Away From Its Natural Environment

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Rorschach shadows

It was a bit early in the morning to be presented with a Rorschach test, but that is what Jackie spotted in this morning’s sunlight.

Cosmoses in iron urn

The cosmos and lobelia planting in the iron urn obscures the gazebo path.

Ginger lily

Ginger lilies are now in bloom.

After the early burst of sunlight, the morning was dull, but the skies cleared this afternoon when we visited the last four stragglers in the Hordle Scarecrow Trail. All are individual entries.

Scarecrow 15

There are two more Rapunzels, being No.15 at 22 Stopples Lane,

Scarecrow 20

and 20 at 6, Heath Road.

Scarecrow 21

No. 21, The Pied Piper of Hamelin attracts the rats two doors away at number 10;

Scarecrow 19

Rodents, in the form of entry number 19, Cinderella’s mice, also appear to infest 43, Charnock Close.

River Avon at Christchurch

After this, Jackie drove us to Christchurch, on the banks of the River Stour.

Red arrows 1Red Arrows 3Red Arrows 2

The Red Arrows (http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/) were performing various routines in the sky above,

Red arrows trail 1Red Arrows trail 2

leaving their trademark trails passing the mastheads.

Kayaker

Various activities included kayaking;

Couple in boat

more leisurely boating;

Feeding swans

feeding the birds,

Swans

like these swans vying for victuals;

Boy kicking pigeon

kicking pigeons;

Little girl swinging on rail

swinging on rails;

Toddler and balloon 2

or toddling along, balloon in tow.

Trio on benchSteps, bin, willow

Some, more sedentary, enjoyed the comforts of benches and deckchairs.

Groups on quay

Woman, boy, girl

Others stepped it out along the quayside.

Group with wheelchair

One young woman enjoyed a ride in a wheelchair.

Couple with ice creams

Jackie and I were not the only ones who enjoyed an ice cream.

Hippo and mallard

Some way from its natural environment, a hippopotamus canoodled with a mallard,

Beach huts and waterfowl

and, in the distance, waterfowl lined up in harmony with the beach huts of Mudeford. Thanks to my friend, Lisa, I now know that the woman on the right is paddle boarding.

This evening we dined on a highly spiced pizza and salad. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Almocreve tinto reserva 2014.

76 comments

  1. The first Rapunzel is a winner, as is that second photo of you myriad flowers. I do like the way you capture people at their leisure. Looks like a good day!

  2. The planting of flowers of different sizes and colours look so harmonious together.

    Clever use of rodents in the scarecrow competition.

    BRILLIANT photographs of the air show!

    Love the photos of children particularly the family of blue, the head of hair on that girl and the child hanging on the railing but in this country you might get arrested for taking them.

    1. Many thanks, Mary. Here it is not illegal to photograph people in a public place, but I usually ask permission any way. That little girl’s mother had the same colour hair.

  3. I liked the first Rapunzel’s long trailing hair.
    I was surprised by the different colored trails left by the planes.
    It looks like wonderful, leisurely day out by the water, and you captured it so well in your shots. I liked the mix of color and black and white.

    Highly spiced pizza, salad, and red wine is one of my favorite meals. 🙂

  4. Rapunzel no. 15 has my vote for this post, with the Pied Piper a close second. Also enjoyed the aerial display. Great pics.

    1. Many thanks, Pauline. I’m pleased I included that one, although I wondered whether garden pics were necessary, with everything else going on. I wondered about Rapunzel, too..

      1. I bet she was suggested simply as an example by the organizing committee, then everyone takes it up.

  5. I’m for the pied piper of Hamlin! And appreciate how you have captured the variety of people enjoying the summer with their different activities. ☺️

      1. Probably doing what kids have done since the year dot. In a month’s time, or a month ago, it may well have passed without comment.

  6. I love the first two shots and really like your black and white photography. Funnily sometimes your photography of people makes them look like flowers. They somehow blend into the landscape. I have never noticed that effect with other people’s photography.

      1. That IS right, Derrick. It turns up in Great Expectations, when Magwitch asks Pip to get him “wittles” (thus transliterated, to make it clear to Dickens’ middle-class audience that Magwitch was a Cockney and a low-life [not to connect irrevocably those two aspects these days, before anyone writes in]).

  7. Looks like everyone is enjoying the summer weather in your part of the world. Love the Pied Piper. 🙂 The Hippo and the Mallard are very unlikely friends. Great shot, Derrick.

  8. I’ve loved the scarecrow trail and being a closet Rapunzel myself, of course I love those two – Cinders is very sweet too with her meece in tow. And the Arrows – always thrilling but my favourite has to be the wallowing hippo with unpeturbed Mrs Duck bobbing next to him. Of course I know he isnt’ real but that’s what imagination is for, isn’t it?

  9. The first Rapunzel is great, but I also like Pied Piper. Hope the ducks watched out for that hippo! Nice shots of a summer day.

  10. Your carnival would be doubly good quality if all THESE judges coughed up their twopenny’orth!!
    My father, who worked for Follands in the 50s, was involved in the design of the Gnat, the plane the Red Arrows fly. It morphed into a trainer aircraft (having been designed as a fighter, the version my dad must have worked on), hence the Red Arrows using it for display flying.
    If you can blow up even more that last shot of Lisa’s “paddle-boarder” about to be run down by a passing moter-cruiser :-), there might be an unusal bird in that flock: 2/5ths of the way across, there’s an apparently black one, with possibly an orange bill (over its shoulder, as if preening). The orange bit might be something behind it on the shore, in which case it’s a crow. If the orange bit is attached, it’s something more ususual. Did anyone else spot the lone lapwing/peewit/green plover, too [one species, many names!]

  11. What wonderful summer photos! The Rapunzel in the balcony gets our vote. The Hippo is not bad either even though he is not an entry in the competition. Not that he is doing a great job of scaring away birds.

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