Passing Pedestrian Pairs

On another hot, sunny, day

I took a stroll around the garden, passing the Dead End Path;

the Heligan Path;

the Rose Garden;

the Palm Bed:

and the Cryptomeria Bed – where’s Jackie in this shot?.

Jackie weeded,

planted,

and generally tidied,

including rearranging pots to her liking. She photographed some of these herself.

and a comma taking a pause on an owl,

while I photographed some of the frilly flamenco flounces flung among the tulips

Soon afterwards I walked along Hordle Lane to the paddock and back.

Various wild flowers line the verges.

Ten days ago when these wilting daffodils were young and fresh the bluebells now fronting them still lay inchoate beneath the soil.

A sunlit dock leaf took me back seventy years to “when I was a lad” and our mother told us that these, when rubbed onto the affected skin, would nullify nettle stings.

In fact they do not neutralise the venom, but with vigorous rubbing the moist sap does ease the pain.

Gaps in the hedgerows offer flanking views such as this wind-sculpted tree,

and neatly framed field.

The ditches are mostly bone dry, but certain stretches contain scummy smatterings of residual fluid.

Two strapping steeds grazed in the paddock

one corner of which was now carpeted with pine-cone piles.

On my return trip a pedalling cyclist sang peacefully to himself.

Later, hearing a pedestrian pair approaching from behind, exchanging pleasantries, I crossed the road to let them pass. They, in turn, were overtaken by a car,

by another bicyclist,

and by another approaching ambulant couple. The requisite distance was maintained.

This evening we dined on succulent roast pork; roasted new potatoes in their skins; crisp sage and onion stuffing; crunchy carrots and firm Brussels sprouts; and tasty red cabbage, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2018.

84 comments

  1. Clearly it is time to rename tulips as ‘fulips’! 🙂 I found Jackie easily enough despite her clever colour coordination. (I’m relieved to be able to say that given my struggle to find Aaron last week) The trouble with undergoing lock down in spring is the human impulse to get out and about after a long winter. I think we may have it a tad easier here.

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    1. Thanks very much, Pauline. Your suggestion would certainly have helped the alliteration. Well spotted. You are right about spring and lockdown – we are so lucky that we can get out. X

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  2. I loved the video of the nettles. Was that your voice ad poetry, Derrick? And the disclaimer… good to know. But, no far taking butt pictures of Jackie!!

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    1. I claim no authorship of the poem, Jan. Found it on Google. The Head Gardener approved the shots for publication – I thought it only fair to ask 🙂 Thanks very much.

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      1. Ours don’t use any pesticides or insecticides so that the grass verges and meadows remain full of poppies, daisies, dandelions and whatever.

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  7. I will not believe dock leaves are anything other than a cure for nettles whatever hokum google tells you – it’s fake news! Lovely piccies of your magnificent garden. Does Jackie every photograph upright?

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  10. I spotted Jackie right away for some reason, upper left. The garden is beautiful. I weeded in my own today and brought home lettuces, oregano, arugula, and parsley. I’m ready for salad! Some people distance and some people don’t. I find I have to be eagle-eyed when out.

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  13. I laughed and laughed at the little “Dead End Path” sign. Presumably, we’re not traveling that sort of path, however wearisome the one we’re on may seem. The tumble of color in the gardens is magnificent. I don’t think I’d ever weary of seeing it, although working in it might be something else!

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  14. Thank you for the ground tour and Jackie doing her important work! It’s good to see the country too when so many are in lockdown in cityscapes 💛🙏

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  17. Jackie is placed towards the top left corner of the frame, close to the house. She appears preoccupied with matters of the garden. The pandemic too is sculpting social consciousness of people. Isn’t the steed oblivious of the hullabaloo in human world?

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  19. Your neatly framed field photo is phabulous…er…fabulous! 😉 🙂
    Thank you to Jackie for wearing white and blue…easier to spot than if she was wearing green! 😀
    HUGS!!! 🙂

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  20. Your comma/owl photo, Derrick, looks like some unusual wading bird with a long green/grey bill. Plenty of colour and all good cheer for my Easter morning viewing.

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  25. A delightful feast of garden flowers and wild flowers – we certainly need our fill of nature’s bounty to see us through these strange times. We have resorted to the dock leaf trick on a good number of occasions – what a beautiful green leaf in the sunlight!

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  31. ”He wer a great baker wer our dad!” Almost a Yorkshire Anthem!
    Many a dock leaf eased the sting on my stinging mottled legs!

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    1. Despite what the experts say, we all seem to remember it working, Sue. Thanks very much. My cousin, Jean recently sent me a photo of my 96 year old Uncle Roy baking jam tarts. His Dad, my maternal grandfather, was a Yorkshireman.

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      1. Longevity seems to run in your maternal family!
        It definitely did work. It almost seems as though every time we went outside we’d end up with nettle stings, we must have been slow learners! On the other hand maybe it was the faith we had in those Dock leaves!

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  32. I thought Jackie was looking for Easter eggs; she was bent down in almost all the shots except for the one with her tucked far away in the distance. The poem was a nice treat! You’re always full of surprises.

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