Those Who Persevered

While I photographed Jackie pruning Wedding Day, which, with her further endeavours elsewhere this morning, provided me with more clippings to chop and bag up this afternoon,

I spotted a shield bug riding a nearby hibiscus.

Later this afternoon we went in search of the surviving entries of the Hordle Scarecrow Trail.

These entries have already featured in earlier posts.

This one, in Stoneleigh Avenue, entitled ‘Key Workers and Caped Crusaders’, suffered badly in the recent storms.

In Sycamore Road, Pierre Latour celebrated a ‘Tour de France’ victory.

Dominic Cummings’s weak eyesight excuse for flouting lockdown restrictions was displayed in Sky End Lane.

Hordle Pharmacy in Ashley Lane, normally a regular entrant, did not register this year, although these two beauties feature in the shop window.

We were unable to view two others: one was destroyed in the storms, another is a hairdresser’s submission placed outside the shop when it is open – not on Saturday afternoons.

Those who persevered with this year’s fraught event are to be congratulated.

After the Hordle tour we continued into the forest, pausing at Coombe Lane where I photographed masked horses and inquisitive cattle atop a tumbling landscape where bonfire smoke resembled a spraying waterfall.

This evening we dined once more on Jackie’s splendidly succulent beef pie; very tasty gravy; boiled new potatoes; tender cabbage and crunchy carrots and cauliflower with which she drank Beck’s and I drank Gestos 2018, a sublimely smooth Malbec.

67 comments

  1. pruning continues and nice capture of a bug.
    fun event and very relevant in these trying times! horses and cattle photos are delightful especially the masked spotted one! thanks, as always! 🙂

  2. Loved to see the scarecrow trail, especially Dominic Cummings! Well done that person.
    We didn’t have one this year, such a shame.

  3. The scarecrows are always so creative. It’s a shame the pandemic and weather made the entries sparse, but “those who persevered” did an excellent job. I particularly liked the Tour de France. Beautiful pastoral scenes as well.

  4. Jackie always looks so happy in her garden with you. My you two have many more years together in your bit of paradise!

    The scarecrow tour was enjoyable, and as always, I love the forest horses and cows. 🙂

  5. Thank you for sharing the scarecrows. I’m always impressed about how much work goes into them. I love the photo of the horse grazing on tumbling landscape with the smoky waterfall.

      1. You’re welcome, Derrick. Driving the back roads to Vermont on Saturday, my husband and I experienced our shame of odiferous muck heaps. Not exactly a delight . . . 😉

  6. The scarecrows were just what was needed as I listen to our tired Premiere inform people In Melbourne that they have at least 2 more weeks of level 4 restrictions. In the regions, we will have a minor easing, but I agree with his adhering to the medical/scientific advice.

  7. Those are commendable artworks that have survived the storms of the environment and the pandemic. The white cow is reflecting the exact amount of the abounding sunlight; I’d have loved to set the exposure of my camera on it!

  8. The masked horse is so beautiful!!! 🙂

    Thank you for sharing Scarecrow Trail! It is interesting (and fun) to see people’s creativity and take in the messages they feel are important. A lot of people will pay attention to those and that is a good thing. 🙂

    The shield bug is cute…but is he garden-friend or garden-foe?!?!

    Jackie in her garden-camo… but her beautiful smile gave her away! 🙂
    As long as Jackie keeps working…you will have work to do, too, Derrick! Great teamwork, you two!

    HUGS!!! 🙂
    PS…I was going to share some insect puns, but I don’t want to bug you! 😉 😀 😛

    1. Thank you, too, Carolyn, especially for prompting me to look up shield bugs. Apparently in quantities they can become major pests – they suck sap from plants and can eat other insects. They also stink. You almost failed to share insect puns, but couldn’t quite manage it X

  9. Before I retired many of the fellows who worked for me were from South America, particularly from Chile and Argentina and there were two great rivalries between them – soccer and wine. Based on their recommendations, and a judicious course of sampling, I developed an abiding love of Malbecs. I am happy that you too have discovered their charms.

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