Playing On Ober Water

For Christmas Danni and Andy gave us a self assembly natty little copper and brass soap holder.

Aaron of A,P, Maintenance, with some trepidation because he had never drilled through tiles before, assembled and fixed it for us. As he said, “You never know what you can do until you try”.

We think it was for Christmas 2006 that I gave each of my sons a framed set of photographs of each of the male line from my grandfather John Francis Cecil Knight. The idea was that I would include each of us at about the age Grandpa Knight was in a photograph that Elizabeth had pointed out looked very like my youngest son, Sam.

Here, accompanied by Oliver and Alice, Michael is opening the present.

On this one, although he was much younger than the rest of us, I included Oliver. I am especially pleased at this because he now has it and treasures it. From left to right we have my grandfather, my Dad, me, Michael, and Oliver. I called it ‘The Knights’ Tail’. Heidi e-mailed these two images today.

Jackie watched Nugget quietly tolerating the long-tailed tits snaffling his food.

“Where’s Nugget?” (61)

The weather was bright and cold, with clear blue skies and some ice on the overnight precipitation. This afternoon Jackie drove me out to

Ober Water.

A week or so ago I had walked the Ober Water trail’s one mile section and back. This was a level gravelled path out of sight of the actual water. I had the idea that there may be one on the other side which would allow me to follow the river. I therefore crossed Puttle’s Bridge to discover that there was no such path, but that others had clearly

wandered along the banks.

I contemplated the soggy terrain, turned around and looked back from the bridge towards the other side. My resolve to return to the Ober Water trail and do the sensible thing didn’t last long. I was soon clambering over

tree roots, their soli severely eroded, surrounded by pools of indeterminate depths;

and swollen, reflective, streams etched across my intended route.

The river of course presented many of its own reflections.

After forty minutes of this I hadn’t progressed very far and thought it best to retrace my steps.

At the outset I had photographed a rope swing

which later proved irresistible to a brother and sister who took it in turns to swing over the river.

This provided me with an opportunity to ask their willing father to haul me out of a particularly deep gouge in the bank of a recently established tributary.

Delighted dogs dashed around all over the place. Some kept their owners reasonably close;

others crouched ready to pounce

for a play fight,

clearly beneath a serious-minded spaniel.

One exuberant creature made the water its element.

This evening we dined on the other half of Jackie’s prime beef and mushroom pie; roast potatoes and butternut squash; with firm Brussels sprouts, carrots, and broccoli, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Fronton 2017.

 

66 comments

  4. That is a wonderful panel of Kights past and present, Derrick! The photos from your sunny day there were enjoyable as well. Both humans and dogs seem to be enjoying the weather.

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  8. That spaniel is one beautiful dog. I do have to ask — how is the soap attached to its holder? I looked and looked, and couldn’t quite figure it out. My best guess is that something metal screws into the bar, and that’s held by a magnet in the holder. It could be something entirely other.

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  10. The family of sons is just wonderful, what an incredible gift.
    You are a braver person than I venturing over the river in such a way.
    Thank you for an enjoyable outing.

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  11. You need your rain boots like I need my snow boots! Soggy and rough terrain, but looks like a nice outing. Nothing like a walk in the fresh air on a sunny day.

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  13. These sets of photographs are certainly to be treasured by future generations. My son and daughter-in-law did something similar for my father’s 85th birthday by combining those family photos we were lucky to have brought out of Russia with Odessa sites dear to our hearts and creating a video which included our favorite Odessa songs. These things are precious!
    Nugget is in the right top corner, perched on a branch, observing the happenings.

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  14. The set of framed photos is the finest kind of gift you can give. You did especially well to include Oliver at his age–things like that fill young ones with pride and encourage them to grow into the sort of men that came before them.

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  15. Nugget keeps under control his feeder 😉 He’s too cute tolerating other birds eating his food 😊😉
    What a beautiful day! Gorgeous pictures as always! And that dogs 🐕💕 not even the water stops them 😉🐕 way too cute 💕🐕

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  16. I love the line of Knights and can’t believe the strong family resemblance over so many generations. That spaniel! And the water romp! I wish I’d seen it myself.

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  17. Those photos are great gifts! I enjoyed the combinations of water, roots, reflected branches, and oh, that water dog make me smile!

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  20. The Knight’s Tail! What a wonderful gift to be treasured! 🙂
    Nugget is in the right spot to be surveying everything below! 😉
    A rope swing is always fun! 🙂
    Delighted dogs dashing! Dandy! You know Coop and I love these dogs in water photos! 🙂
    Thank you, again, for taking us along on your day adventures! If we promise to be well-behaved will you take us along again soon?!?! 😉
    HUGS!!! 🙂

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  22. How could you Derrick!!! You have photographed the soap holder before I got a chance to clean the area!!!

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  23. I’m happy for you to now have the pictures of Michael and his wonderful present.
    That trail (or lack thereof) sure gave you plenty to work with for a post – hope you had a good time, despite getting stuck. 🙂

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  24. I don’t know what breed of dog it is in the water but selective breeding may literally have put him in his element. Some have webbed feet, some have waterproof coats and so on.

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  26. I couldn’t find Nugget in the photo of him tolerating bigger birds helping themselves to his lunch. I’m glad to see the other species, though.

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