Cyclists From Earlier Eras

The very dull, dark, morning gave way to at least a lighter afternoon on which Jackie drove me to Patrick’s Patch and back. While she trawled Fairweather’s Garden Centre across the road I wandered around this community garden.

An early autumn fall of crab apples were attracting insects like the fly at centre right;

small pumpkins looked past their best;

a figure of a little girl with pigtails and blue wellies

was glimpsed behind a couple who were pleased to have discovered this garden;

a flower pot man displayed aged globe artichokes;

while a stylish lady invited us to look out for ladybirds, of which I found a few

fashioned from painted pebbles;

Aunt Sally and Worzel Gummidge tentatively held loving hands;

nearby apples ripened;

someone had gone home without a teething ring;

their dahlias looked much healthier than ours which have suffered from the drought, and

sunflowers bloomed in several beds.

On leaving Beaulieu we passed a pair of cyclists from earlier eras. Jackie just had time to drive on ahead and point her camera before these faster than expected wheelers whizzed on by.

Ian returned this afternoon in time to join Becky, Jackie and me for dinner. The young family ate separately this evening.

The rest of us enjoyed chicken marinaded in Nando’s Mango and Chilli sauce with Jackie’s savoury rice cooked in my stock from yesterday’s roast meal. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden; Becky drank Diet Coke; Ian, Moretti; and I, The Swashbuckler Western Cape Pilotage 2021.

73 comments

  1. What a fun day of discovery. Sounds nicer than ours where we drove an hour for brunch to discover that for the first time in several years they asked if we were members or staying there. We were neither so they would not serve us. Rhetorical question, then why was it ok to come for brunch last Sunday?

  2. Thanks for sharing a delightful walk through a local community garden 🙂 I should consider painting some ladybird pebbles. They have become a rare sight in our garden. We’re on severe heat alert here in Southern California where the outdoor temperature in now 95 degrees Fahrenheit. No gardening for me this weekend 🙁

  3. What fun photos! A beautiful garden with wondrous “peoples”, ladybirds, Human-beans, that fly, etc., to see! 🙂 The flower-pot-man is so fun! 🙂
    And I love the fellow on the tall-bicycle! What a smile! 🙂
    We have some community gardens here that are huge veggie gardens and we (volunteers) work the gardens so we (volunteers) can donate the food to local families who are in need of food. We have farmers in the area who donate land, and even donate fruit and eggs to add to the bounty we grow. I’ve really enjoyed helping with this!
    Our area, also, has community gardens like Patrick’s Patch. 🙂
    (((HUGS))) 🙂 ❤️

  4. I enjoyed seeing the photos from Patrick’s patch; it must have been fascinating looking around the garden. I managed to get some of the names wrong didn’t I?

  5. I’ve always thought that the penny farthing looks like the most dangerous means of transport ever invented…..bar none! And certainly, rather them than me!

  6. This bicycle with a large wheel and a small one is called in France “le grand bi “, Derryck . This was used for races at the beginning of the 20th century.
    Compliments to Jackie to seize this historical photo.
    In friendship
    Michel

  7. That looked like a very cheerful community garden. I have a friend with a penny farthing but he doesn’t ride it. There comes a time when it is too far to fall.

  8. I’d never heard the phrase ‘penny-farthing.’ Now, I’m educated, or so I think. I found this online; is it correct? “The penny-farthing got its name from its two differently-sized wheels, with the front wheel likened to a penny coin and the much smaller rear wheel compared to a farthing (a quarter of a penny).”

    1. It is, Linda. I have never seen one in action before, and was amazed at the speed this man got up – faster than the traction engine we saw a day or two ago. Thanks very much.

  9. Such a beautiful place, thank you for sharing Derrick. The cyclists took me back to the long ago days. ? . The ripe apples look delicious. My daughter says they grow on the trees by the roadside and anyone can take them, like our mango trees ?

  10. Wonderful post with wonderful photos by both of you. That shot of the man grinning from high atop his penny farthing is so good. The community garden is lovely. It’s looking very autumnal there.

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