight, so it made me smile. It was taken more than a month earlier than the upload date too - for shame! Well what can I say, it's been busy...

Off Fairfax Road, from 31 bus, 22nd September 2011

2011-09-27T00:14:00.004+01:00

You go a day shy of five months without a balloon from a bus, then there's two in a week. A different route to work , and one beset by diversions and roadworks. At least I didn't have to get up for this one.

Kentish Town Road, from 134 bus, 16th September 2011

2011-09-27T00:00:00.003+01:00

A fleeting shot this, and oddly the first from a bus for a while - it's not like I've been using them any less recently. I'd barely taken my seat when I saw this, and as I wasn't at the front I had to rise quickly again to get it.

Kentish Town Road, 16th August 2011

2011-08-25T02:36:00.003+01:00

This metal cage is the covering to an abandoned stairwell down to what used to be South Kentish Town tube station, which closed in 1924. It is now a pit collecting litter, while the beautiful building across the road, which was once the ticket office, is now a branch of Cash Converters.

I walk past this spot most days, and with more than a passing interest - in the spring I surreptitiously hung a hanging basket from the central strut above these bars, which has bloomed profusely all summer with red Impatiens (at least when I've watered it enough). This time I was wandering home from an abortive attempt at exercise with my flatmate, and we'd stopped to pour the contents of our water bottles into the soil. He is far taller than I am (I stuck a bottle to a stick for when I had to water it alone), so while he was drenching the basket unaided, I watched on and around and noticed this yellow below, matching the plasticked chain and the sign beneath. The plant flowers still, although surely not for much longer, for London grows autumnal, and Impatiens does not.

St Andrew's School, West Moorings, Trinidad & Tobago, 14th August 2011

2011-08-25T02:07:00.009+01:00

From very close to work to very far afield: another gift from the Caribbean - thanks again Luna! Here's how:

"I attended a Family Day hosted by an NGO called Macaroni Kid Trinidad. It is a website and e-newsletter for parents across Trinidad and Tobago which promotes the idea of “Family First” by highlighting opportunities for families to reconnect via activities, events and local attractions. Instead of lamenting our social ills and blaming “the demise of the family”, they aim to do something positive to change the world we're leaving to our children. It was an amazing fun filled day, with tons of stuff for kids and adults alike. There were wet and dry bouncy castles, face painting, arts and crafts, games, food, live bands, and nature exhibits with live animals. My favourite part of the day was when they let loose onto the field 110 bouncy balls! The kids really enjoyed that. As with most kid related events, by the time evening fell and it was time to go home, the inevitable doomed balloon was spotted. At the back of one of the school buildings, next to the car park and sullied by dirty water a forlorn purple balloon sat. This balloon wasn't making it home with a kid."

Indeed not, but you found it and so so did I. It can't have crossed the mind of whoever inflated it for decoration that day that it would end its tumescent life in a gutter, on a camera and then blogged thousands of miles away. Random happiness amidst the chaos around us both.

Off Harrow Road, 1st August 2011

2011-08-25T01:54:00.004+01:00

I thought a short few days ago that I'd never see one closer to work than this one. I was wrong. This is only closer by a few metres, but those few metres again would have placed it inside the office itself. Another one of those coincidences then, two in the forecourt in a fortnight. I've worked there since I started this blog, and a long time before that too - curious.

Regents Canal, Camden, 20th July 2011

2011-07-26T19:28:00.004+01:00

A rare gift and a rarer grey, although the canals are proving productive recently. Although this is less than a mile from my flat, and was taken by one I see as much as realistically possible, I wasn't there to take it myself. I'm delighted by the consideration, as ever.

Kentish Town Road, 18th July 2011

2011-07-20T23:23:00.003+01:00

It never rains but it pours, as they say, and it was pouring this day. The recent glut makes the old adage work metaphorically and literally: three in four days after a long drought, although London is in anything other than a drought at the moment.

Regents Canal, from Kentish Town Road, 17th July 2011

2011-07-20T23:15:00.004+01:00

I didn't even notice this small deflated example at first, I was admiring the streaks of algae in the canal by the lock. So it was a bonus one really, and yet another example of a canal-bound blue. What is it about the canals that attracts blue balloons..?

Off Gaisford Street, 15th July 2011

2011-07-20T21:16:00.005+01:00

Summer's usually a good time for balloons, but it had been almost a month balloonless before I saw this, just metres from my flat on the way to work. The building in whose forecourt it lies is oddly incongruous on this street, looking more like a dilapidated French apartment block than a delapidated North London townhouse like the rest. Perhaps a bomb landed there during the war? It would be easier to find that out than the origin of this balloon, but at the time of writing I know neither.

Off Harrow Road, 20th June 2011

2011-06-21T00:13:00.004+01:00

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

2011-06-21T00:01:00.006+01:00

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

2011-06-16T00:55:00.005+01:00

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

2011-06-16T00:42:00.006+01:00

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

2011-06-16T00:33:00.004+01:00

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.

Elgin Avenue, 20th May 2011

2011-05-26T00:56:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-26T00:49:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-26T00:21:00.006+01:00

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

2011-05-11T01:16:00.003+01:00

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

2011-05-11T00:55:00.003+01:00

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.

Regent's Canal, off Regent's Park, 11th April 2011

2011-04-17T14:07:00.004+01:00

Not the most tumescent balloon, but at least it was floating on a fetching smear of colours. It was another sunny afternoon in a glorious April, but the clouds grew as the day passed, from small puffy heaps to looming grey towers, and the rain inevitably followed. Stormy summer rain though, not the featureless sweeps of drizzle that sap the soul.

Denmark Hill, from 68 bus, 9th April 2011

2011-04-17T13:54:00.005+01:00

A hot spring day and a hot bus home, too hot to be comfortable anywhere other than flat on my back in the garden, which was still a long way from here. This blue dodged crowds and cars and provided temporary respite from tedium on the journey, but the stifling traffic and miles to go made it a brief joy indeed.

Damrak, Amsterdam, 2nd April 2011

2011-04-17T13:36:00.004+01:00

Not one of the prettier parts of Amsterdam, and scarcely a surprise any more to see an orange balloon, but everything's a joy in that city, and it had been a balloon-free March, so this was doubly pleasing. The place has never let me down, for balloons or anything else. Bliss.

Regent's Canal, west of Islington Tunnel, 27th February 2011

2011-02-28T21:04:00.004Z

Another waterbound blue, the other side of the tunnel, about the same distance from the exit as the previous was from the entrance (the way we were headed anyway). You can't walk through the tunnel - perhaps it was literally strewn with blue balloons and I saw just the outliers.

Regent's Canal, east of Islington Tunnel, 27th February 2011

2011-02-28T20:44:00.009Z

Another Sunday, another stroll, another balloon floating in a waterway... this was adorned with white 5s so I guess some child of 2006 enjoyed it in its pomp. Trapped between barge and quay and matching the former with flair, I enjoyed it too.

River Thames, from Thames Path near Charlton, 20th February 2011

2011-02-22T20:09:00.004Z

A fittingly grey scene for the last of the eastward mosey. We were headed for the Thames Barrier, which spans the river between silvered pods that looked futuristic in the 80s just to the right of this shot. No angle for inclusion presented itself, though, so the drab block on the other bank has to suffice.

Four in one day is pretty rare, but I don't often venture to this side of town, so perhaps it's not too unusual round here. The prevailing wind would certainly dump the city's free balloons this way, as would the ebbing tide. That could explain the glut, or it could just have been pure chance. Next time I come this way I'll have a better idea.

River Thames, from Thames Path near Greenwich, 20th February 2011

2011-02-22T19:53:00.005Z

It's all true. The marketing people at Gap took one look at the site visits for this blog, then drove a truckload of money up to my flat, with the balloon. "Put it where you want, just make sure you can see the logo", they said, scooping great wads of £50 notes into a sack on my doorstep.

Not really, they'll never know or care. Anyway, it's either an old or a very new balloon: they changed their logo at great expense over the new year, but hadn't realised that so many people loved the old one (or hated the new), and reverted back to this at doubtless substantial cost a week later. I imagine balloons printed with the short-lived replacement logo will fetch a tidy sum from short-lived logo balloon collectors in a few years.

River Thames, by Greenwich Pier, 20th February 2011

2011-02-22T19:32:00.003Z

And there's the next easternmost. I've never known pea green be the colour of lovers, apart from the Owl & The Pussycat, so unlike the last I suspect this is a random. It was a very grey day and even this small splash of colour was a rare treat, so I waited a short while to see if it would drift any closer to complement the algae-stained walls. Alas it remained obstinately distant while my friends got more distant themselves, so I contented myself with a wide shot of the monumental buildings of the Royal Naval College (which, I found while looking up what they are, is apparently a UNESCO World Heritage Site - my my).

Borthwick Street, 20th February 2011

2011-02-21T19:40:00.003Z

There's usually something of a glut around Valentine's Day, but this year I thought had passed without a sighting. And then these. I was on a long, grey and industrial walk eastwards along the Thames, unfamiliar territory, and these fitted the scene perfectly. Quite how the white survived the metal gate being closed on top of it I don't know, I can only imagine its deflation left it flexible enough to yield rather than resist. The decorated red was bound by ribbon to its pinned companion, and could go nowhere with the white so secured.

It had been a barren couple of weeks since the last, and I was delighted to see these, my most eastward in the UK at the time. I wasn't expecting the eastmost record to be broken three times in the next two hours.

From Richmond Hill, 30th January 2011

2011-01-31T00:51:00.005Z

It had been the first bright clear day for a while, so we'd been out tramping the park enjoying the light and the first bright hint of spring, then watching the sun set from the pub best placed to watch it that I know. Thin high clouds caught the last rays and I was taking photos anyway when a friend pointed this one out to me as it headed oddly westward against the spectacular sky.

The tags caused some musing. Aloft it was, but it was almost certainly not black, although in that light against that sky and from that distance any photon of hue hit a rod not a cone, and a dark silhouette it remained. And sunless or not? The sun had a few minutes before sunk below the spinning world, but that tag is meant for the night, so no. A fine day indeed when those are its major wrangles.

Ledbury Road, 28th January 2011

2011-01-31T00:36:00.005Z

The first of the year, and a stroke of luck and good timing (although I suppose they all are). The small children toddling off into the distance here brought this balloon, and the older of two dropped it as I approached. As has been the case before, the mother marched on, smaller child in tow, while the dropper looked at the balloon forlorn then back at her departing family, and decided to leave it and trot after them. I was waiting for that.

It was evidently a balloon shape when the child acquired it, its numerous wasp-waists testament to a twisted past. No doubt a professional balloon shaper could forensically identify its former form from those spacings, but I have no such skill, so will never know.

Haydon's Road, 24th December 2010

2010-12-30T22:33:00.004Z

A fleeting glimpse, this, although in the heavy traffic fleeing London for Christmas, "fleeting" is less frantic than the word usually implies. We still had to slow to ease the shot, though, a backwards twist from a side window and a wild snap as we departed.

Trinity Square, Toronto, 23rd December 2010

2010-12-30T20:19:00.015Z

I was home in London on this day, but Luna was far further from hers, snowbound but still snapping in the cold north of the western hemisphere. Thanks again! This is much more what I had in mind when I craved snowbound balloons, so it's a pleasure to add it to my own gritty ditch in the winter's haul. This is how it happened:

"I'm here until the 5th of January with my Dad visiting his brother who had a bad fall. Today I went exploring on my own, something that is not such a safe thing to do in Trinidad, so understandably my Dad was worried. But with the understanding that Toronto is fairly safe, I set out to find Trinity Square to walk the Labyrinth. I found it easily enough and as I was halfway through the labyrinth, the wind picked up and within a whirlwind of brown leaves was a blue balloon! I had to re-focus and concentrate on finishing the labyrinth, thinking of my Uncle and sending positive energy to him. Then I ran (well, gingerly stepped) across the snowy walk, to find the balloon. There he was, a bit deflated but ready for his close up."

That's some good ginger stepping. Thanks again, hope your uncle's on the mend!

Borough Market, 22nd December 2010

2010-12-24T01:08:00.005Z

The snow still clagged pavement edges and the parts less trodden, but it had been trampled away elsewhere, and Borough Market could never be described as one of London's less trodden areas. These three were snagged in one of the market's metal arches when I arrived at a favourite pub, and I had ignored them for that. But despite the chill air I was waiting outside for a friend, it being too crowded inside to make meeting easy, and as I watched one of the bitter gusts unsnagged them and they drifted still bound to the ground.

The truck in the background was collecting rubbish, and I trotted over pint in hand in haste fearing they'd take these too. But bins were emptied and these ignored, so I snapped at my leisure, pausing only once to permit a perplexed pedestrian past.

Leighton Road, 19th December 2010

2010-12-24T00:48:00.006Z

Be careful what you wish for... when I talked below of balloons in snow I envisaged a far different scene to this, but it was still a joy to see it. Winter had set in cold and hard, and the weekend had seen prodigious snowfall that all but paralysed the roads and rails, even in London. By this time the main roads were clearer though, their snow reduced to dirty slush piled deep beside kerbs and in gutters. I was returning home from a fruitless eleventh-hour dash central for presents, which was rescued by a warming and convivial couple of pints, and this frozen yellow warmed me even more.

Off Elgin Avenue, 10th December 2010

2010-12-10T20:52:00.004Z

A rather grubby urban shot this, in the same pub car park as one I still hold up as the grubbiest. It's been a long wait for one of my own, after two gifts, and one sooner would have probably meant a prettier scene too: the last two weeks has seen London's leaf-strewn tarmac alternately wearing a layer of snow or a sparkling, brutal frost. I've never snapped a snowbound balloon despite the last few years bringing surprising settlage, and I was hoping the latest cold snap would end that sequence. It still might, of course - there's a lot more winter to come.

Dunelm Mill, off Brighton Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, 19th November 2010

2010-11-20T13:06:00.006Z

And another gift, and I'm all the more grateful for them in my current barren run. While the last basked in Caribbean sun and was cushioned by lush grasses, this is more familiar, rolling around on wet autumn concrete. The email began, "Do you still want these?". Oh yes.

Dunelm Mill, by the way, is a large home shop, of whose fabrics and countless cushions I've heard reverential and frequent talk. I've likely sat on their wares unaware, too, given my mother's fondness for the place. Whether the balloon was theirs or a blow-in, I'll remain unaware of as well.

Uriah Butler highway, Trinidad & Tobago, 16th November 2010

2010-11-20T00:49:00.012Z

And another from the distant tropics - incredible, and pinpointed perfectly too. Thanks Luna! And here's how:

"I was on the northbound lane of the major highway on our island (the one which runs north to south). As I approached the vicinity of the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, I noticed a blob of pink, silver and white, bobbing its way across the three southbound lanes. I managed to make out the face of a cartoon character, Dora perhaps, as the balloon reached the 12" median. Of course, I was driving at around 90km per hour and could not stop to see the balloon's fate, but curiousity and the promise of a photo-op got the better of me and I exited the highway at the next off-ramp. I crossed the highway and proceeded back in the direction I came until I could exit at the next ramp to end up heading north again. Yes, I was laughing at myself, but hey, it would be worth it if I got the photo. As I neared the median, I put on my hazard lights, but 'she' was nowhere to be seen. So I continued along, then there she was!!! Not to my right, in the middle of the highway, but to my left, having made her way across three more lanes of speeding northbound traffic to settle in the overgrown grass, bobbing up every now and then as if to peep at me. After I pulled the car to the shoulder, and spent few minutes snapping her photo, I realized she looked more like Snow White than Dora. Maybe Snow White was an explorer too!"

A frankly heroic effort! London's tangled crowded streets scarcely permit 9kmph, never mind 90 - the thought of turning around is fantastic. I burst out laughing at my desk and it cheered me the rest of the day, and still does. In a dark wet cold and turbulent city far to the north, that's very welcome. Cheers!

From South Bank Centre, 16th October 2010

2010-10-19T22:13:00.005+01:00

And yet another Giraffe balloon...

Given the prevailing wind in this city, an area northeastish of here must be literally littered with their tattered skins. How far northeast this hub lies I have no idea - how far does a modest helium balloon drift before it sinks and falls? Perhaps there's a undiscovered field of orange tatters that spooks the bears in Novaya Zemlya. Perhaps it's a stealth marketing campaign by Giraffe Norway. Actually, I suspect it's more likely Stratfordish that's so strewn.

Streatham High Road, 15th October 2010

2010-10-19T21:25:00.004+01:00

Red and yellow together again, but these are a gift, so better:

"The balloons were outside the Orange shop on Streatham High Road. I was out at lunch and much to the bemusement of fellow shoppers taking pictures of balloons on the pavement."

From the one who was there at the beginning. It almost makes 63 months seem a short time. Thanks! I love the fact you still think about this.

Trg Sv. Luke, Kotor, 22nd September 2010

2010-10-02T13:31:00.003+01:00

A stand-off, this. I don't think the dog cared much for the balloon, and was just happy guarding his shop, but the boy clearly cared very much for it. His desire for a plaything was evidently tempered by his nervousness about the substantial hound before him, though, and so they stood still, facing each other like duellists.

We were just passing through on our way to eat, so I didn't see the resolution. We returned to the square to drink later, in the warm night air, but the shop was shut, the dog gone, the boy likely in bed and of the balloon there was no trace.

Kentish Town Road, 16th September 2010

2010-10-02T13:19:00.004+01:00

Initially I only saw the yellow one, which was rolling and bouncing up the busy street as I was buying meat. I dipped out of the shop to snap it from across the street, thinking it would be short-lived. That was not the case, and it dodged the oblivious or obliging crowds and made its way northwards as I followed, meat in one hand, camera in the other.

And at the top of the road there was the red, rolling independently in traffic and autumn rain. I hurriedly captured that too, as it looked even more precarious amongst the cars, but gusts and the wakes of the vehicles combined to see them briefly together, close enough for a close shot, which, by even greater coincidence, contained complementary-coloured post bags and road markings. Some you win...

As I left the scene smiling the yellow remained, but the red succumbed at last to a car.

Off Delancey Street, 4th September 2010

2010-09-05T12:18:00.001+01:00

Gold trapped by green railings opposite my favourite pub in Camden, this was a welcome spot before a welcome pint.

It was a doomed advert for The Money Shop (cash for gold!), a sure sign of recessionary times. Three years ago I'm sure the balloons said things like "No deposit! 120% mortgages available here!", and they were made of actual gold.

Leighton Grove, 30th August 2010

2010-09-01T23:26:00.006+01:00

If the last few were far from home, this could scarcely be closer. I'd just stepped out to the shops when a passing child shrilled "I've just found a balloon!" to her mother, and lo, she had. Her mother was pushing a pram carrying a younger sibling, and clearly didn't want to turn the entire caboodle about to pick up the discard, so I had a second or two to crouch and snap, while the young family looked on nonplussed.

On most such occasions, when I return the balloon has gone or burst or most likely both. This time, surprisingly, three warm late summer hours later, it was still sat in the same spot, as if it were a Koons metal sculpture, immune to wind and pricks.

River Thames, near Royal Windsor Racecourse, 29th August 2010

2010-09-01T23:13:00.001+01:00

My own first for a while, having lived on unexpected generosity for weeks. This was not as far from home as the last, but a different world nonetheless - snapped departing a lock on a bank holiday weekend pootle down the river on an old schoolfriend's family's riverboat. We were heading back at this stage, having passed through the same lock far more sober and with a functional boat some hours previously. In the inter-lock time it broke down mid-stream while under my erratic and uncontrolled charge, and had to be towed from its ersatz mooring to a riverside willow to a real berth, before we could coax its hot engine home.

The sun shone on our lunch, our repairs and this photo. In between each, it poured cold and hard.

Petit Valley, Trinidad & Tobago, 12th August 2010

2010-08-17T01:39:00.001+01:00

And this is the most distant to date - thanks Luna! It was one of those "isn't the internet amazing?" moments - a random find leads to a comment from afar, and a few weeks later, in her own words:

"I merged onto the highway, there it was: a happy pink balloon try to pull and tug its way free from whatever snagged its string. I pulled over and put my hazard lights on, then switched them off, thinking that the blinking lights just might make some kind person stop to offer assistance to a girl who appeared to be need of it. Sure enough, a few cars slowed down as I walked back toward the balloon, but thankfully this was past rush hour and not many cars were about."

So I get to stick a pin in the map in Petit Valley, some 7120-something kilometres from home. Brilliant. Luna added that it made her morning. I'm glad - I'm still smiling now.

Earlsfield Road, 27th July 2010

2010-08-17T00:54:00.001+01:00

Bought pink for some proud brother; lost, snagged, and snapped and sent by an amused sister. Many thanks!

Shoreham Canal, 17th July 2010

2010-07-25T12:09:00.001+01:00

I received this by phone while I was many miles from Shoreham, which is always a joy. Several people have sent balloons in over the past few years, but this is the first from my mother. She must be very proud.

Charing Cross Road, 11th July 2010

2010-07-11T17:04:00.001+01:00

And two more two hours later! This pair must have had a common origin, as they moved together across the teeming northern side of Trafalgar Square, and if more proof were needed, they were both marked with a similar sticker. Their fates differed though. The red rolled on a metre or two and was picked up by a man on a scooter, stopped at the lights. The blue bounced a bit further north, and was popped loudly under the wheels of a Volvo.

River Thames, from Hungerford footbridge, 11th July 2010

2010-07-11T16:58:00.001+01:00

The tide must have been racing in, as this yellow was moving west against a pretty stiff breeze blowing the other way. The bridge was crowded and I was far from alone in snapping, but most of the other photographers were shooting downwind, one of the best views in central London. This side has tracks and metalwork and a silty shaded river beneath, which would be unremarkable but for the balloon.

From Holland Park Avenue, from 31 bus, 3rd July 2010

2010-07-10T16:36:00.001+01:00

Has it really been five years? Oh yes. An anniversary balloon then, high and getting higher above a hot and sunny Westfield, which didn't exist when the thistle-trapped initiator was casually snapped. Anniversaries are often cause for looking forward as well as back - will there be posts in July 2015? 2020? What would compel me to close this blog? I can't imagine.

Buck Street, from 214 bus, 2nd June 2010

2010-07-10T16:22:00.001+01:00

Yes he did kick it. No it didn't pop.

Kingsland Road, 26th June 2010

2010-07-10T16:08:00.001+01:00

A rare thing and always a delight, a gifted balloon. The whole car-stopping escapade a couple of weeks before had clearly piqued her interest. This was rolling down a road out east, where she was attending a friend's wedding. By her own admission she felt a bit daft snapping what is to most people a pretty drab and unremarkable urban scene, but I'm very glad she did.

Camden High Street, 23rd June 2010

2010-06-30T20:51:00.001+01:00

A rather pleasing colour arrangement on a rather tatty stretch of road, spotted on a new commute home. Oddly the balloon had a small pair of nubs, so when inflated it may have looked like a blue Mickey, but half-full and flaccid it more resembled some sort of sorry udder.

West End Lane, 11th June 2010

2010-06-13T18:44:00.001+01:00

Make that four in four! I was leaving for work when I saw this, and rushed to snap it before its doom came under the wheels of a truck. But it had a reprieve - it passed right under it and the car behind, and was still rolling about when I got on the bus.

After the patriotic red below I was half-expecting a glut of World Cup balloons, and this was the first day of the tournament. But I couldn't think of a side whose colours are pale blue, I'd certainly not seen any flags in that colour, so I considered this just a random.

Off West End Lane, 10th June 2010

2010-06-13T18:38:00.001+01:00

Three in three days, a rare thing. I'd seen this one before but in red and next to a World Cup-inspired flag I took it for part of the decoration. When I passed a second time, though, it had blown clear of them, and was rolling about on the lawn alone. It won't still be there, I'm sure, when the national team's doom comes and the flags are taken in in sorrow.

Off Carlton Vale, 9th June 2010

2010-06-09T19:44:00.001+01:00

I wasn't expecting to get this. I spotted it from a car on the way home from work, a rare lift from my workmate and temporary landlady. I mentioned it with glee tinged with resignation as we swept past on the roundabout, but she indulged me, bless her, and pulled over nearby, allowing me to run back and snap it before we continued home.

You know who your friends are when they stop cars for balloons, but I knew she was long before that. She's not to be a landlady for much longer though, as a flat seen a few hours earlier passed muster. I wonder how Kentish Town will fare for balloons.

Abbey Road, 8th June 2010

2010-06-09T19:31:00.001+01:00

A pretty sorry example in the midst of some roadworks. I was meant to be speeding past this spot on a bus, but more significant roadworks on West End Lane had led to an ugly tailback all the way to here and beyond, so I'd just left the bus in frustration to continue on foot. The jam was threatening to make me late for a viewing on a flat in West Hampstead. Walking, I beat the bus and made it. I didn't take the flat though - the agent's description was a bald and shameful lie: the "private garden" was shared. Grr...

From Long Acre, 16th May 2010

2010-05-19T01:15:00.001+01:00

You wouldn't know it from these sunny bookends, but in the short hour or so between this and the last there was a torrential spring downpour that left the streets slick and reflective and sent Sunday shoppers scurrying for cover. This cluster shot up to the west and my first shot was blinded by the sun, but it drifted with the weather eastwards above me and stayed low enough for a good view.

River Thames, from Waterloo Bridge, 16th May 2010

2010-05-19T01:07:00.001+01:00

I spotted this one from a bus on a painfully slow journey north from visiting friends in the far-flung south-east of London, and having failed to snap it from the top deck, hopped off at the next stop in the hope it would still be there. The current wasn't strong and the wind wasn't either, so it was. I had the luxury of a few shots as it moved erratically eastwards near the northern shore, but the ducks and boat made this my favourite.

Wilton Road, 3rd May 2010

2010-05-13T01:48:00.001+01:00

The first for what seemed like ages. The stalked pink was being hurried south by a biting northerly wind in the sun, and it hopped and twisted its way down the road past the indifferent buses and cabs. By the time my bus arrived it was still intact, rolling in a pedestrian corridor constructed as a safe passage by some roadworks.

Also, ironically, having decided not to include any more treed balloons due to their hardly fleeting nature, I honestly haven't seen one since the last.

From Edbrooke Road, 4th April 2010

2010-04-10T19:53:00.001+01:00

A very similar shot to the last, a tethered black pair aloft on a fine sunny spring day. It was Easter day too, which meant that a slew of the larger local shops were shut, turning what should have been a simple trip into a wearying trudge around various small shops. These two drifted high over the road as we were just arriving home at the end of it all, which would have been welcome enough even without them.

From Granby Street, Leicester, 21st March 2010

2010-03-28T14:57:00.003+01:00

If snagged balloons are now deemed too unfleeting for the future, too easy to snap and compose in their entrapment, the airborne remain the most difficult, and remain. The sunlit brickwork and clear blue sky make this, for me, prettier than many of the snatched shots of the windblown. It was a truly warm spring day and my last trip to Leicester for a while, and I hope the new season brings the balloons out in London.

Upper King Street, Leicester, 24th February 2010

2010-03-09T23:02:00.006Z

I've been in Leicester a lot recently, but I didn't take this one myself. The one person who could draw me there every other weekend from my London idyll is now the fifth to send me a balloon. London suffered a dearth of Valentine's Day balloons compared to previous years (or perhaps the denizens of Maida Vale are not so keen to declare love in such a manner, or lose their tokens so carelessly to the air if they do), so it was good to learn that that paucity wasn't universal.

It has been a winter of balloons snagged in bare branches. I suspect their relative abundance is due to their stability and longevity, two features that set them apart from the other balloons here. Not fleeting, and with their fragility out of reach, they've lost their appeal, their challenge and their joy. So this will be the last snagged balloon. I toyed with the idea of deleting the others, but a few of them are favourites for various reasons, so they remain, but end here, at 45.

Glenelg Road, 19th February 2010

2010-03-02T00:23:00.003Z

Back for a night visiting friends on my old road, I was greeted on my arrival by this free-standing brown, whose helium content was just enough to keep it upright on its plastic pedestal, but not enough to lift it aloft. As such it hopped and dragged itself along on the gentle breeze, almost falling over as it went only to be righted by buoyancy each time. It didn't hop too far either - when I left later on it had made it just a few metres, and had retained its proud posture to boot.

Off Waterloo Way, Leicester, 12th February 2010

2010-03-02T00:15:00.002Z

I had barely left the station when Leicester's prolific streak was extended. This white had clearly rolled through something pretty sticky on its way to this secluded corner, and as there was no obvious tar pit around it must have rolled some distance from it too. To remain on the surface of the balloon in such a discrete line the substance must have been fairly viscous, which means that the balloon itself must have been travelling quite quickly to have made it through it at all. Most odd. This one, then, will go down as one of the mysteries.

Wingate Road, 4th February 2010

2010-02-05T01:06:00.002Z

And finally, the first grounded balloon for months! This yellow was not an easy capture - I spotted it rolling around in front of some garages and stooped to snap, but the waft of a passing car picked it up and tumbled it roadwards. I stalked after it but had lost it, and wandered around curious awhile, sure it hadn't been popped under tyre, when I saw it hiding highlighted by the headlights of a passing car. It was too dark for anything other than to wait for another to illuminate the elusive escape, but happily the road was busy and the subsequent shot straightforward.

Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, 30th January 2010

2010-02-05T00:56:00.001Z

The northenmost balloon to date and the first not snagged for a while, on a day that looks like spring but was bitterly cold. Piccadilly was heaving on this sunny Saturday afternoon, and the crowds and blue sky had an air of balloon about them, so this was almost expected. Still a pleasure though, especially after so many dark ensnared Londoners this winter. Seasons change, then, although the skeletal branches remain.

Monmouth Street, 29th January 2010

2010-02-05T00:41:00.003Z

Back in central London for the second day in a row, I wandered between parties beneath these, yet more snagged in winter branches. The colours say "St Patrick's Day" but the celebrations have never started that early before. They were snagged outside a lively pub, so I suspect that was their source. I'll be surprised if the sighting's not repeated come 17th March.

Charing Cross Road, 28th January 2010

2010-01-29T01:53:00.001Z

The theme of silhouetted branches continues, although reversed by the bright lights and only relatively dark skies of central London at night. Regardless of the illumination it does seem to have been a winter of snagged balloons, with none just rolling around pavements the last couple of months. Bring on the spring, then.

High Street, Leicester, 23rd January 2010

2010-01-26T23:21:00.001Z

And another nigh on identical. This one, rather oddly, was joined in its tree by some clothing and sundry detritus.

New Walk, Leicester, 23rd January 2010

2010-01-26T23:03:00.001Z

Two clusters in one tree, a novelty. Although that said, there seem to have been a lot of snagged balloons this winter, and the image of silhouetted branches feels familiar.

Belvedere Road, 14th January 2010

2010-01-14T22:42:00.003Z

And more, spotted just a few metres from the ones below. At least these have a hint of hue about them, although their colour and the spidery silhouettes of the branches hardly do much to conceal the chill wintry feel.

From Belvedere Road, 14th January 2010

2010-01-14T22:30:00.002Z

Another flat January shot, whose desaturated bleakness echoes one taken just over a year ago. Once again the colour seen in real life was lost en route to the camera's CCD, but one of these was red, believe me.

Incidentally, back then I noted Pantone's colour of the year was Mimosa. This year, they went the other way.

Harrow Road, from 36 bus, 11th January 2010

2010-01-14T21:37:00.002Z

Heading back to work after a meeting, the photo reveals nothing of the weather conditions. In Oxford, where I'd been, there was still a good depth of snow off the roads and the pavements were white and icy. London, as usual, is warmer and greyer than its surrounds.

I've seen plenty of balloons around this area, which is a mystery to me, as it doesn't strike me as a balloon stretch of road. Shows how much I know.

Montpellier Street, Cheltenham, 22nd December 2009

2009-12-24T02:17:00.001Z

It had been a week of bitterly cold weather but this sharp bright day was the last of the real freeze. Still, beneath these cold-shrivelled balloons the street was edged with dirty snow, and the pavements off the main roads were evilly slippery rinks. After the blizzards and fog the sky had a pure clean look, and its colours graded evenly down from the deep zenith blue to a peach horizon. The low yellow evening light gave false warmth to the buildings, and far far further above caught the thin arc of a dusk moon.

High Street Kensington, 19th December 2009

2009-12-24T01:20:00.002Z

Shades of deja vu - last year at a similar time of year I'd seen a similar cluster in a similar tree on the same street. I prefer this shot though, largely thanks to the lights.

Vere Street, 13th December 2009

2009-12-24T00:48:00.001Z

One of those windy evenings that flips between cold and clear and sweeping rain frequently and with little pattern. It was unfortunate that I came across this one during one of the wet episodes. Not wanting to dwell on this I took a couple and hurried on, although looking at the ugly blur of this I think I should have stayed longer in the rain.

Northdown Street, 8th December 2009

2009-12-10T01:47:00.001Z

This pink star was snagged in a far corner of London outside the King Charles I pub, to which this was my first visit (it had a 12.1% stout and the mounted front half of a monitor lizard on the wall). It was a dark road on a slick night, and without a serious flash this was always going to be a murky shot. To the eye, though, the star added a cheery note to a gloomy night (and I mean gloomy solely in reference to the weather).

Welford Road Stadium, Leicester, 6th December 2009

2009-12-07T01:55:00.001Z

And more in Leicester, this time tangled in some high beam on the towering new north stand of the Tigers' rugby stadium. The cavernous stand was silent and empty but was flooded with golden winter light, and this cluster hung and bobbed like a Christmas decoration from the rafters. Whether they were connected to the club I can't say - there hadn't been a match in eight days and the home colours are largely green, but it seems the most likely source regardless. I've never been to a game at the ground, though, so don't know if red and white balloon releases are part of their matchday pomp.

Granby Street, Leicester, 29th November 2009

2009-12-07T01:23:00.001Z

Back in Leicester, and another wet night found this one rolling around on a crowded Saturday street. I'd spotted it from a way away, and was concerned when it was approached by a small group ahead of us - I hoped they'd be gentle. Happily an idle kick was all it received, leaving it intact for my approach.

Grand Union Canal, 21st November 2009

2009-11-25T02:20:00.005Z

These two look allied here, but they behaved very differently. The white one idled despite the gale, staying stationary relative to the leaves, while the blue scudded one way and another, away with the wind then against it as fast. Baffled by this behaviour we watched a while longer, curiosity piqued.

The only explanation we could think of was that the blue balloon's dangling underwater string was caught in the mouth of a canal-dwelling fish, whose erratic movements dragged it about like a diver drags a marker buoy. To test this theory we scrabbled around the pavements and verges of the canalside path looking for pebbles to throw into the water. The first was encouraging - it landed by the balloon, which then sped away as a spooked fish would do. Fired with enthusiasm we threw more, but the second was less convincing - the balloon didn't rush off at all. The third was the same, and both balloons were then whipped along by the wild wind alone. Pleasantly baffled I captured the scene, before we left for the shelter of a nearby pub.

Sutherland Avenue, 15th November 2009

2009-11-15T23:32:00.001Z

The wind was blowing this trio along at a leisurely pace when I spotted them, and they skidded eastwards up the road as I snapped. After a few standard grounded shots a sudden strong gust lifted them from the pavement and by chance the cluster was caught by its longest member through railings. The group stayed like this awhile while I smiled and shot and moved on. But I came back the same way a few hours later, and there was inevitably no sign of them at all.

Camden High Street, 14th November 2009

2009-11-15T23:19:00.002Z

And more orange! The source of these was as evident as that of the branded enbranched balloons before - a few paces further on there was a balloon modeller twisting various shapes. I don't know what this inchoate design had done to offend, nor whether it was discarded by twister or recipient, but I doubt it lasted long on the crowded streets of Camden on a Saturday night.

James Street, 9th November 2009

2009-11-15T21:55:00.003Z

The Dutch do not have a monopoly on orange balloons, of course. The next day, back in London and hurrying through a chilly night to rejoin friends at a restaurant, I saw these above the crowds. No patriotic fervour here, though - these are branded by TGI Fridays, whose restaurant just south of here must have been handing them out. They were in practically the same spot as one seen similarly snagged over Christmas shoppers a while back. That one was orange too, although no logo was visible, but it was more likely to have been of Friday origin than Dutch pride, I suspect.

Amstel, Amsterdam, 8th November 2009

2009-11-15T21:34:00.002Z

Amsterdam was always going to draw me back, with its charming combination of canals and happy confusion. There was a glut of celebratory balloons during Queen's Day back in the warm spring, but I wasn't expecting the trend to continue with the city mired in the clammy cold air of the North Sea autumn. Happily, though, my lack of faith was misplaced.

Orange again, hardly a surprise, and floating down one of the larger canals. So baffling is the mesh of roads, canals and bridges that any sighting in this city is hard to site on the map, but vague and hazy memory was here helped by the website of the restaurant in the background. We didn't eat in Zushi, but I was grateful to it nonetheless.

Charles Street, Leicester, 25th October 2009

2009-10-27T02:01:00.002Z

The first dusk back in GMT, a premature flash in an unknown street on an unplanned and uncommonly fine weekend. As we approached the balloon there was the sharp ting of fast-falling shrapnel nearby and a whoop of near miss from above. My stoop to shoot at least ceased the aimed rain, but not for too long - as we walked on my explanation was punctuated by a pop, its demise prompting happy victorious cries. But I left the scene, and the city, the happier.

Park Lane, 11th October 2009

2009-10-12T02:03:00.001+01:00

This was stranded on the grassy central reservation of one of London's fiercer roads to cross, and I hadn't seen it when I began my dash across the lanes. Happily it was right in front of me as I picked my way over the low barriers. It was only a brief gap in the traffic that led to me crossing here, a hundred metres from the bus stop that was my destination, so I count this as a very lucky spot.

The lawn between the twin three-lane highways is hardly crossed, so without wind and weighed down by a burst red on the same ribbon, this could last longer than some. I have no plans to pass by in the next few days though, so I'll never know.

Paddington Recreation Ground, 27th September 2009

2009-09-30T01:06:00.002+01:00

I don't usually hang around taking photos in playgrounds - there are few more surefire ways to get a criminal record/beating/string of glam hits blacklisted from the radio. This time, fortunately, I was out with dear friends and their toddler, and hence the swift whipping out of a camera attracted fewer angry mobs than it might otherwise have done.

There were a few of these balloons around, some snagged in trees and some rolling free, and they were evidently printed for the birthday of one of the abundant toddlers. Although the birthday girl (I assume, from the pink) had clearly departed, the balloons kept on entertaining, and the snagged were tugged from trees for play and the rolling kicked about. Small children are hardly the most gentle balloon handlers, and none of the printed pinks lasted long. Their attention span is similarly short, happily, so the popping was likely quickly forgotten, and the rest of the early autumn day enjoyed simply for its warmth and rich light.

Great Western Road, 11th September 2009

2009-09-14T22:36:00.001+01:00

I was wandering to the tube station chatting to a friend. She stopped to wait for a bus, I turned back to say goodbye and it shot up suddenly from the pavement opposite. She'd seen this sort of thing before so was neither surprised nor offended by my frantic grasping for the camera, and it was caught before it swirled away swiftly, while we parted less hastily below.

Stockwell Road, 20th August 2009

2009-08-25T01:12:00.002+01:00

A slightly blurry blue on a slightly blurry night back in Brixton. I'd returned for the evening to see Animal Collective at the Academy, to whose green-arced entrance I was heading when I spotted this. They were pretty good despite a placid crowd, and it made me smile at the coincidence that their stage set was dominated by a large suspended orb.

Great Western Road, 16th August 2009

2009-08-17T23:37:00.001+01:00

Heading home on a hot day I spotted this one being blown haphazardly along the road, scrabbled for my camera on the bus, missed it, and so got off a stop early on the off chance that it would dodge the cars for a few seconds. And it did. In fact despite a wavering path down the road from kerb to mid-lane and back a few times, it stayed intact long enough for me to capture it repeatedly at my leisure.

Such uncommon unhurried opportunities bring their own frustrations, though. Although it was a glorious sunny day, in the late afternoon this bus stop lies in the shadow of the unlovely facade of Westbourne Park tube station, so the shot is as flat and grey as the preceding few. I tried a few wider shots to better represent the scene, but so bright were the blue sky, tower blocks and industrial metal walls on the other side of the road that any attempt to include them rendered the tarmac inky and the balloon itself merely murky grey.

From South Bank Centre, 9th August 2009

2009-08-16T03:57:00.002+01:00

And another an hour or so later, whose colour betrays its shared source. No branches caught this though, and it was a far more hurried shot for it.

Incidentally, three days later and some 700 metres from this, I released a few air- and trinket-filled balloons myself, as part of Antony Gormley's capricious One & Other project on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Although I'd expected, indeed hoped for, them to be burst quickly by the people or sharp edges below, most were gleefully caught by children, who ran off with their trophies intact. And that was more than good enough for me.

From Golden Jubilee footbridge, 9th August 2009

2009-08-16T03:10:00.004+01:00

The Giraffe restaurant on the South Bank has provided balloons before, so this orange's origin was not obscure. They're branded and given out to advertise the place, but although this was snagged nearby it was shrouded by foliage and too far from the concrete walkways to be legible, so its power as an advert was gone.

Elgin Avenue, 4th August 2009

2009-08-04T19:47:00.006+01:00

This yellow broke a rather long run by current standards, ending a few weeks of fleeting and missed chances. It's the first on a grey day for a while too, after a glorious spring and early summer - I hope the season's subsequent balloons stand on sharp shadows as did those before.

From Ladbroke Grove, 16th June 2009

2009-07-01T01:46:00.001+01:00

The Grand Union Canal has been a prolific bearer of balloons over the years, but this is my first on this stretch. After May's move I quickly found that Maida Vale is oddly bereft of supermarkets, so was testing the hike up to the vast Sainsbury's close to this bridge. It's a fair way for groceries and domestic essentials, but man cannot live on imported olives and patisserie fare alone.

I tinkered with this one for quite a while, trying to balance the areas of bright and dark to best show both the sunlit buildings and the family of Canada geese in the bottom right corner. Defeated by a recalcitrant histogram, I was forced to settle for the former.

Hyde Park, 31st May 2009

2009-07-01T01:31:00.002+01:00

That last theory can't be said to apply to this, sadly. Yet another sunny day, but for once my thoughts were anything but.

From Streamline Mews, 24th May 2009

2009-07-01T01:22:00.001+01:00

A few hours later, still a beautiful day, and a slightly more appealing shot too, despite the distance between me and my airborne subject. It had been a long hot journey on the bus from Maida Vale to this corner of Dulwich, but the heat was subsiding as the sun swung down to tree level. It was another bank holiday weekend and again the city had an air of summery happiness, and such moods always seem to bring out balloons. Or perhaps I just notice them more when happier myself.