Month: July 2020

A Tug Of War

Ron has e-mailed me four more scans of the early negatives of his late father, Ray Salinger.

My beautiful picture

The first image, made in 1948, is of the Blandford Forum, a West Country Class steam engine that pulled the train that took my brother in law to school until he left in 1967. Ron points out that the burnt banks are wooded, now that steam and cinders have ceased to singe them. When I commuted to London by electric train a common cause of delay during autumn was “leaves on the line” for, it seemed, funnel furnaces no longer set them aflame.

Another ridiculed excuse, for winter commuter train tardiness, was “the wrong kind of snow”. I would hope that the precipitation blanching the roof of The Walkford

My beautiful picture

in this next image was of the right kind. It was inside the bar of this hotel that Ray’s first set, featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2020/07/08/in-keyhaven-harbour/ was photographed.

http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Strong_%26_Co_Ltd has this entry for

‘Strong & Co. of Romsey Ltd, Horsefair Brewery, Romsey, Hampshire.

Founded c.1778. Brewery and 23 tied houses leased to Thomas Strong 1858, who bought the business in 1883. Registered November 1894.

Strongs were acquired by Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1969 with 940 public houses. Brewing ceased at Romsey in 1981. Partly demolished in the early 1990s.’

The Fighting Cocks pub at Godshill, visited in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/03/05/carry-on-walking/ is another popular hostelry once part of the Strong chain;

a chain of strong men engaged in a tug of war in the first of these two images of the SRDE (Signals Research and Development) sports ground at Somerford. There is a faint possibility that the little boy in the roller coaster is Ron.

The SRDE, where Ray worked, was a pioneer of satellite communications. Wikipedia tells us that ‘The Signals Research and Development Establishment (SRDE) was a British government military research establishment, based in Christchurch, Dorset from 1943 until it merged with the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) in Malvern, Worcestershire to form the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) in 1976. Its focus was military communications (signals).’ The sports ground, now owned by Siemens, is still at Somerford, once part of the eponymous estate.

This afternoon I wandered up and down the paths collecting up refuse to transport to the compost bins and dead-heading roses and poppies.

In the Palm Bed on one side of the Gazebo Path we have these new alliums; on the other the eucalyptus trunks support hanging baskets spilling petunias.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s potent pork paprika; flavoursome savoury rice; and tender mange touts with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Squinzano.

Good Gardening Weather

Today, still cool, featured intermittent sunshine while cotton clouds pierced by cerulean patches sailed sedately overhead.

We carried out the usual garden maintenance including watering, planting, pruning, and dead-heading.

Jackie smiled when she first spied that I had come out to join her, but she didn’t see the camera hanging round my neck. I have taken to wearing it in order not to miss such photographic opportunities.

Here we have the peach rose, a couple of hemerocallis, sweet peas, white dahlias, sidalcea, yucca, and fuchsia Shrimp Cocktail. As usual each individual image is labelled in the gallery which can be viewed full size by clicking the box underneath it. Further enlargement is possible by additional clicks.

Mauve gladioli stand beneath the clematis covering the Agriframes Arch.

Shropshire Lad and linaria purpurea checked themselves out in the mirror placed to extend the Rose Garden views.

Here Jackie carried out pruning, the results of which I would clear up later.

The marguerites alongside the hydrangea in the corner of the front garden will unfortunately need to be cut down soon because they obscure the view of the Chauffeuse when driving out.

Bees enjoyed flitting from one verbena bonariensis to another.

We now have more robins than we can identify. This is not Nugget.

It was a good gardening day.

For a while now, it has not been pleasant enough for us to enjoy our evening drinks in the Rose Garden. This changed today.

From my seat in the north east corner I could see the hemerocallis in the Cryptomeria Bed and the lilies above Mamma Mia catching the evening sun.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty lamb curry; savoury rice; salt and pepper prawns; and vegetable samosas. I also enjoyed the chilli bhaji. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Corte Aurelia Squinzano Riserva 2015.

Pony Tracks

On another dank day I worked in the morning on one of Jackie’s treasures.

This tiny 5cm x 7cm print of Flo as a baby was made by Becky in about 1997. It seemed in need of a certain amount of refurbishment.

I scanned it,

freshened it up a bit, and made a print of 5in x 7in. The original remains displayed on its stand. Our granddaughter is grasping “Wat”, a toy rat given by Alda.

Had it really been a late afternoon in autumn when we took a drive into the forest the light would have been so much brighter that the oppressive leaden gloom we experienced.

I disembarked from just outside Burley where I communed with

three ponies as they wandered backwards and forwards across the road and into the landscape, rich in heather and gorse. Already the bracken was acquiring tints of burnished gold normally associated with September. Cattle were also to be seen in the murky distance. I found the ponies’ well- trodden tracks quite helpful as I traversed the lumpy terrain.

A little nearer the village we passed a mare and foal foraging on the verge. Naturally Jackie parked where she could and I walked back with my camera.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy lamb jalfrezi and tasty savoury rice with which she drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Saint Emilion. I was also treated to what we must now call the Culinary Queen’s chilli bhaji, the purpose of which is to perk up my portion. The rice was fried in the same oil as had been the bhaji. For Jackie this was unfortunate – not so for me.

In Keyhaven Harbour

Yesterday Ron told me about his discovery of a collection of negatives made by his father, Ray Salinger, in the 1940s and ’50s.

Ron scanned these high quality photographs of drinkers in The Walkford pub and e-mailed them to me. We think the man in the apron is the milkman who has just delivered the milk the barman is holding – by horse and cart, of course.

On a humid-damp, dull, overcast afternoon, after a visit to the pharmacy at Milford on Sea, Jackie drove us to

Keyhaven where I walked along the harbour wall.

Strong winds swept across the high tide surface, sending rippling waves shunting weedy scum seething against the stonework,

and sweeping bent grasses alongside.

I watched various boats speeding around the harbour; and a

sailboarder prepare his steed and weave his way among the moored craft.

A boisterous dog enjoyed chasing a floating stick its owner kept throwing for the purpose;

a pair of swans drank their fill.

Perhaps in consideration of the engineers involved in cable work, the owners of a house nearby had placed a polite notice at the start of a neatly mown drive across the sward.

We continued along Saltgrass Lane and observed walkers on Hurst Spit.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy lamb curry, savoury rice, and plain parathas with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Saint Emilion. I was given a special addition of a dish of fried onions, chillis, and garlic to increase the heat of my portion.

78 Today

Today, although windy, the weather was bright and dry enough for us to spend most of our time in the garden with a succession of visitors bearing birthday gifts.

Helen, Bill, Shelly and Ron were the morning contingent. It was particularly poignant for Helen and Bill, for this was their first visit away from home since the lockdown began. Apart from the first of these photographs featuring the photographer they were taken by Helen who e-mailed them to me. Jackie took the first one.

This afternoon Danni, Ella, and Elizabeth arrived.

For Elizabeth this was another first. She had not seen our garden since February, so naturally had a walk around.

Danni had made some excellent scones; and brought an original birthday cake, jelly and ice cream.

Even with Jackie’s help Danni was unable to light the cake candle outside, therefore took it indoors to do so. Observant readers may discern that the cake is a pork pie.

Ella was not much more than a year old when she last entered the house.

Nevertheless she made a beeline for the cupboard in which her favourite mice are kept. As she stood there indicating my new chair I wondered whether she had missed the old one.

Later, from inside, she showed Bear the patio group.

Outside, she had trouble deciding whether the scones and her face should have strawberry jam or clotted cream applied first – that is, to adopt the Devonian or the Cornish method.

She climbed onto the bench in the Wisteria Arbour; perused the library through the window; pointed at the empty bird feeder; and, cuddling Bear, peered at her mother’s reflection in the mirror. Danni e-mailed these last four pictures she had produced.

This evening we dined on succulent fillet steaks provided by Shelly and Ron; oven chips, peas, grilled tomatoes, and fried onions; followed by Danni’s jelly and ice cream, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank a smooth Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2017 especially purchased by the Culinary Queen for the occasion.

“No Finger Food, Thanks”

On a largely overcast morning Nugget kept us company in the Rose Garden as Jackie dug up spent poppies and other weeds, while I dead-headed.

Although he did carry off a squirming earwig beneath a carpet rose bush in order to dissect, devour, and digest it in peace, he was mostly happy darting like a bullseye-bound bolt to trap tiny insects on the wing. The last picture in this gallery is “Where’s Nugget?” (91).

We continued our work after lunch. As always, when Jackie sits down our little robin stops catching flies and pops over to see what the Head Gardener is up to. On this occasion she stretched out her hand. “No finger food, thanks”, he tweeted, and neatly nipped aside, pretending he had spied a tasty insect beside the low brick begonia-bearing plinth.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy Chilli Con Carne and colourful savoury rice with which she drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Colle Marrone

Ella And The Ladybirds

Strong winds howled throughout the night, and did not abate until midday – then only temporarily. A warm sun put in intermittent appearances.

Among Aaron’s tasks was weeding the Back Drive.

“Where’s Aaron?” (10). Bigification might help with this one.

Here are the results of my garden photoshoot. “Where’s Jackie?” (4) is the picture containing the greenhouse. As usual individual photographs are titled in the galleries. Each image may be viewed full size by clicking the box beneath it, after which further enlargement is possible.

During a break I joined the real gardeners who were discussing developments.

Danni, Andy, and Ella paid us a welcome visit this afternoon.

Our great-niece, when noticing that she was being photographed in the act of demonstrating her prowess with a knife and fork, swiftly adopted her scrunched up poser’s smile. Soon afterwards, well nappy-bolstered, she sat comfortably on a bed of gravel and played passing the ornamental crystal with her Dad. When she decided it was time to step down she clung to Andy for balance. Having sought out the ladybird she had discovered on her last visit, she retrieved both it and its companion and, one in each hand, carried them around. She is seen here kissing one before climbing onto a bench, without releasing either, and conversing with them – possibly inviting them for a ride on the buggy improvised from a garden hose.

This evening we dined on oven fish and chips, purchased before we knew Mrs Pink’s was open again, spicy prawns, pickled onions and gherkins, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Colle Marrone.

Sea Foam

I spent much of the afternoon of this humid-damp day finishing reading

The author is one of New Zealand’s finest. ‘Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) is one of the most highly regarded short story writers of the 20th century. A contemporary of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and D H Lawrence, she played her part in shaping modernism by experimenting with style, subject matter and theme in a body of work that re-defined the genre. As well as short stories she also wrote letters, reviews and journals in a prolific career which was cut short by her untimely death at the age of 34.’ This quotation comes from https://www.bl.uk/people/katherine-mansfield which describes her rather tragic story.

My view of her stories is that, with fluent, uncluttered, prose she describes her detailed observation of intimate snippets of lives and her surroundings including those absorbed on her travels. The tales selected by Jane Miller are of varying lengths. Three incorporate one particular family, suggesting to me that these could perhaps have formed part of the novel the author never penned.

My own tenuous link with Ms Mansfield is described in https://derrickjknight.com/2018/03/30/colour-coordinated/

What impresses me most about Jennifer Campbell’s illustrations to this volume is

that within such bold, stylised, outlines she manages to convey the range of emotions reflecting the writer’s own variety.

Late in the gloomy afternoon Jackie drove us down to Milford on Sea where the south westerly wind was surprisingly warm as it whipped

sea foam through the rocks at the seething water’s edge, up into the air, swirling past my nose, and rolling across the promenade, where

walkers enjoyed the view,

while others could be glimpsed through the unseasonable gloom against the backdrop of Hurst Castle. I chose not to brighten up these photographs to demonstrate what the light was like on this early summer afternoon.

This evening we dined on succulent roast pork; wholesome sage and onion stuffing; crisp roast potatoes, some of them sweet, and Yorkshire pudding; crunchy carrots; and tender greens, with tasty gravy. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Colle Marrone Appassimento 2016, a powerful, complex, Italian red wine.

Clamouring For His Close-up

When I began my perambulation round the garden this morning Jackie observed that I was photographing similar subjects to her. She had taken her walk even earlier.

We therefore each produced a gallery in changing light.

This is Jackie’s set. The galleried images each bear identifying titles, some with further descriptions. Click on any image to access them. Each may be viewed full size by clicking on the boxes beneath them. Further enlargement may then be achieved.

Here are my offerings. Please don’t miss what I think is a meadow brown butterfly – see Tootlepedal’s comment below – it’s a Small Heath.

Our HSL chairs were delivered today. We are both more comfortable and, for the first time in my life I have a high enough seat, enabling me once more, post surgery, to rise without the use of my arms.

Afterwards, Jackie carried out more weeding and planting; I cleared refuse to the compost,

and Nugget clamoured for his close-up.

This evening we dined on Tesco finest Pesto & Parmigiano reggiano breaded chicken perfectly heated by the Culinary Queen who served it with buttered Jersey Royal potatoes; roasted chestnut mushrooms; firm flavoursome carrots; and tender runner beans, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Cotes du Rhone.

Necking

This afternoon we drove to Lymington to collect a prescription for Elizabeth and delivered it to her at her home in Pilley.

Hairdressers have been unable to open since the beginning of the lockdown. It seemed to me that neither of the models decorating JW’s window in Rashley Mews was looking forward to the opening which will be possible from 4th. Observant readers, especially after bigification, may notice that the photographer could do with a visit.

We noticed two more knitted carer tributes on Pilley Street.

Contented ponies on the now virtually dry Quarry Pit lake bed grazed terrain over which they would normally be slaking their thirst.

Before leaving my sister’s village we encountered other happy croppers in Jordans Lane and Wooden House Road.

More ponies and a foal gathered by a stream on Beaulieu Road. Much tail twitching was in operation. Notice how the foal splays its legs to graze.

Foals, including a necking pair were also in evidence on the banks of Beaulieu River.

Cattle occupied the roads outside the village.

We wondered what breed exactly was this diminutive equine sampling the grass outside a field alongside South Baddersley Road?

This evening we dined on Jackie’s classic shepherd’s pie with tasty gravy accompanied by well cooked carrots, cauliflower, and cabbage with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Cotes du Rhone.