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Hi, Rusty!
To digress for a moment from cycling and tennis...........
We went to Crystal Palace Park for our walk this morning.
The six Grade II listed sphinxes in the park are currently undergoing extensive conservation and repair work, thanks to joint funding from the Mayor of London, Historic England and Bromley Council.
Only two sphinxes have so far been repaired ....and at first we were very impressed with them.
They blended in well with the old stonework.
But now they have just been painted a dull terracotta red!
Apparently this is their original mid- 19th century colouring, so painted to match the red granite from the Sphinx in the Louvre. and the plan is to restore them fully to their original appearance.
(It is a specialist mineral paint to conserve them fully and protect them from future decay).
The colour is going to take some getting used to!! At the moment , I cannot take to them...I am so used to seeing them a natural colour. Apparently, they haven't been painted a terracotta red since 1900.
I hate to say it but park-goers are finding that the sphinxes now look out of place and rather "cheap"....but of course all this is actually costing a fortune!
Maybe we are all just die-hards?
Wimbledon was rained off! but is now back.......

Hello, Elle,
Yes, you will get used to them.
Most folk resist change.
I had not heard of Crystal Palace Park.
London appears to be a very "green" city.
Now, you mentioned paint....
I freshened up some paint in a room several days ago and the smell is lingering.
I read that a good tip to get rid of it is to cut an onion in half and put it in the room.
So, I have.
Wonder if it works?
Is it rainy at Wimbledon?

But whatever colour the Sphinx (was theremore than one? I have been thereand can't remember!) was painted in the mid-nineteenth century wasn't its original colour, was it? However, I have no doubt it's a good thing to protect them and in time the paint will weather and look better.
So much sport I can't even go to the wood as I'd planned, I don't dare try the M40 past Juntion10 (Grand Prix). I could go via a scenic route but it is a lot longer. I guess the roads might be pretty quiet this afternoon and evening.
Time for yet more gardening..... the only birds we seem to have around now are corvids and red kites. Apart from a solitary hedge sparrow, not seen any others.

Hello, Ros!
Yes, apparently the SIX sphinxes at Crystal Palace were all originally painted in terracotta red to match the red granite from the Sphinx in the Louvre.
The paint colouring now has been exactly matched with the original colour but obviously it is a 'modern' paint with protective qualities.

Hi Rusty,

It is 39C on the road at present! They are all looking rather exhausted already.
Contador does not look good.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, you MUST have heard of Crystal Palace Park!
Not only will I have mentioned it before, but the famous Athletics Sports Stadium is in the middle of it!!!
You will surely have watched the Athletics there.
Now, to your own painting problem......yes, I have heard that putting a cut onion in halves at each end of the room does help reduce the smell, so hopefully that will work for you!
(but I thought that these days paint doesn't usually smell?)
I have had a wonderful morning's tennis!
First, I was lucky enough to catch the Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles where Greg Rusedeski and Fabrice Santoro beat Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson.
And then (in what I am sure will prove to be the highlight of my day!) I saw the Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles where the Woodies beat Haarhuis and Elltingh.
A great match!
Did you see any of it? or are you watching the cycling?

Hello, Elle!
I have heard of Crystal Palace, yes, but not CP Park.
I did not know the stadium was in a park.
I am a "hick from the sticks" remember!
It is just a slight smell, does not bother me.
The room is unused.
I just thought I would try the onion to see if it worked.
No tennis, I am watching le Tour.
Contador has abandoned!
He has just climbed off the bike
He has not been well all week.
I feel sorry for him.
The roads in Andorra are superb bits of engineering.
Even the hairpins are super!
A very scenic country!

Hi Rusty,

So sorry to see Contador abandon in his country, but he never really recovered from his injuries, and apparently he was running a fever this morning - This stage is a brut under extreme heat!

Here's me thinking the Sphinx was in Egypt, havng watched a son et lumiere there! The Christmas after 9/11.

Ros, sorry for any confusion but I did actually explain back in post 8341!
Perhaps you didn't read that far back!