Silhouettes

It is not that unusual for readers seeking contacts or history to stumble across this blog and, through comments, to ask me for information. Yesterday there were two. One man sought a contact with Trinity (Battersea) now Trinity (Oxley) Cricket Club. I, and two others responded. A second person, a woman, wondered whether Jackie’s sister, Helen, was someone she had trained with in the 1960s. I put them in touch with each other. Such is the power of WordPress.

Today, definitely presaging Spring, was even sunnier, and warmer, than yesterday.

Here are some of the garden flowers I did not pick yesterday:

Pansies

We have pretty pansies,

Hellebores 1Hellebores 2Hellebore 1Hellebore 2Hellebore 3

a vast variety of head-hanging hellebores,

Viburnum

several flourishing viburnums,

Primulas

precocious primulas, some a little nibbled,

Camellia

different camellias,

Cyclamen

and cerise cyclamens among others.

At midday we drove to Efford Recycling Centre to dump some of our rubbish, and

Charger and toysMats

as usual departed with purchases from the Sales Area, namely a charger, some toddler toys and rolls of mats for the garden shed.

We then came back to Otter Nurseries where we enjoyed mushroom soup and rolls with the discount vouchers. After this we went driveabout.

Isle of WightIsle of Wight 2

The Needles and Lighthouse

The light was so clear over the Solent that we had the sharpest view of the flanks of the Isle of Wight, The Needles, and the lighthouse, a mile and a quarter away.

Walkers silhouette 1Walkers silhouette 2

Walkers were silhouetted on Hordle West Cliff Top.

Pheasant hens Pheasant hens 2

Driving along Angel Lane we gatecrashed a pheasant hen party.

Cloudscape 1Cloudscape and silhouettes

Back at home, shortly before sunset, sand-clouds gathered over Christchurch Road. This time buildings, shrubs, and trees provided the silhouettes.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s chicken tikka biriani; vegetable pakoras and samosas; salad; and delicious cauliflower bhaji that would have graced any Indian kitchen. The cook drank Hoegaarden and the satisfied customer drank Kingfisher.

62 comments

    1. Looks like Ian used my computer to comment. I do not call my father ‘Del’ or ‘lucky’. We all know it is Mum who is lucky. 😁

  1. Gorgeous photos, Derrick. Always so professional and magazine quality. Indeed, silhouettes are my favorite kind of photos.
    I like your way of connecting people! 🙂

      1. The people, on the cliff walking, in shadow were my favorite 2 photos. 🙂 The items you purchased made perfect sense to get gently used. The flowers as always were perfect botanical specimens, Derrick!

  2. It occurred to me that for some time we have only been seeing the beautiful fruits of your labour – and no more of the actual labouring. Does that mean that the garden makeover is finished?

    1. Many thanks, Gwen. Especially for noticing. The makeover is largely finished, but maintenance will never end. We’ll soon be out there again – when spring comes in earnest.

      1. The one and only time my husband and I owned a house, it was on a corner block and I wanted gardens everywhere – inside our boundary and out. I dreamed of the day I would sit under an arbour and read my book. Never happened – our weekends were always busy with weeding and maintenance! In fact, we eventually decided that we didn’t own the house – the house owned us! So we sold up and moved into an apartment, more than twenty years ago now. Hubbie boasted to everyone that he had a ceremonial burning of the lawn mower. Very unusual for Aussies to give up their large plots of land, although in reality people forget that our cultural dream of home ownership only emerged after WWII. . . . One of the things I most miss about living in the UK and Continent is distinct seasons. I worked in the Lake District several times, and those wild daffodils of spring are forever fixed in my memory. Now I understand why Wordsworth got so worked up over them.

  3. Beautiful flowers, but since winter seems to be over in this part of the world, too, I’m already missing it… Remember the Donald Trump snowman? 🙂

  4. Yes, the power of WordPress and the Internet. Does spring usually come so early in your part of the world? Lovely flowers!

  5. So jealous of your hellebores; they won’t grow for me. I have stopped using the word ‘unusual’ about the weather since we never get the ‘usual’ weather anymore. It’s 29ºC but the deciduous trees in my garden are showing signs of fall; yellowing and dropping leaves. I like the colours of the sea showing its depths so clearly.

  6. Your flowers are fabulous. It seems you have not really had winter. It’s really nice how you can connect people–you must be tagging your posts really well.

    1. Thanks, Jessica. Last year we were regularly visited by a male we called Eric. He picked up other bird’s droppings from the feeders which have not been necessary this year.

  7. Looks like you have a real botanical garden there, Derrick 🙂 I love it!
    You made again another beautiful pictures. Those silhouettes looks amazing in the sunset’s light.
    After that you met your dinner? Those pheasant hen? :))

  8. The colours of the hellebores are intriguing to me. Somehow that plant manages colour combinations I don’t often see anywhere else. Sometimes they are so well camoflagued I don’t even notice them at first, then what a delight of discovery when I see a burst of flowers right in front of me! It’s nice how blogging helps us all connect. I have had the opportunity to put Cherokees together, through my blog. It feels good to be able to help.

  9. Beautiful photos, some time ago after reading in your post about samosas, I asked my brother to get some. I had been to their place. There they get very good ones:))

  10. Yet another delightful post. I love these flowers, they are simply gorgeous and you are such a wonderful photographer. These are truly gorgeous shots. Thanks for sharing.

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