Taking Aim

Very early this morning, Jackie drove me to New Hall Hospital for a follow up visit to Mr Kask, the knee surgeon, who pronounced himself satisfied with progress. The right knee is already more flexible than the left.

Our Lucky pheasant takes a violent exception to the others beyond the mirror.

This morning, Matthew took these two photographs of him looking askance at the enemy.

Later he pecked away at his lookalike intruder,

and was really taken aback at the sight of Matthew’s reflection taking aim.

Having stayed overnight once more and remained talking much of the day, Mat, Tess, and Poppy left late this afternoon.

This evening we dined on salami pizza with extra cheese served with plentiful fresh salad.

68 comments

  1. I’m glad the knee is progressing well. It’s fun to have a wild animal to watch. I hope the pheasant stays on for a bit. It may be he thinks he’s found paradise.

  2. What good news! Your replaced right knee is more flexible than the one God gave you? Congratulations!! It means you have been a model student in your physical therapy follow-up! Matthew’s photos are wonderful. I love that beautiful pheasant! Oh, and pizza… I will fix that for our dinner tonight. Thanks for the inspiration.

  3. It’s nice that the pheasant is sticking around – though he might not if that fellow in the mirror keeps popping up to scare him……. Time to settle in for some quiet reflection now Derrick?

  4. Glad to hear that your knee is mending on schedule, and, of course, that the family support is there for your and Jackie at this time. The pheasant is beautiful, and so is his reflection!

  5. Happy to see that your knee is improving, Derrick. We had a big, lovely mirror in a flower bed and had to remove it because of “our pheasant”. He came back day and night to check if the enemy was still there and he went absolutely bananas when he had a look …

  6. I am so glad to hear your knee is mending well, Derrick!

    I love the series of photos of your visiting pheasant. That is a good catch in the last shot with the pheasant and Matthew’s reflection. πŸ™‚

  7. OH MY GOSH!!! YAY! I am so happy to hear about your knee, Derrick! πŸ™‚

    And Lucky! What amazing photos of him looking in the mirror! He decided he was having a good hair day! πŸ˜‰ πŸ˜€ As if, he had anything to worry about…handsome fellow he is! πŸ™‚ That last photo is very cool of photographer and photograph-ee! πŸ˜€

    I’m so glad you have had family with you!

    Pizza and plentiful-salad sound perfect!
    (I fixed salmon and salad for us to dine on.)
    (((HUGS))) and <3

  8. Good to hear that the knee is making progress. Great pheasant pictures – particularly the one showing Matt with camera. When we went to Gigrin Farm to see the kites feeding they had a mirror in the farmyard and a peacock which kept attacking it.

  9. So glad to hear that your knee is well on the mend. Happy news is always good.

    I am thinking that pheasant is called Lucky (isn’t that what you said Poppy called him?) because he came when you needed a bit of fun to give your hearts a rest and a smile.

  10. One year, I had a male cardinal who decided to do battle with the “other” cardinal living in my car’s side mirror. The poor thing was destroying himself, so I finally put a cloth cover over the mirrors and took them off when I was ready to go somewhere. I hope your pheasant is smarter than that cardinal.

    Good news on that knee, for sure. A good doctor’s report and pizza on the same day is especially good.

  11. There is a bit of sunshine on the knee front, and it’s wonderful. Is the pheasant too possessive or lonesome? Monkeys with mirror are a fun to watch! I suspect they are aware of the reflection being their own. Not so with the birds though.

    1. Thanks very much, Uma. I suspect the pheasant is a bit of both. I remember seeing a film about monkeys many years ago. Just like small children it seemed that if they put their hands over their eyes they thought we couldn’t see them

  12. I can only echo the sentiments of all my fellow bloggers above Derrick!

    Seems your talents with a camera are inherited in Matthew? πŸ˜‰ Please pass on my congratulations, Lucky is a superb specimen and beautifully captured.

    No resting on your laurels from the Doc now – keep going!

  13. It seems Lucky has adopted you. It is weird to witness a bird preoccupied by itself in a mirror. I’ve seen smaller birds doing it in my sweetheart’s garden, but nothing so splendid. He has a wall of mirrors with branches hung infront of them to stop birds flying straight into them and getting hurt, but the odd one takes exception to its mirror image and tries to scare itself off. You really want to be able to say ‘don’t waste energy fighting your own shadow’, but of course you can’t.

    I’m glad the knee is doing better than you perhaps expected.

  14. Great photos of the pheasant Derrick…
    Good to know that your leg/knee is mending well……….
    I hope you And Jackie are coping ok …………
    I wrote a couple of lines years ago…..
    “And images of family and friends, but they’re smiling as if nothing’s wrong
    Oh how we mysteriously grin, for that camera pointed at our souls of song”

  15. Great news about your knee! The pheasant photos are amusing. I wonder if he really thought it was an intruder. I’ve heard of birds attacking outside car mirrors.

  16. I saw a turtle in a fish tank behaving in a similar way the other day. It must be so confusing for them.

    Anyway, good to hear about the progress with at least one of your knees.

  17. Delighted to hear the hospital visit was a positive one. If your pheasant sticks around a little longer perhaps he might get used to the miror. At the indoor Tropical World Centre in our city, we noticed a beautiful large bird walking up and down in front of the mirror, often standing still as though admiring himself. I wonder if he too once attacked the intruder.

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