The Manure Factory

This windy, warm, and hazy afternoon Jackie drove me to Milford on Sea where the car parks are now open

although the Public Conveniences are not. The sign warning people to keep their distance applies to the empty bench.

Similar signs line the sparsely populated promenade.

Two gentlemen approached with their dogs. Only one of the owners could manage the shingle.

Boisterous billowing waves battered breakwaters and rocks while black-headed gulls flew overhead and kite surfers could be seen in the distance at Barton.

A single family group braced themselves against the breeze

as I had done earlier

while photographing the sea.

The verges along Park Lane nurtured banks of sweeping thrift, grasses, moon daises and dandelions while round the corner a tidy row of calendula lined a concrete wall.

From here we drove on to South Sway Lane where

a cock pheasant now strutted about Gimlet’s field and

across the road, fully equipped with Personal Protective Equipment, stood the horse which we believe is our manure factory. The rug protects from the cold nights we are currently experiencing; the face and ear masks keep the flies away. We carried off three bags of the animal’s prime product.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty and wholesome liver and bacon casserole; crunchy carrots; tender cabbage; and creamy swede and potato mash. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden while I quaffed Valle Central reserva privada Syrah 2019.

This post is my second effort with the new editor. Despite my good friend Tangental’s efforts to guide me I have been unable to change the font.

110 comments

  1. Lovely photos of the sea and more! You can opt out and still use the Legacy editor which is what I am going to do.

  2. And you’ve lost your header pic! The new photo editor does make lovely big, clear photos though. Loved to see your manure factory looking at you so intensely. Now that’s personal service! It looks a tad chilly in your part of the world today!

      1. When I saw that was the header I knew I wasn’t going potty – it made me laugh and I would have remembered having seen it when I got to that part of the post – but as you now know I was just too quick for my own good!

    1. You must have been quick off the mark. When I published I forgot the picture, noticed it immediately, then edited an addition. It worked at this end and Jackie has just seen it on hers. X

      1. After I had posted my comment and the page reloaded it came back with the header pic attached. I realised you must have made the adjustments while I was reading and writing 🙂 I was quick off the mark, your post fell into my inbox just as I was about to close up and head off for our morning walk. I decided to spend another ten minutes on line with you and let Siddy practise his waiting.

  3. I am not looking forward to using the new editor, but I did enjoy this post with the sea, the horse, lone pheasant and fine dining.

  4. A wonderful breezy day at the beach — it looks pretty chilly, but I love the gray of the stormy sea and the clouds!

  5. I’d say you were windswept, Derrick. Great shots! We’re getting ready to get hit by a severe thunderstorm with a tornado warning. I hope our hummingbirds aren’t blown away.

  6. Those are beautiful photos from you and Jackie, Derrick. I especially enjoyed the coast and the wild, grey sea today. It matches our own weather here.

    Eric the Pheasants’ relative in Gimlet’s field looks in fine form, too. Has Eric still been sighted in your gardens?

    That manure factory equine looks like he is ready for anything! 🙂

    1. Thanks very much, Lavinia. We haven’t seen Eric for a while but there has been an occasional squawking followed by a barrage balloon shape lumbering off into the distance. 🙂

  7. Okay, your secret weapon has been exposed. That beautiful garden benefits from prime horse manure, and lots of hard work from the Head Gardener.

  8. You’re looking windswept and interesting, Derrick. If it’s any consolation, I still use the classic editor – I haven’t had time to look at the new one! I’m sure I almost drowned at Milford on Sea – just the once.

  9. The result of the new editor looks promising. I found available fonts under the ‘design’ section in the left hand menu on my home page.

  10. I particularly liked the black-headed gull in flight. We don’t have them in these parts. Mr. Pheasant is looking very fine, very fine indeed.

    For what it’s worth, I like the front for this post. It’s easier to read than the prior font.

    1. I thought exactly the same. He looks as though he needs a knight astride his back. I recently learned that there are jousting tournaments held here in Texas — who knew?

      1. Oh there are renaissance festivals and such around here where people dress up like the end of the middle ages and eat really terrible food. Horses and jousting are involved, though not in a serious way. I think there’s a drawing in my copy of Doyle’s Sir Nigel that look like that horse…

  11. It looks like you’re holding your own against the wind! We got some manure from a farm a few years ago and found out later our vegetables didn’t do well because the horses had eaten grass with a herbicide or something crazy like that. I love the thrift, grasses, moon daises and dandelions.

  12. This new editor is coming through well on my laptop, especially when I’m projecting on to the large monitor. Not so happy on the iPad, but I’ve often had trouble with that with different WP updates. The photos overlap and obscure the text. I’m still using the legacy from a couple of changes ago. You mentioned elsewhere that photos in collages were getting cropped, and I found that too. Which is the reason I’ve been taking mostly landscape and putting them up in slideshow.

  13. I couldn’t get any photos to display in the tiled gallery – I clicked on a block called masonry and couldn’t seem to get anything but masonry to display!

      1. Well, if you find out how to get photos to actually appear, please let me know! It’s probably simple and I’m missing something obvious!

          1. No, sorry Derrick – I meant when I do my own post I can’t get my photos to upload! Sorry – I can see your lovely photos!

  14. As usual great photos :-). Bracing British Weather, comes to mind!! Makes me chilly looking at the windswept sea. Glad you can get out and about.

  15. I loved seeing the sea pictures again and I’m glad visitors are staying away and leaving the area safe for locals.

    WordPress have confused a lot of people by saying they are retiring the Classic Editor when all they are doing is making the Block Editor the default. Apparently a link will be available on June 1st to continue with the familiar Classic if we wish.

    I’ve used Blocks several times but usually go back to the Classic simply because it’s quicker. I’ve yet to see an advantage in using Blocks, though I’m told the real advantage is to the back end developers there is less maintenance involved with Blocks!

    1. For me the main advantage is the gallery system – you can post a bunch of photos with one click. Previously they would often mess up the Header Picture and I had to struggle to get the right one up with the right crop. Now they use the whole photo and so far have got it right. Also viewings have been down for six months and are now back up to where they were before I reverted to the Classic, which seems now to be called Legacy. Thanks very much, Sue.

      1. Again WordPress continues to confuse everyone with their two Classic editors. I think the Legacy was the predecessor to the one we have now, and is still available via the dashboard. I believe GC still uses that one, it was before my time, I cut my teeth on the ‘Classic’.
        You have inspired me to go back to the Blocks, though I don’t include as many images as you.

        1. It takes some working out. Also I have discovered that single pictures can’t be enlarged unless you stick them in as a gallery block. I did that for the first one only in this post as a test. That worked – but not the other singles. Could be essential for a “Where’s Nugget?” 🙂

          1. I have a previous free site that I no longer use so I marked it private and I use it now as an experimental site where I try things out, though some things need to be published because preview doesn’t always give a true picture.

            I’m assuming individual themes might make a difference too.
            Plus things look different on phones, tablets etc when compared to the best view in a PC. I have a great iPhone with a large screen but I can never understand why people use a phone as their main device to view, definitely inferior to a ‘real’ screen!

            I shall have a play around this afternoon with Blocks again. Thank you, Derrick.

          2. The first school where son Joss taught had a website that was edited by the Block system. I edited the site and kept it up-to-date because they were all so hopeless! The blocks weren’t as extensive as the WP blocks, but I much preferred editing my own school’s website site which in comparison was really simple and not at all time consuming.

  16. I love the one of you and the lens pountijg out to sea!
    Great action shot!
    And my new pup and I also had liver for dinner –

  17. Beautiful photos! I’m so glad the wind didn’t sweep you up, up, and away!

    Your type is clear, but I hope you can find and use the font you want. All of this WP stuff can be so frustrating.

    I love seeing the dogs taking their Human-Beans for a walk! 🙂

    And that horse looks ready for anything! 🙂 So glad The Manure Factory has not closed down during COVID-19! 😉

    For dinner, we made something we hadn’t made in years, so it was fun. A beef and veggie Chimichanga…with black beans on the side.

    (((HUGS))) 🙂

    1. I had to look up chimichanga. It looks delicious. You first comment echoed what Jackie said as I embarked – “don’t get blown away please”. The current type is supposed to be the easiest to read on a computer but I prefer the elegance of Georgia which is no longer included in the options anyway. Thanks for your font feedback – and everything else, Carolyn. X

  18. I enjoyed your alliterative prose–it certainly looked blustery. I love photos of the sea like that. And that horse looks so funny covered like that.
    Good luck with the continuing effort with WP.

  19. I am so enjoying your blog, Derrick, and the beautiful photographs and commentary! I was curious as to what mashed swedes are – only to discover it is another name for rutabaga. Off to the store I go today, as I had not bought turnips or rutabaga in ages – discovered all sorts of recipes online, mashing them as you and Jackie did with potatoes, but also a lovely au gratin, even oven fries! You never know who may be dining across the ocean on a theme and variation of the Culinary Queen’s repertoire! Have a lovely weekend!

  20. I really love the pheasant and the
    “tidy row of calendula lined a concrete wall”.
    What an interesting day you had!
    Thanks for sharing it.

Leave a Reply