Month: February 2023

Droll Tales 8

“Brother-in-Arms” was not provided with an illustration by Mervyn Peake in my Folio Society Edition.

The slightly altered translations in my other two editions are given alongside the names or the respective artists.

This work describes the story of two inseparable knighthood friends who are parted when one goes off to war and the other is left as protector of the former’s wife. In the author’s lively language we are introduced to the enticing temptations resulting from this and to the guardian’s strenuous sacrificial efforts to resist.

These are the illustrations of Gustave Doré (The Brother-in-Arms);

and these of Jean de Bosschère (The Brothers in Arms).

Further details of each of these publications is given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/

August Retrieval Complete

This morning I swept up the last of the autumn leaves surrounding the oil tank, then posted

Droll Tales 7

After lunch I recovered the pictures for the following posts:

One For Jessie
Pecking Up Ticks
Never Before As Dry As This
We Ran Out Of Stickers
A Sample Double Spread

This means that the retrieval of pictures lost during the transfer months is complete.

Further problems in earlier posts have, however, emerged, and Peacock Computers are looking into them.

This evening we all dined on meaty bangers and creamy mash with a melange of cabbage, leeks, and onions, fried mushrooms, and crunchy carrots, with which I drank Selone Cabernet Zinfandel 2021, which no-one else did.

Droll Tales 7

“The Maid of Thilhouse”, as entitled by the first two publishers featured below, becomes “The Virgin of Thilhouse” to the third.

This is the story a far older wealthy man who sought to purchase a sixteen year old bride with bribery and property; this rather backfired on him. A short piece nevertheless packed with witty prose.

Valênes fidgeted on his stool, stretching out his neck like a monkey

Here is Mervyn Peake’s illustration.

These are those of Gustave Doré;

and this one by Jean de Bosschère.

Further details of each of these publications is given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/

Tree Care

Much of this dull day was spent struggling with recovering the pictures for the following posts:

A Knight’s Tale (147: Ten Hours At The Wheel)
A Knight’s Tale (148: First Stage Of Repossession)
A Knight’s Tale (149: Farewell To Sigoules)
A Knight’s Tale (150: Poetic Justice)

The second of these (No. 148) was the most difficult because I could not find the original pictures anywhere and tinkered with substitutions, none of which was suitable for a header.

The last, (No. 150) was the longest search, until I found them on two e-mails received in 2014.

I finished clearing rubbish from behind the garden shed, then took up Jackie’s suggestion to go for a late afternoon drive.

We pulled up on Lodge Lane where I changed my camera lens in order to seek permission to photograph an activity along the edge of a field. Two young men made their way through the trees to ask us if we needed any help. They obviously thought we may have a problem with the car. This gave me the opportunity to seek my permission.

What was underway was the felling and burning of branches from a series of trees that had come down.

Alfie was the considerate and helpful young man who enjoyed posing with Paddy, his terrier.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s toothsome chicken and veg stewp and fresh crusty bread with which I finished the Malbec and everyone else abstained.

Clearance And Recovery

After lunch I added two barrowloads of bricks transported from the area around the oil tank to the growing heap on the Shady Path.

Dillon then took over the clearance task and I took a break. My grandson-in-law freed the areas around the tank, leaving just a small amount to be shifted along the back of the shed.

He added to the temporary heaps along the Shady Path, while I recovered pictures for the following posts:

The Great Gatsby

This one has no header picture because these scans are not in my Mac Photos and I didn’t think it was worth spending the time to insert them.

Wash Day
Burnt And Parched

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s zesty lemon chicken and flavoursome savoury rice, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Malbec.

Liquid Pearls

During the early part of this wet day I recovered the photographs and set header pictures for the following posts:

The Moment
Hopping From Seat To Seat

Light rain did not deter Martin from applying his grouting to the patio. First he three times pressure cleaned the paving, spraying the cracks between them and locating the “hot spots” to ensure the correct depths would be filled. Far from being problematic, the precipitation aided the process, providing a temporary rainbow effect.

Having left Flo, Dillon, and Ellie to brunch at Camellia’s Café in Everton Nursery, Jackie and I acquired provisions at Ferndene Farm Shop where I photographed

Fire logs and kindling alongside cut tulips and other flowers and

potted chrysanthemums.

Trays of bedding plants such as these primulas,

and pansies, and hyacinths, some of which bore their own liquid pearls.

Jackie deposited me at home and continued along Christchurch Road to collect the young family.

Once the day’s drizzle had desisted I made further inroads on the debris behind the oil tank and shed, transporting more to the Shady Path.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken and vegetable stewp and fresh crusty bread with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Mendoza Malbec 2021.

The Garden Awakes

Yesterday Martin made further progress on the completed patio.

His paving pattern is laid ready for grouting; sleepers are in place;

the step up to the Dead End Path is progressing;

and the steps into the house are ready to be boxed in.

Today I cleared the area between the oil tank and the garden shed in readiness for the new container due to be installed on Monday. The black bags in the foreground are two of three more destined for recycling at Otter Nurseries.

I am temporarily storing further materials on the Shady Path. In the bottom right hand corner of this picture can be seen a small crocus closed up because this was late in the day, and a few of the swathes

of snowdrops now blooming.

Camellias continue to do so,

as do hellebores and irises..

Later, I recovered images and set header pictures for the following two posts:

Hopping From Seat To Seat
Resting My Leg

This evening we dined on pepperoni pizza and plentiful fresh salad, with which I drank more of the Shiraz and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.

A Lovely Afternoon

Danni, Ella, and Jack joined us for one of Jackie’s splendid salad and cold meats lunches; once Ellie woke she and her parents accompanied us, as Elizabeth did later.

We were able to give Ella her birthday present, which, having unwrapped it with suitable glee, she propped, unopened, on the arm of the sofa and carried on putting together the body parts puzzle which she had extracted from the toy hamper as soon as she arrived.

The next game involved a telephone conversation between her mother, Danni, who was in her own home, viz my chair, and Ella, in her own home – or rather the sofa at the far end of our sitting room.

When arranging a sleepover at Danni’s house, she pointed out that she had a lot of children and was that all right? She needed also to seek permission from G’ma, Elizabeth. This meant a call to her,

having checked her phone number with Danni.

Permission granted,

she enjoyed her sleepover.

Ella had looked forward to meeting Ellie once more ever since she arrived here. She was delightfully tender with her cousin.

Leaving Jackie at home to recuperate and prepare this evening’s dinner, the rest of us took a trip to the mild-weathered Milford on Sea, beginning at the children’s playground next to the Needle’s Eye Café,

where the slide was enjoyed by Jack,

and by Ellie, each aided by parents.

Ellie

Jack,

and Ella, keen to display her ability to propel herself to a great height, all enjoyed the swings, although Ellie wasn’t quite sure what was happening.

While I sat on a wall above, the others wandered along the shoreline;

Ella gathering handfuls of pebbles and throwing them into the water.

Two other children splashing, caught my eye.

We returned home shortly before sunset.

Later, Danni sent me photographs of the rest of us on the beach wall,

and also from behind. Note Ella’s collection of missiles.

Danni took her children home soon afterwards and Elizabeth stayed for dinner which included tender roast lamb, crisp Yorkshire pudding, boiled new potatoes, crunchy carrots, firm Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, with tasty gravy accompanied by Hoegaarden for Jackie and Swartland Shiraz 2020 for Elizabeth and me.

Early Spring In The Forest

Before lunch I recovered the pictures to

From The Passenger Seat

Jackie then took me on a postprandial forest drive, where the floor, like this along Bisterne Close was now,

its splendid beeches having let fall

last autumn’s leaves nestling around fallen branches, some moss-covered, some well camouflaged, pretty dry.

Shaggy ponies, still sporting their cold weather protection, crunched and thudded around.

Glittering catkins swayed in neighbouring gardens.

Logging crews engaged in controlled burning created bonfires in Anderwood.

Landscapes became more hazy as the afternoon rolled on.

This evening we dined on succulent chicken in Nando’s medium peri-peri marinade and Jackie’s flavoursome and colourful savoury rice with which she drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Frappato-Syrah.

Picture Recovery Process

After lunch today I returned to my picture recovery task and applied this to

Ron And Shelley’s Barbecue

This is the process involved: I click on the post at me chosen date – 13th August 2022. The gallery appears as if looking through frosted glass. It carries the message that “this block contains unexpected or invalid content.” followed by the direction “Attempt block recovery”.

Clicking on the attempt box reveals the un-misted gallery of images which do not contain titles. Each gallery has the separate message, whether there are 2 or 50 images or, as in this one 55.

In one sense one large gallery is simpler; in another – perhaps featuring a dozen galleries – the un-frosting has to be carried out each time.

These images will have been recovered, probably by Peacocks Computers from the Photos section of my iMac, in which each picture has its own title. In the transferred selection there are no titles, therefore in this Barbecue post I have had to retype each one individually in order to make the statement “Each participant is named in the gallery” accurate.

Finally, the header picture was chosen directly from the Mac Photos and itself added separately.

This afternoon I watched the Six Nations rugby match between England and Italy, then returned to the recovery process, featuring

Still Confined To The Passenger Seat

This post from 12th August contains 31 photographs spread among 10 blocks.

Ellie enjoyed the taste of her parents’ chicken passanda, chicken dopiaza, and peshwari naan from Red Chilli takeaway fare this evening, but we didn’t try her on my Tandoori King Prawn Naga, with which I drank more of the Frappata-Seyrah.