Banana Leaf - detail

I drove to Bexley in Kent today to see an exhibition of photography by Paul Foley FRPS. I have known Paul for some years and enjoy his thoughtful, intellectual approach to image making. He specialises in landscape photography, and this exhibition, called "Intimate Vision", concentrates on details found in the landscape, such as patterns in sand, colours and shapes in rock structures, the shapes created by flowing water. Paul continues to work with film - specifically Velvia - and the rich, saturated colours make striking prints. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. The exhibition runs until 18th August with free entry, at the Stables Gallery, Hall Place, Bexley.

Hall Place was built in 1537 and is a Grade 1 listed building. I took the opportunity to wander round the formal gardens and landscaped parkland which surround the house. They are quite stunning, and include a well laid out herb garden, a superb enclosed garden with shaped dividing hedges separating beds of different flowers, and some impressive topiary. In the glasshouses, I discovered a banana tree - with large bunches of bananas still ripening. Today's blip is a detail of a new leaf which was just unfurling on the tree.