A Favourite Acquisition

My post on the Fleur de Lys at Pilley appeared in edited form on SecretDiner yesterday.

The Fleur de Lys, Pilley

Here is the full version to amplify my post: https://derrickjknight.com/2023/11/21/muted-colour/

If you feed this giraffe with balls it will spit them out in all directions as it spirals around with coloured lights flashing. It was Friday’s favourite acquisition from cousins Ella and Jack and Ellie is currently concentrating on working out which buttons to press for the required result. Only Granny is permitted to assist.

Immediately after lunch on yet another headlights-at-noon streaking along reflective tarmac pools and flickering raindrops blurring the swishing-wipers-windscreen we splashed and sprayed along Christchurch Road beneath a slate grey sky for a shopping trip to a Tesco overpopulated by lethal trolley-shovers eschewing eye-contact with any other hopeful customers, with whom they played dodgems, struggling through packed aisles; eventually settling for absolute essentials we made our way back home, where, as the rain continued and the sky darkened through what would have been sundown, had there been any, I made further progress with Roderick Random.

This evening we all dined on crisp-skinned chicken thighs, sage and onion stuffing, Yorkshire Pudding and roast potatoes, including softer sweet ones; crunchy carrots, firm cauliflower and Brussels sprouts; tender cauliflower leaves and spinach, with meaty gravy, with which Jackie drank more of the Pinot Grigio and I finished the Carménère.

56 comments

  4. It is clear from the photos that learning play is serious business for little Ellie. Your trip to the grocery store sounds just dreadful: “lethal trolley-shovers eschewing eye-contact.”

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  9. Hmmm, counting hyphenated words as one, your second paragraph has 96 words. I bet you had fun compiling it, but it wouldn’t get past my editor who recently commented on a particular sentence in my unpublished manuscript, “It has 57 words, which is approximately 37 words too many.”

    Little Ellie delightful as usual.

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  11. It’s nice to have older cousins with cool toys to pass along. I’m glad you survived the lethal trolley-shovers! Shopping in crowds takes courage and, for me, is usually followed by a nap.

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  13. Methinks shopping is going to get worse as December proceeds. Eschewing eye contact is an aspect I found strange in both Norway and in the UK: here even total strangers nod or smile – or even exchange a pleasantry or two whilst we battle our way down overfilled aisle in the supermarket.

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  15. Ellie and Giraffe are new friends! I bet they will spend a lot of time together! So lovely for siblings and/ or cousins to share toys.
    You second paragraph is quite an action filled sentence! HA! I enjoyed it so, I had to read it twice! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) 🙂 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 🙂

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