derrickjknight

Coming Back To Life

For the last 48 hours I have experienced, along with the usual post-BCG installation procedure discomfort at Southampton General Hospital, the anticipated flu-like symptoms. By late afternoon I was coming back to life and able to tackle picture library culling.

This set is from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/11/trish/

From https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/12/to-sir-with-love/ I have retained these two images.

More and more I find a museum visit will contain samples from my childhood, as in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/17/the-workhouse/.

These are from https://derrickjknight.com/2015/01/27/monochrome-portraits/

Here are the survivors from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/25/twixt-cup-and-lip/

This evening we dined on succulent lemon chicken; boiled new potatoes; firm broccoli; crunchy carrots; and tender green beans, with which I drank more of the Merlot opened about three days ago.

Culling And Not Culling

This morning I underwent the 5th of my BCG vaccine installation procedures at Southampton General Hospital. The usual after effects made it impossible to concentrate on much but I attempted certain amount of culling of photographs, whilst retaining some.

This picture of Matthew and Becky from about 1979 appears in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/30/covent-garden-gerard-street/

These are from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/11/marevna

And these from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/13/the-chiropractors-could-come-in-useful/

I couldn’t face deleting any images from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/09/bound-for-western-australia/

I could only pick at the scrambled egg on toast Jackie provided for my dinner.

A Workroom Behind The Shed

After having cleared the footpath through the Cryptomeria Bed, Martin has now paved the area behind and alongside the garden shed that Jackie had spent some days tidying and levelling, thus providing her with a good working space without tripping over rubbish and requiring mud removal from her shoes. A couple of days ago she disturbed a wasps nest beneath this soil and set about it with a long-handled blunt instrument and effective herbicide. So incensed was one of her enemies that it lodged itself beneath her right spectacles frame leaving enough venom over her cheekbone to produce a very nasty hard lump down that side of her face. It is not so visible now.

The Head Gardener has completed her refurbishment of the planting in front of the garage door trellis with the addition of a basket hanging from the porch roof.

I added pictures of token roses in the form of New Dawn and Festive Jewel.

I didn’t manage much culling today, but this picture, my first entry into digital photography, appears in https://derrickjknight.com/2012/06/24/choosing-a-camera/

This is the header from https://derrickjknight.com/2012/06/28/dinner-with-the-mayor-2/

In January 1965 I was working in a building that no longer exists on the east end of Westminster Bridge, well able to watch the lengthy queues waiting to view Sir Winston Churchill’s lying in state lined up along the embankment and bridges from 27th to 30th which appear in https://derrickjknight.com/2015/01/24/1000-days/

Having perforce, at least until my cancer treatments are completed, to resort to more medium curries, I enjoyed my first ever king prawn biriani while Jackie chose her favourite ponir shashlik at Rokali’s restaurant this evening. The food and service was as excellent as ever. I drank Kingfisher and Jackie drank Diet Coke.

Controlled Burning 2

I carried out a little picture culling this morning.

These images from Les Landes in August 2008 were featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2012/06/04/the-gite-from-hell/

This picture from May 2009 is the header for https://derrickjknight.com/2012/06/21/raincoat-or-umbrella/

These are from John and Stephanie’s wedding: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/10/06/a-wedding/

This afternoon we took a forest drive.

Controlled burning of gorse was underway along Forest Road.

“The Forestry Commission undertakes this activity now, which aims to regenerate the heather and gorse whilst hindering invading scrub, by setting fire to the heathland. Using fire to improve the heathland may sound counter-intuitive but the burning actually encourages new growth, which is beneficial to a variety of flora and fauna, as well as providing food for the commonable livestock. It also plays an important role in reducing the risk of wildfires in the summer months that can burn out of control and have a devastating effect on vegetation and wildlife. Heathland wildfires are particularly dangerous because they can burn below ground causing long-lasting damage to the peat and the mineral soil underneath.

“Practice of controlled burning
The law permits controlled burning each year from the first working day in November until the last working day of March. However, in practice it generally starts in early February because the worst of the winter weather is over, there are no birds nesting or animals producing young, the vegetation is still quite dry and the damp ground offers protection to the peaty soil. The process is strictly controlled and only a small percentage of the heathland is burned each year (on average 400 hectares) and only then in rotation, which traditionally is once every generation (about 25 years). A firebreak is first established around the area to be burned, which is made by using a cutting machine. Visitors to the Forest often have mistaken these safety margins in the heath for tracks or footpaths. The firebreaks are used to prevent the spread of flames to other parts of the heathland. Only skilled and experienced staff are permitted to undertake controlled burning of the heathland. In times past however, the commoners often operated their own unofficial controlled burning effort because they felt that the Forestry Commission programme was ineffective or did not cover the areas of heathland they wanted rejuvenated for their animals. Happily today the programme is better coordinated and many of the Forest organisations, including the Verderers, are consulted prior to any burning programme to ensure their cooperation.

“Benefits of controlled burning
But not everyone is in favour of the controlled burning and some argue that it actually has a detrimental effect on the heathland by reducing the nutrients in the soil. Nevertheless it is a practice that is still widely used, particularly on grouse moors in northern England, to encourage new growth. It also has one additional benefit that no other type of heathland management, including cutting or swiping, can provide and that is the reduction of ticks and the risk of Lymes Disease. A traditional benefit of controlled burning, but one not practised today, was the harvesting by the commoners of the ‘blackjacks’, the burnt holly and gorse stems, to sell as firewood. What you might see today however, during the periods of controlled burning, are ponies sporting blackened criss-cross markings over their flanks and hindquarters. This is a sure sign that they have been picking their way through the blackjacks and have become striped by the charcoal stalks of the holly and gorse stems as they pass by them. These haphazard markings can give them the appearance of very odd-looking zebras.” (newforestcommoner.co.uk)

Ponies cropped the verges outside Burley.

While I unsuccessfully struggled to photograph a herd of deer in a field off Crow Lane with the low sun blinding me, a string of stags took off, crossed the side road, and leapt the fence beside us. I still couldn’t see much because my eyes remained dazzled, but I managed these two shots.

Around North Gorley we enjoyed some autumn colour, a horse drawn cart and a solitary Gloucester Old Spot sow, sensibly sticking to the

verge as, much to the amusement of oncoming car passengers, donkeys dominated the road.

This evening we dined on chicken Kiev, Southern fried chicken, and Jackie’s savoury rice with which I drank Reserva Privada Chilean Merlot 2022.

A Phenomenal Drawing

This morning we transported 17 bags of garden refuse to Efford Recycling Centre.

Later, I diverted myself from my photograph culling task by focussing

on a drawing made by Flo on the back of a noodle bar paper place mat when, believe it or not, Jackie is pretty certain our granddaughter was aged about four. Compare this with Jackie’s passport photograph from about 2010. Knowing what Florence has always been capable of, I can well believe it.

Compare this with Jackie’s passport photograph from about 2010. https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/30/a-challenging-mood/ is the post explaining why I photographed

the image slipping out of its frame.

Unfortunately the original drawing was lost when I had to evict squatters from the house in September 2014. I printed this copy, framed it and placed it on the wall beneath Flo’s

drawing of me.

Back to culling:

My drawing of daughter Louisa and this portrait of her paternal great great grandmother both feature in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/01/time-to-go/

Jessica and Imogen and these other two images appear on https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/04/anticipating-the-shot/

These four images all feature on https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/09/the-birds/

The iMac photos tally is now 57, 317. I am really trying to delete more than I add each day.

This evening we dined on pork spare ribs in barbecue sauce; Jackie’s savoury rice; broccoli and runner beans, with which I finished the Malbec.

A Dump Trip And Culling

This morning we transported 16 more bags of garden refuse to Efford Recycling Centre, and returned with

a garden table that will become a plant stand.

Later I culled photographs through August 2013.

These two images are from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/01/the-eye-patch/

and these two of our late brother Chris, in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/02/the-entertainers/

These lilies are one of many images from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/04/aviemore-revisited/

Images of me at Leicester in 1943 and my Father and Maternal Grandfather photographed at Staines in August 1968 appear in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/14/naming-the-children/

My Grandpa (in 1917 First World War uniform) and Grandma Knight and Great Aunt Evelyn appear in The Norwood School for the sons of Gentlemen in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/15/one-for-rebekah/

as do three of my own teenage Christmas Cards.

Billingford Mill, Diss features in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/08/26/the-answer-must-lie-in-the-postcodes/

This afternoon Elizabeth visited and stayed to join us for dinner which consisted of our usual prawn preparations on a bed of Jackie’ s savoury rice with which I drank Reserva Privada Chilean Malbec 2022.

Front Drive Clearance And Survivors From July 2013

These London images are from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/04/the-abdication/

Pictures of this dead trunk feature in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/09/a-precarious-career/

These ponies stampeded to https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/11/the-watering-hole/

The actions of https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/12/the-good-samaritans/ enabled us to watch these hang gliders at Barton on Sea.

These two views of Little Venice feature in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/16/this-train-is-not-stopping-at/

These five women asked me to photograph them on a London trip in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/17/that-was-worth-fighting-for/

A London trip from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/19/back-to-the-akash/

Here are two views of https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/26/the-dragonfly/ at The Firs in West End

and this bee on a marigold https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/31/planted-in-the-i-mac/

Over the last two days Jackie has completed and photographed her clearance of the east side of the Front Drive.

This was the last stretch before she continued the work, revealing a

clean corner we have never seen before.

She also photographed a couple of her planted urns.

The iMac pictures now tally 57,332.

This evening we dined on Mr Pink’s fish and chips, Mrs Elswood’s sandwich gherkins, and Garner’s pickled onions.

Gardening Spanning Eleven Years

Here is another batch of photographs which have escaped my cull of those in my iMac Photos:

While spending the weekend of 15-16 June 2013 with the Thompson Family we helped them lay out their garden in Mapperley: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/16/nits-2/ has more.

The next weekend saw us tending Elizabeth’s garden in West End: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/24/pick-the-bucket/

Then, the following day, Jackie’s garden around the side of our flat in Castle Malwood Lodge, Minstead,

before taking a trip to Mottisfont at Romsey: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/25/graham-stuart-thomas/

This horse having its hoof attended to in London Minstead features in: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/07/01/sir-william-harcourt/

The total in iMac now stands at 57,336. I have some way to go.

Now Jackie has added some from her work today:

New Dawn rose and spent rudbeckia flower heads;

and this mushroom sprouting from the top of the Weeping Birch trunk.

This evening we repeated last night’s Chicken and vegetables stewp and focaccia meal.

More Survivors

As I battle with the insistence of the side effects from this morning’s BCG vaccine installation at Southampton General Hospital, carried out by Fiona, an equally friendly and careful colleague of Anna’s, I am relieved that I still have more of yesterday’s cull survivors to post.

These sturdy farm horses were our neighbours in Minstead, and appear in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/02/rabbit-proof-fence/

Cuff Billet’s New Europa Jazz Band performed at Bishop’s Waltham Garden Fair featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/05/it-has-come-in-useful/

The first of these pictures is of the garden at Castle Malwood Lodge where we rented a flat while seeking a house of our own; we went from there to visit Elizabeth, at her bookbinding, and Danni who photographed us, featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/05/it-has-come-in-useful/

One of my regular visits to visit both Norman and Carol in London coincided with the state opening of Parliament, a world away from Church Road Market in the London Borough of Brent. https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/08/a-splendid-occasion/

These photographs of Louisa, Errol, Jessica and Imogen feature in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/11/follow-grandpa-he-knows-the-forest/

Three different images all appear in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/05/23/a-vigil/

We visited Minstead’s Furzey Gardens: https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/04/furzey-gardens/ at peak rhododendron time.

My whopper burger was consumed in https://derrickjknight.com/2013/06/16/nits/

That is enough for today. There are still a few more pictures to occupy me tomorrow when I will still be subject to frequent urgency of micturition, although the bleeding will have ceased.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken and vegetables stewp with Louisa’s focaccia bread still fresh from the freezer.

A Collection Cull

With close to 58,000 photographs in my iMac Photo collection, and thousands more in colour slides and negative format from 1942 to 2012, today I grasped the nettle and began a long overdue cull.

Survivors include me in 1942 and my Dad and me in 1943 produced by my maternal grandfather in Leicester where I was born;

this was taken by a crane driver with whom I conversed in Soho Square Gardens, featured in: https://derrickjknight.com/2012/10/17/meandering-through-soho/

Sam, Holly, Malachi and Orlaith visited us at Minstead on https://derrickjknight.com/2013/03/13/a-hunting-we-will-go/ One of the pictures on that post was produced by Malachi;

this car sent up spray in Minstead on https://derrickjknight.com/2013/03/18/6868/

this was the view of Hampshire fields from the plane on 17th April 2013 when I was returning from Sigoules where https://derrickjknight.com/2013/04/17/she-snatched-my-wallet/