Caution Pigs

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I had been fortunate yesterday to photograph the spray of leaves still occupying this corner of the Phantom Path. This is because the Head Gardener has now cut down the foliage, consisting of crocosmias and day lilies, and replenished the soil, ready for next year’s burgeoning.

One day lily, somewhat careworn, still blooms opposite, in the Palm Bed.

As I took these two photographs, I spotted Jackie in her element, working on the Cryptomeria Bed.

My scanner has been ailing recently. It has now reached the stage where any items placed flat on the platform come out very smudged, if at all, yet it still works well with colour slides. I therefore ordered a new one, which we collected from Century 21 Business Products, Ltd. this afternoon. I’m always scared of new stuff of this nature, especially when it comes with three installation discs, I don’t know what I’m doing, and have no grandchild on hand. Perhaps I’ll have a look at it tomorrow. Or when I next need to scan a single sheet of paper.

On our way home warning signs through South Gorley reminded us that this is the season of pannage, when pigs are set free to forage for mast. The usual lone Gloucester Old Spot sow wandered silently along the through road; a cacophony of grunts and snorts from a couple of sows and a passel of piglets reverberated along Newtown Lane. The piglets especially rushed around at an alarming rate for someone not too steady on his pins into which they threatened to cannonade.

This evening the three of us dined on the Culinary Queen’s delicious, slightly spicy, beef in red wine with roast potatoes, crunchy carrots, and fresh runner beans from the garden. Elizabeth and I drank more of La Vieille Ferme. Jackie had drunk her Hoegaarden with our drinks in the Rose Garden

69 comments

  1. Great post. Hope the scanner works out. The sign, Caution Pigs Roaming Free, seems to sum up the political & social environment in this Dark Age of Trump.

  2. I know what you mean about new things, Derrick. I love the photo of Jackie peeking through the flowers. This might be the last you hear from me for a while as the winds are really getting strong. Not sure how much longer we’ll have power. Loved the pigs!

  3. I was once run at by a large sow – going full speed. Luckily it was back in the day when I was even faster…… 🙂 You got some great shots at them busy foraging. Lovely photo of Jackie in her element!

  4. Sorry to hear about your scanner. Yes, when tech stuff is baffling me, or giving me fits, I have to call on one of my kids to help! 🙂
    Wow on all the pigs roaming free! They do have sweet faces!
    Your dinner sounds lovely! I am fixing beef, peppers, onions, mushrooms, green beans and salad tonight!
    Best photo of this bunch…the photo of Jackie! Her smile makes me smile! 🙂
    HUGS to you, Jackie, and Elizabeth! 🙂

  5. Bacon rolls in the morning? Lovely shot of Jackie. I’m shockingly inept with anything technical – but have found if you plug it in and turn it on, it’s probably difficult to break unintentionally. The only exception was the sca…………………………………………………………………………………

  6. The focus in the first image is on the flowers rather than the leaves on the path and which is nice anyway. Jackie looks great framed in the greenery. You may call me a ‘speciest’, but I am biased against pigs. They have this utterly selfish and arrogant air about them…

  7. Pigs roaming free,that was me, today. I threw caution to the wind, and shut my computer down and run a recovery/ restore program on my computer, at the risk of losing some files and all my apps, well pigs might fly, … I’m back on line, and it “seems” to be going Ok,……. we’ll see how it goes after tonight’s sleep. I hope you are enjoying your wine as much as I am tonight.. Cheers to you Derrick.

    1. Thanks very much, OneLife. I am honoured, but am afraid I don’t have the time to fulfil the requirements – I spend several hours on my own daily one and reading and commenting on those I follow.

  8. Once again your post has sent me to the dictionary to look up “pannage” (fascinating) and mast. For the latter, I did not find anything related to pigs only the usual stuff about poles and ships.
    Jackie looks like Eve before the fall. I’m slowly cleaning up my wee garden, too, but summer clings on even though the geese have started fleeing. But I’m not complaining about the heat. It will be frigid soon enough.

    1. Mast, as you have probably realised, is the term for acorns and other nuts falling at this time. In fact the custom serves an essential purpose in the New Forest, because acorns are poisonous to ponies. Many thanks, Susanne

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