Umbrellas And Multi-Ocular Devices

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Early on this grey, overcast, morning, Jackie drove us to Lymington and back to buy a birthday present.

Lilies and bronze fennel flowers

Upon leaving the house I decided I had not published enough photographs of the front garden. I therefore focussed on these lilies flanking bronze fennel flowers;

Fuchsia Sir Matt Busby

fuchsia Sir Matt Busby suspended over the front porch;

Nasturtium

orange nasturtiums potted in front of the garage door;

Clematis

a purple clematis soaring both them;

Solanum

white solanum adorning the trellis;

Lobelia and petunias

lobelia and petunias cascading over a hanging basket;

Lacecap hydrangea

and this pink and blue lace cap hydrangea spreading across the right hand corner.

It being market day in Lymington I hoped to have further fun with the camera. No sooner had we emerged from the shop, which must be nameless at the moment, and I brought out the camera, than the rain came down and umbrellas went up. Nevertheless, I persisted, and photographed

Women's tops

a rail of Summery women’s tops;

Melons

an abundance of bulbous green and golden melons;

Nectarines

glistening nectarines;

Olives

metal bowls of oleaginous olives;

Bread

loaves of rustic Mediterranean bread;

Veg cutters

the stall of a gentleman demonstrating veg cutters the colour of which made up for a lack of oranges;

Sandals

and decorative sandals, the display of which now seemed somewhat optimistic.

Couple under umbrellaWoman with pink umbrellaWoman with umbrella 1Woman with umbrella at fruit stallWoman with umbrella 2Woman with umbrella 3Couple under umbrella 2

Here are some of the umbrellas,

Woman keeping rain off with plastic bag

not forgetting the lady who had forgotten hers.

Reading glasses

Reading glasses may now be obtained without prescription, and are cheaply available on market stalls.

Jackie inspecting specs 1Jackie inspecting specs 2Jackie inspecting specs 3

Jackie has collections all over the house and garden. Naturally she inspected these specs,

Jackie wearing four pairs of specs

and bought £5’s worth of what Becky calls her mother’s multi-ocular devices. The idea is that wearing two pairs gives you twice the strength of magnification. Four is overdoing it a bit.

This afternoon I watched the women’s Wimbledon tennis final on TV.

For this evening’s dinner, Jackie produced steak and onion pie, new potatoes, crispy breaded mushrooms, crunchy carrots, and fresh spring greens. We had drunk respectively Hoegaarden and Banks’s Amber bitter on the patio beforehand. I had some of mine left over to drink with the meal. Jackie hadn’t. But then, her bottles are smaller than mine.

 

 

 

 

 

63 comments

  1. That lily and fennel combination is gorgeous. Mine at just about to burst into bloom. We had one day of rain. Now need a steady downpour. Very dry here.

  2. Your garden reminds me how English our Sydney gardens are. All the flowers are familiar, though ours are not always as expertly arranged. I also have glasses everywhere; if only I can find them when I need them…

    1. My husband and I both need them. They always seem to be either all in his pile or all in mine. We rarely both can find a pair, no matter how many I buy. We should try piling them up upon our heads as Jackie so charmingly does.

  3. I too, have glasses everywhere, and there are some days I can’t find a single pair. I suspect they’re having secret meetings down by the lake, plotting some sort of global overthrow! 😀

  4. I’m with Jackie, since the appearance of affordable magnification spectacles on every store counter in the city I too have garnered a serious collection. I confess the gathering bug is mainly for their pretty coloured frames and the fact that I can have a pair on every possible surface just in case – though oddly I never have a pair on me to read what the magnification strength is at the time of purchase ……… Derrick, I should like to see a long shot of your house and garden looking chocolate box perfect in high summer – is that possible? Or would you be in danger of getting mown down by passing vehicles as you back across the road to get the perfect angle? (In which case I withdraw my request!)

  5. Blue lace cap hydrangea—even the name sounds luscious! My favorite shrub! Derrick, I wish I knew your secret for producing vivid, unforgettable color. You have it down pat.

  6. Todays story-line made me smile, travelling from beautiful flowers, to multi-coloured umbrellas and ending in a smiling spectacle……

  7. It is cruel to single out one flower for praise but the bunch of fuchsia Sir Matt Busby is charming. Your camera has done adequate justice to the market. The mystery of the ‘multi-ocular device’ left me similing.

  8. I agree with Osyth. My first thought when I saw the photograph was that it was Her Majesty incognito, on her way back from Tescos by the look of it.

  9. A gorgeous array of individual ,more distinctive in their simplicity, flowers!! 🌸

    I absolutely savored this post with my first cup of coffee, Derrick. (7:23 am on Sunday)
    The humor of umbrellas and summer blouses, most having umbrellas, but one poor woman, not made me smile.
    But the person who had me chuckling, as my Mom in her younger years did the same as your Jackie: “multi- ocular devices!” 🙂 🙂
    We have had dollar reading glasses for over ten years, so I used to buy black plaid frames, red, and sparkly pairs for my Mom! 🤓 🤗

      1. Do you not need reading glasses, Derrick? When I am deadheading my plants, I think of you & often wonder if you use your reading glasses to deadhead. I seem to have trouble recognizing if a piece of plant is an old flower, spent and going to seed, or a new bud just getting ready to bloom. I thought m y reading glasses might help.

        1. I’m sure they would, Jodie. Having been short sighted since 18 I had a cataract op in my left eye when I was about 50. This was the result of a cricket ball in the eye at 14. Thereafter my sight has improved with age, and I now only wear specs for TV. I never use any for photography, which is lucky.

      2. Ah, lucky, indeed (excepting that cataract operation – yuck). I’ve had a terrible time getting used to reading glasses. They make me dizzy when I look up and everything looks weird.

        1. When I was in a life drawing group a few years ago, I needed specs to see the model, but not to see the paper. You will know how important it is to see the textures you are working on. I solved the problem with varifocals – for distance on the one hand and plain glass on the other. I had to get used to that but it didn’t take long.

      3. Varifocals – I will need to look into them. I can practically drive without my far away glasses and I can practically see up close without my reading glasses – but when I am trying to do both (far away and close) it becomes a mess if I have any glasses on.

  10. Every flower holds its own beauty, but I especially love the fuchsia Sir Matt Busby.
    To spend a day in your garden would be the best birthday present I could receive 🙂
    The relationship you and your wife enjoy is a blessing that overflows in the plants around you <3

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