A Fan Of Harry Potter

On another fine spring morning I took a walk to Shorefield Country Park and back.

Before arriving at the end of the back drive I photographed

a few tulips

and bunches of daffodils.

A cerulean Christchurch Bay could be seen from the entrance to Roger Cobb’s top field on Downton Lane.

Further down the road, what looked like a transparent bouquet wrapper added sparkle to the blackthorn.

I saw this because I had turned down the steeper slope from which I had reversed my steps on my last trip. This time I carried Elizabeth’s stick which helped my balance.

I had intended to continue to the end of Downton Lane, but the raucous cawing of rooks emanating from the otherwise deserted Shorefield Country Park became siren calls to the rookery that I knew would be

down a footpath from Shorefield Road to a collection of wooden holiday homes.

The red railed bridge at the far end of the picture I produced on the downward slope traverses the same stream as that crossed by the little road bridge in the image preceding that one.

The damp nature of the terrain is evidenced by the flora flanking the footpath.

It looks as if the corvine colony is at the nest building stage.

Whoever has reduced the 10 m.p.h. limit on Shorefield Road is a fan of Harry Potter.

Jackie’s savoury rice, stuffed as it is with red and yellow peppers and peas for colour; and onions, mushrooms, egg, and garlic for flavour, is a meal in itself. This evening she served it with spicy hot chilli con carne with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Valréas.

 

95 comments

  1. Lovely photos as always, Derrick, that speed sign is fun! You sure eat well, must be nice to have a chef in the house. ????

  2. I am a certified Potterhead, Derrick, what’s with reading and watching it with a younger son and five grandchildren, one after another, so I can truly appreciate the 9 3/4 speed limit.

    1. Derrick, you should read the books, they are gripping. I first began reading these to son Joss when he was a little boy. I ended up taking them to bed with me for my own bedtime reading!

  3. The Harry Potter wag reminds me of the sign in Moscow (which the authorities removed several times before reluctantly giving in and allowing it to stay that references Bulgakov’s ‘Master and Margarita’ …. ‘Don’t talk to Strangers’ it says, referencing the Devil who walks amongst the muscovite people in the novel …. I walked miles and miles round and round in circles to find it. I would walk miles to find yours too. And I would happily walk that walk which has made me happy!

  4. Great sequence – you have Spring :D. Our snow heaps are still receding & lakes are beginning to thaw. Southern Ontario didn’t have a consistent winter & they are much further ahead.

    Looks like more than 19 corvids in the tree. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

  5. I have seen funny speed limit signs all over the world and once, when I asked a policeman explained them to me. The odd numbers, like 9 3/4 stick in peoples mind, they remember not just the speed limit but also where it was. On the contrary, most of us overlook speed signs with familiar numbers.

  6. What a gorgeous day to be out and about. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. Having never read or seen Harry Potter, I can’t comment, but I trust it’s funny. 🙂

    1. Platform 9 3/4 at London’s Kings Cross is key to the books. I commuted from that station to Newark, Nottinghamshire for 19 years and knew the imagined spot well. Thanks very much, Jill

  7. How lovely to have a view of the sea within walking distance. I noticed yesterday a crow with a mouthful of nesting material, so crows on both sides of the Atlantic are about the business of homesteading.

  8. “Corvine colony”–I like that and a nice way to describe such industrious but also raucous, scheming, dive bombing hordes…:) Or perhaps rooks are gentler towards humans…. Nests aplenty–they have been busy! Excellent that you get out to walk so much. I do enjoy your countryside a great deal.

  9. Your part of England always looks so undisturbed, Derrick. It could be any time of the 20th or 21st century. Lovely to see.

    Hope you’re well.

  10. Perhaps the signpost offers a speedy access to the platform harbouring Hogwarts Express. It is hilarious to the core. Perhaps those raven or Dementors? Thanks for those peepholes to tranquillity.

  11. What a treat to the eyes from a new follower of your blog in Arizona. We are just awash in yellow blooms of every cactus and desert shrub, terrible for allergies, but at least it is a riot of color. But oh, the lushness of green which I so miss having grown up in Michigan. Thanks so much for sharing such an abundance of beauty. Susan Alcantara

  12. In one of the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore says, “But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

    You and Jackie…your photos, your words…are light in this dark time. Thank you!
    (((HUGS))) and <3 🙂

    1. I agree… Derrick, your photos and words are a light in these dark and not-yet-spring times here in Montana. I, too, thank you! <3

  13. I’m glad you carried Elizabeth’s stick to help your balance. Walking sticks can be very cool. I’m not sure about the Harry Potter realm, but I can imagine you as Gandalf in LOTR with a magic walking staff. 🙂

    1. 🙂 The imaginary platform 9 3/4 at London’s King’s Cross station was key to the magic world. With all the barbers closed my hair will probably get long enough again. Thank you very much, Joanna.

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