In And Out Of The Water

Posted on August 17, 2018 by derrickjknight

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Late this afternoon, Jackie drove the three of us to Mudeford.

A cyclist ambled along the shore of the harbour where

kayakers, kite surfers, and sailboarders made good use of the chopped waters and the stiff breeze.

Leisurely kite flying took place on the grassy bank,

from which a mother and daughter dragged their inflated boat, pushed it into the water, scrambled in, and set off, passing a waterlogged rowing boat, paddles waving.

Wet suits and life jackets hung on and beside the van transporting a group of paddle boarders.

Back at home we dined on Jackie’s splendid spicy pasta arrabbiata, followed by bread and butter pudding and cream, with which Elizabeth and I drank DiMarco Primitivp Puglia 2015. The Culinary Queen had finished her Hoegaarden on the patio beforehand.

I Couldn’t Give It Away

Posted on August 16, 2018 by derrickjknight

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Steady heavy rain fell all morning, so I delved into my photographic archives and scanned another batch of Streets of London colour slides made in May 2008.

Earls Court Road runs from Old Brompton Road in SW5

to Kensington High Street in W8.

The Blackbird pub, almost opposite Earls Court Underground station, was previously a branch of the Midland Bank. Currently closed for refurbishment, it was converted to a Fuller’s Ale and Pie house in 1994. It would be fun to speculate on the conversation taking place outside.

The Hansom Cab, now specialising in craft beer, has been operating on this site since 1827.

A little further along, on the corner of Pembroke Square W8 lies Rassell’s up-market garden centre, which has rather mixed reviews.

Immediately opposite Pembroke Square lies Scarsdale Villas W8.

Trebovir Road SW5 is very close to Earls Court Underground Station. Nando’s, started in South Africa, in 1987, now operates 1,000 outlets in 30 countries. Its speciality is peri-peri chicken.

Cumberland Terrace

and Cornwall Terrace NW1 both lie alongside The Outer Circle of Regents Park.

Transept Street NW1 crosses Chapel Street beside Edgware Road tube station.

Just off Camden High Street NW1 the bustling Camden Market has over 1000 shops and stalls selling fashion, music, art and food next to Camden Lock;

Inverness Street Market NW1, a more quintessentially English example, established around 1900, is tucked away from the high street.

This afternoon we visited New Milton to collect items from the dry cleaners, and to deliver more kitchenalia to the Oakhaven Hospice Shop. They had been unable to take my Epson printer, complete with spare, unused ink cartridges, but suggested that the Mind shop might, because they had a tester. They couldn’t. There was no alternative but to offer it to the sales area in the local dump, now known as a recycling centre. They were not allowed to receive the printer, but could accept the inks. I was directed to carry the machine over to the container dedicated to such goods. The man in charge of this spoke of the culture of fear of legislation which now dominates us. While we were conversing, a woman brought a pair of pristine looking crutches she had not been allowed to return to an NHS hospital.

My printer was about seven years old. It had been used once or twice only; its last six years having been spent in bubble wrap in a cupboard. I do all my printing on the Canon A3+ model, but, had I been so inclined, I could have printed all today’s images on the device I could not give away.

Our next stop was Otter Nursery where we collected a flat-packed wooden arch for Aaron to assemble on Sunday.

Elizabeth was out this evening. Jackie and I dined on Mrs Knight’s hot and spicy pasta arrabbiata, with which she drank more of the Chardonnay and I finished the Malbec.

The Head Of The Queue

Posted on August 15, 2018 by derrickjknight

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This afternoon Jackie and I transported to Oakhaven Hospice Charity Shop in New Milton several boxes of kitchen equipment rendered surplus to our requirements after the installation of the new kitchen. We then ordered a quotation for recovering our Chesterfield sofa from Jem Fabrics.

A drive to Hatchet Pond was next.

I have noticed that when families are cycling in the area it is always the youngest member who speeds on ahead. So it is with cygnets. Here, under a sky the colours and texture of a soiled lawyer’s wig, one of this year’s offspring led its parents along the surface of the lake.

On shore, it flexed its muscles

and told the gulls where to go.

A coot paddling among the surf,

and several mallards stepping out on the bank made up the avian population.

Angling families tried their luck.

A wandering pony searched for fresh grass,

while a patient donkey, at the head of the queue,

waited for its friend, the kindly vendor, viewed in his wing mirror,

to hand over the last of his own ice cream.

This evening we enjoyed second helpings of Mr Chan’s Chinese Take Away fare. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and Elizabeth and I drank Calvet’s Cahors Malbec 2016.

The Modus Rocks

Posted on August 14, 2018 by derrickjknight

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This afternoon Jackie drove me to New Hall Hospital for a physiotherapy session. This was another positive outcome. I am now just 5 degrees short of the knee flexion target of 120. There remains tightness in the tendons and muscles used to straighten the leg. Claire, my physiotherapist, thinks that this dates from the hip replacement nine years ago. She has given me exercises for this and another session has been booked to work on it further.

We took a leisurely drive back home.

At Nomansland we witnessed a comic drama. The waste bins in the New Forest are designed to be pony proof. The effectiveness of this was demonstrated by a pony that didn’t know this. While the animal struggled to gain access, some members of a visiting family paid attention to the mare’s nearby foal. Suddenly they began pointing past me. Having given up with the bin, the mother pony had homed in on the family lunch bags. The human mother was alerted and came to the rescue. Others joined in.

Clouds of flies were, of necessity, ignored by the pestered animals at this site;

and by this family group on the verge of Roger Penny Way.

We parked the car by the side of Manor Farm in Cadnam Lane, which was overrun by three sows and a sounder of piglets. You can’t get much rasher than that. These snorting, grunting, trotting, creatures dashed hither and thither scratching their flanks on anything in sight, including the Modus, which they sent rocking. I needed to guide Jackie when she wanted to drive off, to ensure that she didn’t have a pig in front of her car.

This evening the three of us dined on Mr Chan’s excellent Hordle Chinese Take Away fare. Jackie drank Hoegaarden while Elizabeth and I finished the Merlot

A Bigger Splash

Posted on August 13, 2018 by derrickjknight

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The garden was looking very refreshed as I wandered around this morning. Most blooms bore baubles of raindrops.

Bees were making up for being confined in hives by the recent precipitation.

By lunchtime, I had finished reading

Hibbert’s well researched history is founded on the subject’s personal correspondence and contemporary observations. Like many great men, our national hero comes across has a man of two halves. Undoubtedly kind and generous to his men and to many others Nelson’s relationship with Lady Emma Hamilton was seen as folly by many, and, even as demonstrated by his own letters he must have treated his wife very badly. This Viking paperback of 1994 contains no identification of the painter of the cover portrait.

After lunch, Jackie and I visited the sites of the two scarecrows missing from our last visit. Prince Eric, now wearing a rain hood, perched on a hedge at Ramblers in Woodcock Lane. I am very pleased to be able to report that a rebuilt Frog Prince again sits outside 49 Ashley Lane. His creator informed me that his battered body had lain on the ground and his decapitated head had hung from a branch.

We continued on a drive through the forest. Near Ogdens, a herd of deer got wind of my approach, and, turning tail, slowly picking up speed, elegantly trotted across the undulating terrain to safety over the brow of a hill.

Clusters of pesky flies surrounded somnolent ponies gathered together at North Gorley.

Other ponies mingled with visitors to Ibsley ford, some of whom competed to establish who could create a bigger splash.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s splendid spicy pork paprika with savoury rice. The Culinary Queen drank Coonwarra Chardonay 2016; Elizabeth and I chose Villanyi Merlot 2015 and drank some of it.

A Turning Point

Posted on August 12, 2018 by derrickjknight

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Last autumn, Jackie bought a job lot of gladioli corms, having no idea what colours would emerge. She was so excited by these blue ones that she had to tie up as a protection from today’s steady rain descending from a granite sky, that I just had to brave the elements to photograph them.

The Ashes series of 2005 was one of the greatest cricketing contests between England and Australia. This iconic photograph from Getty Images of Andrew Flintoff comforting Brett Lee after a fighting innings which just failed to snatch the Edgebaston match from England is considered a picture of one of the most sporting moments ever.

That series was a turning point for cricket in England for three reasons. The first is that BBC lost the recording rights of International cricket to Mammon, in the form of Sky Sports, who outbid them. This means that those young children, whose resurgence of interest in the game formed the second point, could only watch live games via a subscription to the media giant.

My grandson Oliver was the third reason. In the Spring of that year, I had taught him the basics of batting and bowling in the garden at Newark. He watched the series, closely studying the batting techniques on screen. By the end of the Summer, although I still had something to offer as a bowler, it was apparent that I had nothing more to teach the lad whose skills far exceeded mine.

By August 2007, when I made these colour slides scanned today, the eleven year old boy was an opening bat for the lower sides of Sanderstead Cricket Club.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s perfect, spicy, pork paprika with splendid savoury rice. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden while Elizabeth and I drank Eszterbauer Sogor Kadarka 2015.

Picking Up The Trail

Posted on August 11, 2018 by derrickjknight

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Today the sky was pure graphite and rain fell intermittently. This afternoon I bought a now available sheet listing the entries to the Hordle Scarecrow Trail. As we had feared, the numbers were down considerably from previous years, and some had suffered from the recent gales.I featured a few of the exhibits in ‘Seeking Hordle Scarecrow Trail’

Now the extended time limit had passed the sheets had been published today. The staff member in the pet shop who sold me the form told me that her own personal entry, a Frog Prince, had been ruined by the gales, and so would not be on display. She wasn’t sure that she would be able to repair it. In an effort of encouragement, I told her I would be looking out for it after the weekend. She had won the competition in two previous years.

The Little Princess had stood outside 6, Elizabeth Crescent. This decapitated scarecrow was all that was left of it.

The third entry, from Ramblers, Woodcock Lane, was missing. This was Eric who was meant to gaze lovingly at Ariel, his sweetheart, at Rose Cottage, next door.

Undamaged Frog Princes sat outside Hordle Pavilion, Vaggs Lane,

and 36 Heath Road.

The residents of 1 Windsor Close paid homage to Gareth Southgate, England’s World Cup Football manager.

I needed to remove and replace a large protective plastic bag from Princess Jasmine at 20 Larch Close.

Princess Anna & Elsa (from Frozen) reside at 43 Charnock Close.

We’ll have a look next week for the two absentees.

This evening the three of us enjoyed Jackie’s delicious sausage casserole, mashed potato, cabbage, carrots, runner beans and mange touts; followed by a melange of chocolate cheesecake, vanilla ice cream, and strawberries. Jackie drank Prohibition Budweiser, and Elizabeth and I drank DiMarco, Primitivo Puglia 2015.

derrickjknight

Ramblings

Category Archives: Uncategorized

In And Out Of The Water

I Couldn’t Give It Away

The Head Of The Queue

The Modus Rocks

A Bigger Splash

A Turning Point

Picking Up The Trail