A Quotation From My Grandad

I have previously mentioned an unfortunate complication arising from my knee replacement operation in May. Today, after some delay and a cancellation, Jackie was able do drive me to Lymington Hospital for a visit to consultant, Mr J. Douglas. After various tests he offered the opinion that my prostate is only slightly enlarged and that there may have been some internal damage caused by efforts to insert a catheter. He was not worried about this, but, given that I cannot have my second knee replacement unless the condition, which might need a catheter designed for this not unusual problem, is confirmed, he has placed me on an urgent referral for further investigation with a camera.
Before this visit we lunched at Redcliffe Garden Centre at Bashley. Written on the roof supports of the establishment’s restaurant are memorable quotations about gardening. Following on from one from Longfellow is this one by

 ‘My Grandad’. Enlargement should make this legible, but for those needing it, here is the text: ‘A face without freckles is like a garden without flowers’.

I chose the steak pie meal. The excellent gravy relieved the impression that the meal was perhaps a bit overheated – it was, however, the last one, and despite appearances tasted very good. Jackie enjoyed her customary jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise and plentiful fresh salad.

We had taken a diversion in the forest. At Brockenhurst, just as I drew a bead on it a heron took off from the bank of a stream outside Brockenhurst.

After the consultation we sped off to the GP Surgery at Milford on Sea to deposit a requisition for medication to relax the casing of the prostate. Naturally this led us to the coast just before sunset.

The Isle of Wight, The Needles, and the lighthouse sat well in their pink and indigo pastel surroundings.

This colour scheme set off the more strident streaks of the setting sun,

opposite which sweeping clouds revealed blue skies.

As usual the heaving sea, the rock-splashing spray, and the crunching shingle reflected the overhead hues.

Soon after sunset the clearer skies revealed a finely drafted crescent moon above Downton.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s choice chilli con carne served with flavoursome savoury rice. Elizabeth drank Hop House Lager and I drank Outlook Bay Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017.

0 comments

  1. I hope you can easily sort out knee and prostate. It’s great that you could combine the consultation with a hearty lunch and then a beautiful drive. The quotations on the roof supports are fun (and funny).
    The photos of the heron and then the whole series of seaside shots, culminating with the moon are simply stunning. I particularly like the third one down after the heron.

  2. What luck that heron shot was! And your moon–you can even see the shadow–is really a nice shot. Goodness, it sounds as though you have some unpleasant tests in store. Ugh. I hope all goes well and things are found to be just fine.

  3. Beautiful pics, Derrick. Well, I still have the original knees but lost the prostate about 3 yrs ago. Men should talk more openly with other men about certain issues. Good luck with your issues.

  4. I wish you well for the medication of the mild enlargement of prostrate. Our innards can at times express their displeasure in unpredictable ways. Fortunately, your GP doesn’t seem worried. Those are exquisite shots of the deepening dusk, the crescent is as sharp as a piece of jewellery.

  5. Best wishes, good luck, and prayers concerning your medical problems, Derrick. Hope all will be well.
    Love the heron in flight photo and the moon photo! Breathtaking!
    The quote from your grandad is wonderful! 🙂
    HUGS!!! 🙂

  6. Best of luck my friend. But even despite your medical issues, you take time to bring us lovely photos of your countryside and the skies that blanket it.

  7. Hope you get the knee sorted soon. I love the Isle of White. We stayed in a B&B called the Bunnery many years ago. We had our own little side cottage. It was the cutest place ever. With a smuggler’s hole too.

  8. Good luck with all the procedures! I heartily concur with the quotation. When my eldest daughter was young, she had lots of freckles, and I thought it was one of the cutest faces I had ever seen.

  9. At last. WP has not thrown me out! Anyway, continued good luck with your health issues. I’m not altogether sure my right knee isn’t giving up.

  10. Thank you for the freckles quote, Derrick; it is to be shared with my husband, as I often tell him how much I adore his freckles.
    I hope your medical issues are resolved speedily and successfully!

  11. Love those skies with the hints of purple. And the heron shot and the moon shot are wonderful. I love how you can see the whole moon. So, to be sure I understand – at the garden center restaurant, there are garden quotes as decoration – and one was by Longfellow, and one was by an employee’s grandfather? How wonderful is that?
    I applaud you for plodding through on all of the health issues. It can be a bit much – especially when it seems like one issue leads to another. Keep plugging away, old chap! (Trying to be English)

  12. May your knee and your prostate get the treatment they deserve … wait a minute, that didn’t come out the way I intended. 😀 … good luck with both. 😀

  13. I’m struggling to find trousers and flowers in the same quote. I have tried to merge my own verse with A Midsummer Night’s Dream but I fear the join shows. The problem lies with the lack of rhymes for trousers. Hants and pants seemed to offer some hope of a limerick but so far I’m not having much luck.
    “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
    Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
    An old pantaloon must not lose his trousers,
    being wary of doctors and casual browsers.”

  14. Great pics of the ocean and sky,
    That pie looks like the cooks gone a bit heavy on the Parisian essence, they meat look pretty dark;.the taters and sprouts look delicious.
    Having had a major operation for prostate cancer in 06 followed by 2 ops for the stroke in 2011 the damned catheters caused all sorts of problems and I’ve been on those Doudarts ever since.
    Of course the total gastrectonmy in 2015 didn’t help much another of the damned things inserted!
    And women think they have problems with their plumbing system!
    But onwards ever onwards…..

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