Uncategorized – Page 11 – derrickjknight

In Search Of A Mate

After more stimulating conversation Louisa, Geri, and Coco left us at 10 a.m. this morning.

Jackie then set about removing the tree roots impeding the level of the area behind the garden shed, and photographing her work.

I bagged up the waste roots.

We have a number of areas where the soil has recently been thrown up in what are now molehills produced by these normally solitary animals burrowing underground in search of a mate. One of these is the new footpath into the Weeping Birch Bed.

The Head Gardener also photographed the Cryptomeria Bed;

and roses Lady Emma Hamilton, aloha complete with raindrops and a fly, an Absolutely Fabulous bud, and Mamma Mia also bejewelled with rainwater.

This afternoon we took a forest drive. On a shaded bank at the corner of Bistern Close and Bennett’s Lane a squirrel scampered while the woodland behind enjoyed the sunshine.

This being bonfire season our nostrils often sniffed woodsmoke like this in the smoky landscapes seen from Picket Post carpark.

The rippling stream flowing fast under the ford at North Gorley reflected the footbridge above.

This evening we repeated last night’s meal of chicken and vegetable stewp and focaccia bread.

Cockapoos

We enjoyed a pleasant morning with Louisa and her Cockapoos, Geri and Coco.

After lunch my daughter and I took the dogs on a forest drive.

The first stop was on Wootton Common.

Louisa photographed me venturing to cross the road to join them,

where they enjoyed splashing in the sodden pools.

Louisa parked the car beside the stream at Holmsley Passage and took her pets for a walk across the moorland and back.

I remained beside the car and focussed on the stream and on the landscape.

Coco kept me company on our return home.

Later this afternoon Helen and Bill joined us for more convivial conversation.

Elizabeth joined us for dinner which consisted of Jackie’s wholesome chicken stewp with focaccia brought by Louisa. I drank more of the Shiraz and my sister drank FeeDamm non-alcoholic lager.

A Damp Dump Drive

Late this morning, in steady rain, we transported 11 bags of garden refuse and a broken spade that even we couldn’t recycle, to Efford Recycling Centre and came back with a print of a painting of flowers which Jackie had been given because unsold contents of the Reuse Shop were undergoing periodic culling.

Our warm, wet, weather of recent weeks has provided breeding grounds for a myriad of irritating midges. During our dump drive a number of these emerged from the damp rubbish and will be reminding us for a day or two to come.

We call our downstairs loo The Print Room on account of the number of my photographic prints.

Here is today’s new addition.

My lunchtime antiques TV programme doze was interrupted by a telephone call from Alice who was to carry out my BCG procedure at Southampton General Hospital tomorrow. This has been postponed to next week because the vaccine has not arrived.

Later, I finished reading a delightful short story, the draft of a review of which I will use my bonus time to write tomorrow. It will not be posted until Thursday 24th, for reasons which will become clear when it is.

This evening Jackie both produced and photographed our dinner of tempura and salt and pepper prawn preparations; with duck spring rolls on a bed of her colourful savoury rice and a side of succulent ratatouille, accompanied by another glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon for me.

A Paucity Of Pannage Mast

Last night’s sky was so clear that the Harvest moon lit up the whole garden. I photographed it before I turned on my laptop to listen to the last rites of the second Test match between England and Pakistan.

The pink climber clinging to the trellis in the front garden is just one indication that winter is being delayed. Another is the lack of autumn colour we noticed as we drove around the forest this afternoon.

These sunlit trees on

Hyde Lane, despite the

less than green bracken photographed by Jackie, cling to their viridescent hues.

Much of the moorland bracken, among which ponies pasture, is as we could expect by now. Note that the tail on the last picture in this gallery shows that the bay has received its annual clip at The Drift.

Other ponies, gathered by the flowing ford at Ibsley, promptly left when they realised I was going to focus on them.

There were in fact other wet roads through which vehicles splashed, sometimes forcing others, like us, to wait for them.

So, why mention pannage mast? This is the general term for acorns and the like which pigs are loosed to guzzle up to prevent ponies from eating nuts which are poisonous to them. Some of my readers look forward to this season as do we. We speculate that the reason for the absence of porcine presence since the first few days of September could be linked with the lack of acorns. Maybe they will come later.

This evening we repeated last night’s meal with fresh ingredients. I drank another glass of viña San Juan.

A Bumper Recycling Haul

This morning we transported ten more green refuse bags and various wooden and plastic items that we decided had no more recycling life to Efford Recycling Centre and returned with a cast iron chair with no seat; a heavy concrete plinth; a sound kneeling stool which is no longer marketed; a metal plant stand; and one of our own large plastic containers which had been used to transport pieces of wood and now may perhaps be placed in the chair with no seat.

We continued into the forest where, at Portmore,

it was possible to distinguish sheep from goats.

Had the sheep lived in one of many Mediterranean climes, it may have

been fed on cardoon, a thistle like example of which was found around the corner in Pilley https://derrickjknight.com/2015/07/05/yarntons-cardoon/

Also at Pilley a young horse rider paused on the verge to allow us to pass, and we encountered

ponies reflected in the lake, now filling up. In the distance beyond those in the second picture in this gallery can be seen the

dappled grey Shetland we had passed earlier; the other sports the recently trimmed tail indicating that it had featured in last month’s annual round-up known as The Drift. https://derrickjknight.com/2016/08/30/the-drift/

After lunch I photographed our bumper recycling haul.

This evening we dined on roast lamb, mint sauce, boiled potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and mangetouts, with which I drank a little more of the Malbec.

Chicken Shashlik

This morning I listened to the BBC live broadcast of the last day of the first cricket test match between England and Pakistan in Multan.

Later I packed the Hyundai with 14 bags of garden refuse which we transported to Efford Recycling Centre. As will be seen from this I am feeling quite fit and there were no repercussions today, nevertheless I spent the afternoon reading much more of ‘The People’s Act of Love’.

During my first BCG installation two days ago we were given informative dietary sheets clearly indicative of the negative effect of my long term penchant for very hot curries. Naga, Phall, Vindaloo, Jalfrezi all have to go.

Jackie is very partial to sizzling ponir or chicken shashlik. I have always been attracted to the dish when it arrives steaming on the table and therefore tempted to try it, but weakened and chosen the spicy-hottest meal on offer. Since cheese is also best avoided I tried chicken shashlik at Rokali’s this evening. Plentiful fresh salad is part of the meal, to which we added mushroom rice.

Alcohol is not recommended either, but I am advised that my one pint of Kingfisher wouldn’t be too harmful.

As usual fresh flowers appear on each table, and the service was friendly and as perfect as the cooking.

BCG Vaccine Installation Begins

Today Jackie drove me to and from Southampton General Hospital for the first of my six weekly vaccine installations, and stayed with me for the several hours allocated to the process.

Surprisingly, this was a very pleasant experience.

Anna, the colleague of Natalie, who had telephoned me to explain the process, was as clear and friendly as had been the caller.

She began with a genuine and heartfelt apology for the difficulty of discovering my necessary information because of what had been “lost in translation”. She was then very clear about what I could expect to experience, conveying the information in such a manner as to put me at ease without avoiding any details. She took as much time as she needed without showing any time pressure. Indeed she actually made it fun.

The procedure itself was painless, efficient, and lasted all of three minutes.

We then needed to wait for a couple of hours before leaving in order for confirmation that all was in good working order. The timescale for e.g. when I should first drink, and when to urinate to empty the bladder of the vaccine etc was mapped out and Anna kept to the minute at each stage, for example bringing drinks for each of us. She could not have been more attentive, and gave good advice on how to manage the next few days before the next one, which will not require us to wait afterwards.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken stewp and fresh crusty bread.

Crows Caught Scrumping Corn

Our overnight heavy storm this morning gradually morphed into bursts of warm sunshine alternating with heavy chaotic squalls wreaking momentary havoc.

This afternoon, following a trip to the Milford on Sea Pharmacy to collect medication, by which time unrelenting rain had returned, we set out on a forest drive.

Along Lymore Lane the skies, whenever another car approached us,

filled with a murder of crows we caught scrumping corn. Only the first picture in this second gallery is mine; the rest are Jackie’s.

On the moorland at East Boldre ponies lined up attempting to shelter against the shrubbery,

while a curious cow left off grazing to observe me briefly before returning to more important matters.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome shepherd’s pie; sliced fried potatoes; firm, flavoursome, carrots and Brussels sprouts; and tender runner beans, with which I drank more of the Fleurie.

We Are Familee

Frances’s friend David arrived at the same time as Jacqueline and Elizabeth delivering our sister-in-law.

There followed one of those enjoyable and occasionally embarrassing conversations where one person’s story sparks off another’s and snowballs ad infinitum.

One of mine appears in the following post:

An Attachment To The Gates.

My sisters stayed on for lunch after Frances and David left to drive back to Swindon. The apples from our garden appear by special request from Sheree.

Today’s title is taken from Frances’s title for the e-mail in which she sent me the two portraits in the first gallery above.

This evening we dined on breaded chicken in Katsu curry sauce; Jackie’s flavoursome vegetable rise; firm Cauliflower and carrots, with which I drank Beefsteak Club Mendoza Malbec which Elizabeth had brought.

Sun, Sea, Spray

Late this morning we received our Flu and Covid vaccinations at our GP surgery and returned home along the coast road.

Figures were silhouetted against the bright, cloudy, sky, while

turbulent seas piled pebbles up the promenade, smashing spray against glistening rocks

and dripping breakwaters.

Pinpoints of light stippled swirling seas.

I have long wondered what produces the similar patch of twinkling illumination sometimes seen on the cliffs of the Isle of Wight.

Today I discerned nothing more romantic than sunlight bouncing from stationary cars.

Jackie capped my photograph of the Isle of Wight and The Needles with her image of a yacht passing the shipping hazard and approaching the bloodshot eye of the lighthouse.

This evening we reprised yesterday’s peri-peri chicken meal, with which I drank the last of the Haut-Médoc.