We began the day with an early trip to Milford on Sea Pharmacy.
Cloudscapes over the Solent and Christchurch Bay were ever changing. The Isle of Wight, invisible not so long avows nicely silhouetted against clear blue sky beyond bands of white cotton and degrees of indigo clouds. Cerulean patches peeped through others. Empty cruise ships waited outside Southampton for Covid-19 restrictions preventing them from taking on passengers to be lifted.
Similar skies prevailed over Keyhaven Harbour
and Hurst Spit, along which a couple of heavy lorries churned up dust before descending to
Saltgrass Lane.
Numbers of walkers and their dogs stood out against the constantly changing skies. Beneath the truck in the third image featuring the spit can be see a husky dog and its human companions.
This group raised considerable attention and a number of questions which the gentleman holding the lead was happy to answer.
After lunch Jackie worked on her water features in the garden while I cleared up a little: transporting clippings to the compost; lifting wind-floored owls, none of which had been damaged; and gathering slender fallen branches.
Having now read the first five chapters of
in which Mr Dickens begins to introduce his characters, I scanned the above frontispiece – ‘It was a clear evening, with a bright moon’ – with the title page and five more of Mr Keeping’s illustrations.
‘The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading’
‘Neither of the three took any notice of him’ – as the artist shows us.
‘ ‘You have seen the gentleman in this way before, miss?’ ‘
‘He touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently’
Notice how Charles Keeping, in ‘Mr Pinch set forth on a stroll about the streets’ establishes perspective as the lines of the detailed foreground donkeys recede into those of the suggested distant chimneys.
Just before dinner I dashed outside with my camera
to photograph a fleeting sunset.
Dinner then consisted of three prawn preparations, namely tempura, salt and pepper, and hot and spicy; Jackie’s flavoursome savoury rice; served with fresh salad, with which the Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Cabernet Sauvignon.
That white fluffy dog sure is pretty!
🙂 Thanks a lot, GP
A new set of Keeping’s fabulous illustrations is starting – I am happy. Magnificent photos of the clouds and the sunset, Derrick.
Thanks very much, Dolly.
You are very welcome, Derrick.
Your sky there looks like here when a low-pressure system moves through, very pretty. ?
Thanks very much, John
Those sunset clouds are gorgeous.
Yummy meal too.
Thanks very much, More
Stormy skies and a spectacular sunset
Quite a contrast, Sheree. Thanks a lot
?
A very interesting as well as beautiful skyscapes – the colours at the end of the day make a lovely contrast to the rest.
Thanks very much, Anne. We weren’t expecting that sunset
Our skies are very similar but here they just keep leaking in surges of heavy rain. We’ve gone from drought to flooding rains and no chance of sunset or sunrise photos. Thanks for reminding me what they look like. 😉
Amazing illustrations. We don’t see illustrations much these days in any books.
Thanks very much, Chrissy. We weren’t supposed to have clear skies today, wither 🙂
Curious as to what those large haul trucks were doing. Adding material to the spit?
We think they were returning from adding material to the sea defences, Maj. I like your questions which show how carefully you follow posts.
Beautiful images – photographs and drawings. And fascinating text – thank you for the visit to the sea today, with its broad open skies!
I wonder what those huge lorries were doing?
Lovely though the blue/grey skies are, this evening’s golden hues bode well for tomorrow…
Let’s hope for sun!
Thanks very much, Emma. We think they were returning from delivering sea defence materials – there is much cliff erosion. Perhaps tomorrow will be better than forecast 🙂
That is interesting, thank you Derrick. Erosion is such an issue for many coastal areas. Frightening. Always hope for ‘tomorrow’! 😉
There are parts of our local coastline that are no longer there from even two or three years ago.
Unimaginably awful for owners of those properties. Good they’re doing the work to reduce damage.
Excellent skies – liked the rucks and the dogs – you have an excellent eye for getting the most out of details in th photos.
Thanks a lot, Quercus
Your dash outside to capture the sunset was well the venture Derrick, with some glorious photos..
Thank you so much, Ivor
Thanks for dashing out…such a gorgeous sunset!
Love the puffy clouds! Love the puffy doggy! (Oh, that sweet sweet face!!!) Love the trees…one and all!
Are the garden water features something new?!
(((HUGS))) 🙂
PS…That dog must’ve had such joy romping around! But, oh my, on needing a bath or a hosing-down when he gets home! 😮 HA! 😛
Thanks very much, Carolyn. Water features recently acquired, assembled, but not yet put in place. x
Hope you will share photos when they are ready. 🙂
Will do
Oh, good! I’ll sit right here and wait! 😉 Ha! 😀
Okay, I won’t sit here, but I will look forward to seeing them when they appear. 🙂
🙂
A very nice contrast between the early and the evening light.
Thanks very much, Tootlepedal. Sometimes things just work out without planning.
Jackie’s dinners always sound delicious. I just finished eating dinner, but reading this has made me hungry for more!
Certain smells do that to me, Barbara 🙂 Thanks very much
You before dinner shots are really beautiful, Derrick. The lighting is lovely. Great photographs today. That husky is huge!
Thanks very much for your constant appreciation, Jill.
Lovely shots (we expect no less), great view of the Needles. I really should re-read Dickens (I may have mentioned that before!).
He is much more readable now than I remember from years ago – or perhaps it is me 🙂 Thank you for your appreciation, Mike.
So many gorgeous photos! I do love the one with the trucks in the distance.
I’m pleased you liked them all and chose a good favourite, Lisa. Thanks very much.
I’m glad the owls are okay. I love the weeping birch. Yesterday evening we had similar golden light for sunset. A storm was in the forecast but it never came.
That is interesting. Our weather was rather better than forecast, too, JoAnna. Thank you very much.
I think the weather folks tend to report the worst possible scenario to keep us safe.
Maybe so
i’m just amazed at how beautiful the illustrations are!
what a gallery of lovely cloud formations today and stunning sunset photos! 🙂
I’m pleased you liked this, Lola. Thanks very much.
Oh, those clouds!
Thanks very much, Laurie
I enjoyed the photos from your day. Such beautiful transitional weather skies, and the last golden rays of the day to take us out on. We had a blustery, rainy day here punctuated by moments of sun.
The illustrations by Charles Keeping are very well done. He was a good observer of humanity.
Much appreciated comments, Lavinia. I hope your weather improves.
Those are vivid photographs of life bursting at the seaside. I am delighted for the introduction of yet another series of Charles Keeping’s sketches. The illustrations are as intricate and detailed as ever, the facial expressions befitting the intentions of the original author. The one that you praise for the carefully drawn perspective has indeed a three dimensional feel about it.
The fleeting evening has been ably captured over the surrounding landscape, skies and the weeping birch and the housetop that is silhouetted like a pyramid.
Thank you so much for these sensitive observations, Uma
derrick, you had a busy day with your camera, which then you loaded here for our pleasure, many thanks…dinner of prawns 3 ways sounds delish…
Thank you very much, Catherine
The colours of the setting sun on the birch trees is soothing to the spirits, Derrick. It’s a magical time of day.
Tonight, I will quaff some Cabernet Sauvignon from the Langhorne Creek region of South Australia.
Cheers, Yvonne
I hope whoever has built his model of the Great Pyramid of Cheops in “Sunset” has got the requisite planning permission.
He certainly would have wangled his way through any regulations he could
I’m so glad you dashed out to capture that sunrise before dinner. Glorious!! Your cloudy day resembled ours here yesterday. Drizzles, but not enough rain to do the watering we need. I hope we get more today. Have a great weekend, {{{Derrick}}} – thanks for sharing your vistas! <3 Oh, and the line drawings are wonderful, aren't they?
They are, indeed, Jan. Thanks very much X
Such contrasting skies, beautiful shades of muted colour.
Once again I’m envious of your visit to the coast.
Dickens and Keeping are a great match. “Mr. Pecksniff.” ?
Beautiful photos–that late day glow is so beautiful, I can imagine you running out with your camera to catch it.
A most rewarding day Derrick.
So evocative. Great images!
Thanks very much, Catherine
I always enjoy your photo journals but the distant images with heavy lorries are special.
Thanks very much, Rupali. I was pleased with that one
Looks like the clouds are heavy with possibilities of rain. Hope your weekend goes.
Very good so far, thank you, Mrs W
Thanks.
A beautiful evening! What are the lorrie trucks doing?
I think they are returning from delivering see defence material – probably huge rocks. Thanks very much, Dwight.
:>)
Christchurch Bay makes for a very pretty scene. The compostion of the photograph is perfect.
Thank you so much, Liz. I was pleased with that one, too.
Lovely photography, beautiful skies. How nice to get out and about, how uplifting that the nicer weather is here or almost here!
Thank you so much, Agnes
Lovely photography of the clouds, skies and sunset!
Thank you very much, Geetha.
Most welcome Derrick
Mmmmm, tempura prawns. 😀
🙂 Lanks a lot, Widders
You’re working through a project that I mean to do one day – read all of my collection of Dickens. Mine also have illustrations but I don’t think I would have the patience to scan them. ‘Phiz’ has a totally different style to Keeping.
I believe that husky may actually be a Samoyed. Hope the owner would agree. Something like the difference between Keeping and Phiz!
Thanks very much, Gwen. You are right of course.
Having had a good look on Google, I’m now inclined to think that the dog is a cross of some sort, maybe a chow chow Gwen
Yes, I hesitated over the face when I saw the photo, but the tail got me in. I didn’t think to look outside the box. Chow Chow for sure in there I’d say.
🙂
Good grief. In the UK you can pay 2-3 thousand pounds for a pure bred chow-chow, so that owner will be mighty displeased if it is, and we are suggesting it is a cross-breed. LOL.
He had an East European accent. Maybe he’s a rich oligarch
Lovely images Derrick!
Thanks very much, Julie
Absolutely gorgeous photos! And of course a super delicious dinner ??
Thank you very much, Ribana
Great photos Derrick!
Thanks very much, Dwight