The Magic Circle

Yesterday afternoon I was unable to find my camera lens cap. I searched everywhere, including the garden, to no avail.

This morning I spotted its outline in the hem of my dressing gown. I couldn’t fathom how it had got there, or how to extract it.

Slowly, it dawned on me. Two days ago I had photographed the garden whilst wearing the garment. Yesterday, similarly togged, I had spilt coffee all over myself. This had necessitated the Maintenance Department carrying out a magnificent laundering process.

Clearly I had pocketed the lens cap whilst using the camera in the garden. But it wasn’t in the pocket; and there was no apparent split in the hem –

not until I removed the garment and found a split beyond the neck.

The washing machine had behaved like a member of the Magic Circle and vigorously transported my magic circle.

On a warm and sunny afternoon we brunched at The Beach Hut Café at Friars Cliff.

A surprisingly speedy dredger sped off across Christchurch Bay in the direction of Mudeford.

The inevitable boy threw stones into the water;

a small girl stood by the shoreline contemplating getting her feet wet, took the plunge, and thought better of it;

another, having gingerly negotiated the stony beach, was relieved to feel sand beneath her toes;

others enjoyed digging;

or simply wandering about.

One group dried their clothes on a breakwater, while

a surfing lesson was underway;

and distant kayakers approached.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious spinach soup and fresh, crusty, bread. I would refer anyone who thinks that may not have been sufficiently substantial back to what we consumed for brunch. Mind you, Jackie did drink Wairau Cove Sauvignon Blanc 2017, while I enjoyed another glass of the Garnacha

73 comments

  1. It’s great to eat out now and again (and it gives the Head Gardener a break now and then). But can I bother her to find out the ingredients of her spinach soup?

  2. You now have a magically clean lens cap! That brunch certainly looks like it would keep you full for the day. Spinach soup and crusty bread sounds delicious!
    The children at the beach are delightful!

  3. “What goes around comes around. We stake our reputation on it!” – Amazing Merry-Go-Round Inc.
    Great sequence. It resembles parts of the Lake Huron shoreline, but without April’s snow &ice.

  4. “Never underestimate the power of inanimate objects”. You were lucky the lens cap was benign, otherwise it would have taught the inside of the washing machine how to go wrong at critical moments.

    1. On radio, some one suggested the way to solve the problem of rising sea levels was to fine the parents of children who threw pebbles in the water. Genius.

  5. I’m glad the washing machine saved the cap! It’s funny how things fall into bits of garments. Your seashore pictures breathe of summer…though that’s not yet here. Glad you had such good eating today.

  6. That is magical indeed! You have a playful washing machine there. I may be a photographer of no consequence but I am an avid collector of photography equipment and spares having at least one spare lens cap for each lens I have. Hell, I even filters for lenses I have sold away. Those candid seaside photographs beckon me to a beach but they are at least 500 miles away from where I live, maybe more.

  7. Oh! 😛 HA! This made me snort-laugh! 😀 I never would have thought it was hiding there and then to be revealed in the wise washing machine! Quite a game of Hide and Seek going on. 😀

    Brunch looks hearty and delicious! 🙂

    Love seeing all the folk enjoying the sun, sand, and water! 🙂

    Jackie’s Spinach soup sounds like the perfect nighttime meal! 🙂
    HUGS to both of you!!! 🙂

  8. Yes, that was definitely a hearty brunch.
    Children never tire of playing on the beach–throwing rocks, digging in the sand, and wading in the water. Great photos.

  9. We’re well into Autumn here but it was definitely beach weather – 34 C today! I suspect it was not quite that in Friar’s Cliff?? 😉

    Loved the start of the post….. Is that a lens cap in your dressing gown , or are you just pleased to see me? 😉

    Wise move on the evening meal! 😉

  10. Very funny about the lens cap. I suspected one of your little gremlins, not a washing machine. When my son was a toddler he deposited a bunch of my jewelry into a door frame through the hole the latch went into. We had to take out the door frame to get the stuff back. I would never have know if I hadn’t caught him at it.

  11. Washing machines are responsible for every household ever invented going missing … the good news is that they eventually cough the things up after a suitable (in their opinion) period of time has elapsed! 😀

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