The best urban commute in the world?

Cycling to work yesterday morning I was thinking how lucky I am to have a commute in a big city that passes places like this:

And when I came home in the evening, I thought the same:

No it's not Africa; it's Richmond Park. Though we do have some genuine wildlife, albeit not particularly wild (also seen yesterday):

I really appreciate this kind of commuting when the rest of the day is spent computing.

Richmond Park is big: at two and a half thousand acres, it's three times the size of New York's Central Park and also three times as big as Hampstead Heath (which is not quite as big as Central Park). It's relatively peaceful during commuting hours, especially off the roads that cross it.

It's completely useless for jogging, walking and cycling, so please don't bother to visit.

The cat sat on the map

I like maps, and have carefully kept any that I thought might be useful again one day. But now I have a brilliant app on my Kindle Fire called Maps.me, on which you can download detailed maps of most countries - and go from a world view to a street view in a couple of seconds. It is quite amazing. So I have reluctantly been weeding out maps to make some space.

I thought I'd have a last look at them before they went off in the recycling box:

 That was when Owen came in from the garden.

 At first he was interested in northern Italy.

But he decided to settle between San Francisco and Dublin.

It wasn't long before he wanted to know what was on the other sides.

And he decided he wanted a taste of California.

Having found his own way home after a couple of weeks without the use of a map, he must have felt they were evidence of our stupidity.

Even with the latest technology, it's hard to beat cat nav.  

I'm on a roll with my home baking

"Man shall not live by bread alone" - but it's not a bad start.

It's those poppy seeds on the egg glaze that give the professional touch.

And actually, they were pretty good to eat - though I say so myself. I think it's something I get from the Miller genes.