Hanging In The Air

On another dull, humid, morning Jackie continued garden maintenance while, since we may be approaching sufficient relaxation of Covid rules to necessitate un-crumpled attire, I made a start on the pressing ironing backlog.

Before lunch we visited Otter Nurseries for the Head Gardener to purchase potting grit and yet more bedding plants.

We then drove to Barton on Sea where the Marine Drive area was occupied by visitors and by a gathering of paragliders.

The gliders breezed along above the green,

seemingly unnoticed by the occupants of various benches, including one gentleman engrossed in The Sunday Telegraph featuring Queen Elizabeth’s message to the England football team ahead of tonight’s Euro 2020 final against Italy.

The aerobatic performers also enjoyed bird’s eye views of holidaymakers on and around the beach below.

This afternoon I watched the Wimbledon Men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini.

Before settling down to the aforementioned football match we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabbiata and tender green beans with which she drank Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2020 and I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2019.

89 comments

  1. Seeing people swimming makes me wonder about the temperature of your seawater. The water off the coast of Maine is freezing cold. Your whole body goes numb after a couple of minutes.

  2. Great pictures as always, Derrick. That chap on the bench overlooking the water absorbed in his Saturday Telegraph could well have been me by the Thames yesterday afternoon struggling with the cryptic crossword.

  3. What a wonderful array of High Flyers!
    Shame, though, that it wasn’t a clearer sky for them today.
    I wonder what the paraglider in your header shot was thinking – it’s a great shot but they don’t look particularly relaxed!

  4. I imagine those paragliders had the best time out of everybody today. A long time ago I would have enjoyed it too.

  5. What a wonderful array of hang gliders! They seem to have had just enough breeze to keep them in the air! Here, they take off from the tops of cliffs or even higher spots, and stay aloft sometimes for hours — it seems a very popular sport!

  6. Excellent perspectives! I especially like the last batch of photos giving us a wide view from above. The gliders we see here have boards attached to their feet so they can drop down and ride on the waves and be lifted back up over the ocean.

  7. Hi Derrick – I haven’t ironed in over a year. Now that I’m back to work in-person, there are some things that are in the back of the closet. Somehow ironing isn’t nearly as enjoyable as it used to be ;). I also watched the last bit of the Wimbledon men’s finals. I was hoping to see it all, but had to do our food shopping first. What’s up with Djokovic eating a sample of grass at the end? Does he always do that when he wins? I do enjoy watching him play, but Berrettini was a great challenge.

  8. Three paragliders passed over when we were out for a walk last week, but if they were heading to you they’d have had a long journey. 🙂 I didn’t get a single decent shot so it was lovely to see the details here.

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