Reflections Of Pilley

Knowing that this morning’s dry weather was due to turn wet – which it did – Jackie and I took a forest drive that needed to extend no further than Pilley where rich photographic pickings were to be found.

As we clanked and clattered across the cattle grid into the village we found a veritable herd of shaggy haired donkeys foraging, sleeping, and scratching around the green at Pilley Street and May Lane

Some sprawled somnolently, their hooves tucked beneath them;

a small group surrounded a car attempting to drive down the lane;

others tore and crunched at prickly bushes;

one adventurous animal investigated a parked truck.

Some of those not using low scratching posts engaged in mutual grooming. The last of this group of pictures was obtained through the passenger window glass. I would the window down, saying I wonder whether I could get a clearer shot through the opening. “You won’t” said Jackie. An instant later the eye of a donkey appeared in my viewfinder. The hopeful animal had obscured my sight as it attempted to enter the Modus.

We wondered whether to take home to Dillon a baseball cap left on a post.

Further on, we witnessed much reflective activity on Pilley’s lake,

including that of Canada geese,

a pair of mallards,

and the ripples beneath an inactive set of branches.

Opposite the bus stop a grey pony enjoyed a lunch of cold soup. The last six of these pictures are Jackie’s.

Later, I continued the tedious task of facilitating enlargement of the pictures in the following posts from the Classic Editor period:

This evening we all dined on tender roast beef, crisp roast potatoes, parsnips, and Yorkshire pudding, with firm carrots and Brussels sprouts, and meaty gravy. Ellie enjoyed her squashed vegetables with gravy and horseradish sauce. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Shiraz.

Facilitating Enlargement

spent much of the day recovering the pictures, including headers, to the following posts:

The first two of these have now been recategorised as Garden.

What I have discovered is that these very early posts, originally prepared with the Classic Editor, bear the statement Nothing Here when, in edit mode, I click on them to enlarge them, so, in order to make that possible I am converting them to Blocks. This, hopefully means that viewers should be able to enlarge them should they so wish.

This evening we all dined at Lal Quilla. My main course was Chicken Jaljala; Jackie’s Lal Quilla Special; Dillon’s Chicken Dansahk; and Flo’s Chicken Makhani. We shared rices, peshwari naan, and sag paneer. Jackie, Dillon and I drank Kingfisher, Flo J20 and Mango Lassi, which was one of the flavours Ellie enjoyed. The service and food was as excellent as ever.

Yes – We Do Have Heating

Ronan and Mark from Tom Sutton Heating arrived early this morning to fix our heating system. They cut off the piping to the area where the leak almost certainly lurks under our recently laid floor, thus avoiding having to lift that; and ran new piping down from upstairs; leaving us early this evening with

fully functioning radiators.

I spent a great deal of time on recovering this post:

Whilst I managed to reproduce most of the pictures, without resorting to my original colour slides I could not trace the first three images, and decided it was not worth the additional effort.

This one was more friendly. I could transfer the images via my desktop.

Later, I read more of Balzac and published https://derrickjknight.com/2023/03/13/droll-stories-15/

This evening we all dined on meaty pork spare ribs in barbecue sauce on a bed of Jackie’s colourful savoury rice with which I drank Paarl Shiraz 2022 and she drank Diet Pepsi.

Droll Tales 15

“A Courtier’s False Wife” is The Folio Society’s title for the fifth tale of the second Decade of Balzac’s scurrilous series, illustrated by

Mervyn Peake.

Gustave Doré’s publishers prefer “The False Courtesan”,

whereas those of Jean de Bosschère opt for “The Sham Courtesan”.

Once again I think the later publishers have chosen the correct alternatives, because this is the story of the lengths to which the Duke of Orleans has gone in order trick a faithful couple into infidelity – with each other. The lady in question is false to a courtesan identity, not in reality as a wife.

Further details of each of these publications is given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/except that the second Decade is published by New York’s Covici, Friede in 1929. It is America’s first edition thus and is a limited copy. The illustrations are not protected by tissue but the book’s condition is good and it is covered by a cellophane wrapper. 

A Frantic Baaing

The day began in fairly bright sunshine and gradually deteriorated in afternoon rain which didn’t bother me because I was watching the BBC transmission of the Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and Ireland.

Before then Jackie and I took a forest drive.

Suggesting that they may have heard the weather forecast, most ponies appeared to be staying safely hidden until we arrived at

Charles’s Lane and its accompanying woodland, where, accompanied by sweet birdsong sometimes competing with the clanking roar of cars crossing a cattle grid; the graunching of gear changes when suddenly encountering animals on the road; the whirring of bicycle wheels; the thudding of hooves on the turf or their clanking on the tarmac, a small group foraged until, as we left the vicinity, they decided to meander off ahead of us.

When Jackie parked the Modus against the entrance to a farm field so that I could photograph

daffodils on the verge of Beckley Common Road

the air was rent by a frantic baaing as a flock of sheep dashed from the far side of their pasture towards the restraining wire, no doubt in the disappointed expectation of feeding time.

After the match, I recovered the pictures and provided headers for the following posts featuring our arrival at Old Post House in April 2014:

It has been long on my mind to add a category entitled Garden. This will involve renaming some Uncategorised posts, this being the first.

The garden is mentioned in this one, yet it is far more about the practicalities of the move, so its category remains unchanged.

Although the header picture is from the garden, the main thrust of the post is the same as the one above, so there is no change of category.

This evening we all dined on oven fish and chips, onion rings, garden peas, pickled onions and gherkins, with which Jackie and I both drank Poggio Civitelle Orvieto 2021.

Gold Rings

On a dull, dreary, yet dry, finger-tingling morning Jackie and took a forest drive.

Golden gorse extended across the otherwise brindled bracken-layered moorland traversed by a solitary dog walker and flanking the eroding tarmac of Holmsley Passage.

I entered the woodland alongside Bisterne Close, passing a lattice of branches against the sky; a wildlife tepee built for sheltering small fauna and insects; a recently uprooted mossy tree; scattered bones upon the ground, on my way to

commune with a distant equine group, one pair of which were engaged in mutual grooming.

Back on the Close we noticed a recently fallen, sawn, arboreal giant, its golden core rings and fresh sawdust betraying its recent sectioning. This gold will not take long to turn grey, but many years to gradually disintegrate and return to the dust of the earth, eventually nourishing the next generations of oaks or beeches.

This afternoon I watched the ITV transmissions of the Six Nations rugby matches between Wales and Italy, and between England and France.

Dinner this evening consisted of succulent roast pork; crisp roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; sage and onion stuffing; crunchy carrots; firm cauliflower and broccoli, and tasty gravy. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Frappato-Syrah.

Having Slept On It

This morning I recovered the pictures for four posts.

This is the one that forced me to take a break yesterday. The pictures were all missing, and because they had been taken at various different dates and I only had the text to guide me as to where they would be in my iMac photos I lost the will to continue. Having slept on it I traced them all today and provided the header picture.

The next one suffered from “Attempt Block Recovery” which I achieved, but titles have stayed missing. I therefore just dealt with one image and title in order to make it the header.

There was just one photograph missing from this next post. Fortunately I knew where to find it.

Like the second post above these galleries were recoverable, but without titles. The header needed the same treatment.

This afternoon I published https://derrickjknight.com/2023/03/10/droll-tales-12/

Our dinner this evening consisted of hot and spicy, and tempura, prawn preparations on a bed of Jackie’s colourful savoury rice, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Frappato – Syrah.

Droll Tales 12

The second Tale of the second Decade of Honoré de Balzac’s Droll Tales bears the title “King Francis’s Short Commons” in the Folio Society edition

illustrated by Mervyn Peake.

This is a very short story concerning the French King’s spell of captivity in Madrid by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, during which his short commons were relieved by a series of ladies encouraging him to select a preference between those of France and of Spain.

The publishers of both Gustave Doré’s

and Jean de Bosschère’s pictorial interpretations each adopted “The Continence of King Francis the First”.

Further details of each of these publications is given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/except that the second Decade is published by New York’s Covici, Friede in 1929. It is America’s first edition thus and is a limited copy. The illustrations are not protected by tissue but the book’s condition is good and it is covered by a cellophane wrapper. 

A Rainy Day Aids Picture Recoveries

I carried out more picture recovery work on another day of almost incessant rain.

I recovered all the pictures to this post, changed its category to Books, and allocated a header picture.

I left these pictures as they were and allocated a header which I added to my WP image file.

This earlier post had been given an image from iMac Photos which I moved to be a header, even though it had been taken some years after my commenting period.

Most of these pictures were left as they were, but I loaded the header into WP images.

I started on another two posts featuring the 1970s but became tired and gave myself a break. I will return to them.

Later, I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2023/03/09/droll-tales-11/

This evening we dined on a juicy melange of roast chicken and fried peppers, served with perfectly cooked oven chips, with which I drank Passamano Frappato Syrah 2021 and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.

Droll Tales 11

This, the first story of the second Decade of Honoré de Balzac’s humorous collection of stories, entitled “The Three Students of St Nicholas’s” by The Folio Society, which has no illustration, seems a deviation in style and content by the author.

The three students are really foils to bring out the jolly, rumbustious, devious, scheming nature of Landlord of the Three Barbels described with rich imagery in the opening paragraphs.

The tale tells of their competition to outwit him and his ultimate response.

I spent some time trying to add Alun Armstrong’s superb performance of “Master of the House” from the 1985 stage musical of Les Misérables ( https://youtu.be/EDSDY9dMwxE ) This was unavailable for transfer, but I recommend it to you if you can view it.

Armstrong could well have modelled for Doré’s 1874 illustration from “The Three Clerks of St Nicholas” as his publisher entitled it.

Those of Jean de Bosschère appear in the similarly entitled publication of 1929 by New York’s Covici, Friede.

Further details of each of these publications is given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/ except that the second Decade is published by New York’s Covici, Friede in 1929. It is America’s first edition thus and is a limited copy. The illustrations are not protected by tissue but the book’s condition is very good and covered by a cellophane wrapper.