I Wish I’d Brought A Carrot.

Last night we watched the first episode of series 3 of The Crown. Apart from the political aspects of the Wilson premiership I well  remember the death of Winston Churchill in 1965.

At the time I was working close to Westminster Bridge and photographed the queue of thousands waiting to pay their respects to his lying in state. These pictures feature in this post: https://derrickjknight.com/2012/05/22/the-scent-of-a-squirrel/

This morning I printed a set of photographs for Aaron of the gate he finished building on 2nd February.

Storm Dennis wept all over our area today, but he dropped his wind this afternoon. We therefore decided to go for a drive.

Racing rivulets like this one in Angel Lane ran down the gutters and verges,

rushing round into roads like Christchurch Road which is the main thoroughfare between Lymington and New Milton.

Sometimes vehicles took a wide berth with awkward consequences when they met oncoming traffic. This could result in a bucketload of water hitting windscreens in seconds. We know. It happened to us.

In order to produce these images I needed to hoist up my trouser legs and paddle through the muddy water to the sodden verge. My shoes were a little damp when I returned to the car.

 

Our next stop was on Barrows Lane where Jackie settled the Modus among the heavily pitted reflective gravel pools while I crossed

Sway Road to photograph a flooded field alongside

the equally waterlogged Lower Mead End Road.

 

Further flowing fields flooded Flexford Lane.

The junction with South Sway Lane looked so impassable that Jackie refused to turn left to investigate the circumstances of our gimlet eyed equine friend whose home would now surely be under water. She preferred to turn round and drive uphill to approach the field from the more elevated end of the lane.

As we passed Sway Tower, we noticed that streaks of blue sky stretched above.

Back down South Sway Lane we found our equine quarry, his eye now so baleful that I felt really bad that I had not brought a carrot. Anything.

Far less field, and what there was was muddy. Shaggy sodden coat and looking in need of comfort.

Pitmore Lane was also waterlogged. You can imagine what happened to me when I perched on the verge trying to merge into the fences to take these pictures.

Around the corner on Sway Road someone had thought to spread some cones along a soggy bend.

Further back we had passed a field containing a fallen tree.

Hordle Lane is perhaps 100 yards on the opposite side of Christchurch Road to our house. In a number of locations the ditches are now flowing across the road.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious lemon chicken and scrumptious vegetable savoury rice with which she drank Peroni and I drank more of the Cahors.

 

 

91 comments

  1. Looks like that island of yours is about to sink if it gets any more rain!! That poor horse wouldn’t have anywhere to go – and you without even a carrot!! For shame, Derrick. 🙂

  2. It’s finally raining here, but in true Aussie style, they are flooding rains. Some of the NSW bushfires are extinguished. The rest are under control. I had no idea Australia had peat bogs, but it seems we do, and those and old growth logs will continue to burn for some time. I hope you had a warming shower after soaking yourself in the art of photography – and let’s hope no rodent ever dies in the water tank at Downton!

      1. No golf for Bill again today. The links course gets waterlogged, but drains quickly. But the storms cast sand over the tees, and we had some leaks through windows that wet the carpet. Minor irritation compared to what hundreds of our countrymen have endured these last months.

  3. Looks bad down your way, Derrick.
    I haven’t ventured out, Just listening to howling wind like something from Wuthering Heights and the driving rain hitting the windows was enough to keep me at home.

    We can mop up and dry off not like some of the families caught up the awful floods.
    I finished watching the final series of the Crown today ending at the Silver Jubilee. Hope they have more to offer.
    I found a good Saturday evening program, The Queen’s forgotten family, written by historians. Stuff we mostly know but a good documentary.

  4. It doesn’t look like it was a nice day for a drive. What you do for your art, Derrick (and Jackie)!
    That horse did not look happy. I’m sure you were happy to return home for your delicious dinner. 🙂

  5. I found myself wondering about the nature of flooding in the UK–whether it all flows to the sea faster or whether there are rip roarers, like we get along the Missouri and the Mississippi, not to mention the Red river–some from snow melt. That poor pony! I feel bad for his hooves not being able to get dry. You might be interested to know that my brother and I, who were around 7 and 11 at the time of Churchill’s death, watched his funeral on television.

    1. When you think that we have got off lightest in the rain count it makes us feel for those further North or West. I am fascinated that you watched the funeral – a most historic event. Thanks very much, Lisa.

  6. That’s a lot of water! So impressed with the paddling you undertook for your art. But really, Derrick – no carrot for a horse that stands ankle deep all day! For shame!! You must take two tomorrow to make amends and see if you can get that baleful eye to twinkle a bit.

  7. You’ve been getting so many storms! I feel awful about the flooding, but I have to admit that some of the photos along the flooded river were pretty. I agree about that poor horse..he needed a treat.

    I also hopped over to that post with the Churchill photos. Very interesting and really cool!

      1. I haven’t been looking at international news so I just learned from you and another blogger how big this storm is. I haven’t been looking at any news because our channels only talk about politics and who is slamming who. I have to go to BBC news to find out what is going on in your country but I’d been avoiding even that since your politicians were yelling a lot too. ? I’m going to go read more about this awful storm now.

  8. We went out for a drive too, and we found that the cones were probably more dangerous than no cones. It was certainly extremely wet. I wonder whose water we’ve got. Did it used to be a river in Mexico or a swamp in Venezuela? I wonder if there is any way of telling by looking at the microscopic life in it?

  9. Puddles, pools, ponds…that’s a lot of water! 😮

    Aw, that soggy horsey looks like he’s saying, “How much more of this can I take? Carrot? Did someone say carrot?” 😉 😀 I’m sure a carrot would have brightened his Eeyore-y mood! 😉

    HUGS!!! 🙂

  10. Oh, the poor horse. He looks so bedraggled and miserable. How long does it normally take for flooding like the to recede? With all the rain you’ve been getting, the ground must be saturated.

  11. Such dramatic pictures. So sorry you were hit by Denni. Ciara got us where I love last weekend; my house was okay, but the town is still clearing up.

  12. I can’t believe you have more rain forecast. That’s some serious flooding, and I can well imagine that all of the creatures are unhappy with it by this point. The expression on that poor pony’s face is pathetic. Is there any possibility that he might receive some carrots in the medium future? If I were there, I’d undertake the journey myself. He looks as much in need of companionship as carrots, although I suspect he’d forgo both for some dry ground.

  13. I felt damp just from enjoying your photos! The use of the pathetic looking equine as your header picture is quite the good idea. May you soon enjoy dry conditions.

  14. He looks just miserable! Wow, the flooding. Is that usual? It is usual here in a “fast” rain because the ground in Arizona doesn’t drain, but the rain is over quickly and then the water runs off through the washes and canyons. Now in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where I grew up, it’s a bit of a floodplain, so Kalamazoo is used to flooding. So whether I am in rainy country or dry country, I am followed by flooding!

  15. Gosh – that all looks very bad, Derrick. I can’t resist lecturing you about those shoes, although my sweetheart tells me off for fussing him. They don’t look waterproof. Jackie is very wise not to venture into the worst of those river roads.

  16. Am I the only one wishing that Jackie had managed photos of you with your trousers rolled up? Bedraggled horses are all very well, but I want pictures of a senior citizen behaving like A ten-year-old!

      1. I look forward to it. 🙂 I look to you as an example of how I should behave as time rolls on. Apart from the hair. Where you are positively leonine, I am a much more modest billiard ball in comparison.

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