Charles Keeping – Page 2

Spontaneous Combustion

Today’s Royal Mail post brought the probate grant documentation. I will begin the work of collecting and distributing the assets next week.

This afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/03/25/a-knights-tale-118-the-long-walk-begins/

Later I scanned the next four of Charles Keeping’s inimitable illustrations to ‘Bleak House’

‘Rolling up the slip of paper, Mr Guppy proceeds’

‘Mr Jellyby groaned, and laid his head against the wall again’

‘ He went bareheaded against the rain’

‘O Horror, he IS here!’ depicts the discovery of an incident of spontaneous combustion.

‘One of the true believers in spontaneous combustion was Charles Dickens, who even killed off Krook, the alcoholic rag dealer in Bleak House, by means of a fire that left nothing of the old man except an object looking like a “small charred and broken log of wood.” Dickens had read everything he could find on the subject and was convinced that its veracity had been proved. His description of the demise of Krook was based closely on that of an Italian aristocrat, Countess Cornelia di Bandi, who was consumed by a fireball in her bedroom. Her case was reported in 1731 by a clergyman called Giuseppe Bianchini, and subsequently translated by a famous Italian poet and Fellow of the Royal Society, Paolo Rolli,’ whose version appears in full at https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/564288/charles-dickens-bleak-house-spontaneous-combustion-death

Dickens’s description follows that of Rolli to the letter.

Ian rejoined us this afternoon. Jackie produced tasty liver and bacon casserole; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots; and firm Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli with which she and Ian drank Hoegaarden, Becky drank Zesty, and I drank more of the Tulga.

In The Nursery Field

Yesterday I received an e-mail stating that the probate grant application has been approved and I should receive it in 10 working days.

This morning I scanned six more of Charles Keeping’s excellent illustrations to my Folio Society edition of ‘Bleak House’.

‘Mrs Jellyby, in the midst of a voluminous correspondence’

‘She sat on a chair holding his hand’

In ‘Jo brought into the little drawing-room by Guster’ Keeping indicates he distance between elements of the scene by separating them with a little text.

‘Mr Squod catches him up, chair and all’

‘A street of little shops’

‘Miss Volumnia and the cousinship of the Nobodys’

This afternoon Becky and Flo went shopping and Jackie and I took a forest drive.

Sheep occupy a field about a mile along Christchurch Road heading west.

Newborn lambs suckle, frolic, and head butt in the nursery fields opposite. Today there were a number of twins, bearing the same identifying digits as their mothers.

It was quite a contrast to see two of the most massive porkers we’ve ever seen housed on Harpway Lane at Winkton.

Ponies grazed on the terrain outside Holmsley Walk Car Park;

the grey had just given the bay a resounding head bash before I took this shot.

Early this evening Flo burnt more slender twigs in the rusty incinerator.

This evening we dined on tender roast chicken; crisp roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding; crunchy carrots ; firm Brussels sprouts, and tasty gravy, with which Jackie, Becky, and I drank the same beverages as yesterday and Flo drank elderflower cordial.

A Dream Of Horrible Faces

Jackie and I spent the morning reminiscing with Becky while her daughter caught up with jet-lagged sleep.

After lunch I printed out a 15 page application form for Flo’s registration with our GP.

I then sent Paul Clarke larger images of Margery from our recent exchange. The first photograph was taken by Rachel Adams for the Southampton Echo.

I then read more of ‘Bleak House’ and scanned four more of Charles Keeping’s excellent illustrations to my Folio Society edition.

‘There he sits, munching and gnawing’ makes a text sandwich.

‘The waitress returns bearing a pile of plates’

‘Mr and Mrs Smallweed while away the rosy hours’

A double page spread is employed for ‘The crowd hovers round, like a dream of horrible faces’

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s succulent sausages in red wine; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots; and firm Brussels sprouts. Becky peeled the spuds and leant an elbow to the mashing. The Culinary Queen and I repeated yesterday’s beverages; the others abstained.

Keeping The Little Church In The Park

This afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/03/08/a-knights-tale-113-terminal-illness/

Having read more of ‘Bleak House’ I scanned the next four of Charles Keeping’s exemplary illustrations.

‘It was a thing to look at, the three children close together’

‘Jo comes out of Tom-all-Alone’s’

‘How tranquil and happy she looked’

‘The little church in the park’

This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty liver and bacon casserole; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots; and tender runner beans, with which the Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Ceo Mencia Bierzo 2019

Inimitable

This afternoon I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/03/06/a-knights-tale-111-a-photographic-assignment/

Jackie is feeling rather better today, but we thought it wise to stay indoors.

I read more of ‘Bleak House’ and scanned another set of the inimitable Charles Keeping’s illustrations to my Folio Society edition.

‘Mr Snagsby at his door’

‘ ‘Don’t leave the cat there’ ‘

‘My Lady lounges’

‘I saw Mr Guppy looking up at me’

‘Old Mr Turveydrop, in the full lustre of his Deportment’

In the early days Charles Dickens wrote under the pen name of Boz, and facetiously signed his letters ‘The Inimitable Boz’. I had not known that when first applying that epithet to Charles Keeping.

This evening we dined on Red Chilli’s excellent takeaway fare. We both enjoyed Ponir Tikka starters, a plain paratha, and egg fried rice; my main course was tiger prawn dhansak while Jackie’s was chicken sag. I drank more of the Appassimento.

Tractor And Trailer

Today I can post the Charles Keeping illustrations from ‘Bleak House’ that I prepared yesterday:

‘Mr Jarndyce was standing with an attentive smile on his face’

‘The portrait of the present Lady Dredlock’

‘They all looked up at us as we came in’

‘This fragile mite of a creature quietly perched on his forehead’

On the first sunny afternoon for a while Jackie was determined to go for a drive into the forest, so that is what we did. Having felt the pinch of petrol prices at Tesco – one of the cheapest, I stopped to photograph another

felled oak on either side of Caird Avenue. It was fascinating that while the mighty tree had not survived the recent storms, the tiny yellow celandines and white daisies press successfully through the often flattened grass.

We paused at Bransgore to purchase more cold medication. The verge along the row of village shops sparkled with daffodils and crocuses;

as did many other roadsides like this on on the approach to Ringwood where a drooping willow has lost a limb.

A couple of cock pheasants took a leisurely stroll through a hedge across Bennett’s Lane where a field horse sported a rug and goats gambolled in the distance.

As we ascend Crow Hill we encountered a used Christmas tree on the road ahead of us. Then a couple of wooden boxes. Then a crawling red car.

Then the culprit. A tractor with a loaded trailer spewing untied contents at intervals as it progressed at 6 m.p.h. This sinuous slope precluded easy overtaking. The red car managed to get past sooner than we did.

The occasional pool along Forest Road was in a fine reflective mood.

I was not the only person enjoying the ponies pasturing on the verges outside Burley.

Jackie had made a bland spaghetti Bolognese sauce for the children’s dinner at Elizabeth’s Garden Rescue event. Most of the youngsters left before the time for serving it, so we brought some home. This evening, with the addition of plentiful chillies, she turned it into a hot pasta arrabbiata. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Christian Patat Appassimento 2020.

As will be seen Jackie is back in harness, although she still has an unpleasant cold.

“It’s The Second Of March Today”

Another drizzle day, and Jackie’s cold, kept us inside today.

One of the consequences of retirement for me is that I often don’t know what the date is. That is my excuse for what follows, and I am sticking to it.

When I descended from our bedroom this morning I found this photograph had been moved from its shelf at the window and placed on the table between my chair and a sofa in the sitting room.

“What’s that doing there?” I asked Mrs Knight.

“It’s the second of March today”, was the smiling reply.

“Ah”, said I, rapidly realising that it was the 54th anniversary of our first wedding in 1968. Jackie won’t be well enough to dine out today, so we’ll have to take a rain check on that.

I also have the second one, on 17th October 2017, to remember. Life can become complicated.

This afternoon I began scanning the pages of Charles Keeping’s illustrations to Charles Dickens’s ‘Bleak House’.

The Frontispiece ‘Fog everywhere’ and the next two illustrations demonstrate Keeping’s masterful depiction of elemental precipitations.

‘That leaden-headed old obstruction, Temple Bar’ invites the viewer to peer into the fog.

‘The place in Lincolnshire left to the rain’ makes me wonder whether the artist was inspired for this image by the sight of his car wing mirror on a rainy day.

‘We drove through the dirtiest and darkest streets that ever were seen’

‘Nobody ever was in such a state of ink’

‘A large grey cat leapt on his shoulder’

I will comment on the book as soon as I have finished the task of scanning the rest of these pages, which I hope to achieve by the beginning of June.

Last Saturday, thinking she would be going to Elizabeth’s event without me on account of my indisposition, and that I would have wanted something bland left for me, Jackie had begun preparing a pot of chicken stewp. In fact I accompanied her to my sister’s and she retained the gentle meal for another occasion. Now she had a cold it was just the job for her. I was on jankers today and got off lightly because all I had to do was heat it up and prepare the crusty bread. I finished the Malbec that had been open for nearly a week. It was still drinkable.

A Ghostly Embrace

Elizabeth and the rest of her village remain without power. Given the total amount of extended outages across the country and storm Franklin following on the heels of Dudley and Eunice, my sister is likely to be with us for a while longer. This morning she returned to her home, emptied her non-working fridge, and brought back its contents to transfer to our appliance.

As we watched a large pittosporum swaying in winds climbing to a speed of 60 m.p.h. we feared for its safety and, should it fall, that of the nearby arch over the Dead End Path. The South African native shrub had been allowed by our predecessors to grow into a tree and we had simply shaped it a bit.

I completed the scanning of Charles Keeping’s illustrations to ‘The Highwayman’.

End papers.

Back cover.

This evening we dined on flavoursome liver and bacon casserole; creamy mashed potato; crunchy carrots; and firm Brussels sprouts with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and Elizabeth and I finished the Douro.

Watching For Her Lover

This morning I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/02/11/a-knights-tale-101-we-are-quite-similar-really/

This afternoon I scanned

the next six pages of Charles Keeping’s illustrations to ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes.

(Look away, Yvonne.)

This evening we dined on tender roast lamb; crisp roast potatoes and parsnips; crunchy carrots; firm Brussels sprouts, and meaty gravy, I finished the Douro while Jackie abstained.

The Redcoats Looked To Their Priming

This morning I posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/02/08/a-knights-tale-100-commuting/

After lunch I scanned the next eight pages of Charles Keeping’s illustrations to ‘The Highwayman’.

Frances e-mailed me a photograph to print for Elizabeth’s birthday today.

Here she holds Grandson Jack. We gave it to her this evening when dining at The Filly Inn outside Brockenhurst. Jackie and I started with tasty French onion soup. Elizabeth didn’t opt for a starter; Jackie’s main course was a pulled beef burger with chips, onion rings and salad; my sister’s choice was a lamb shank with Dauphinoise potatoes and vegetable. I settled for steak and ale pie with chips and vegetables after the chef had declined to cook rib eye steak because he decided the meat was not good enough. Jackie’s dessert was sticky toffee pudding; mine and Elizabeth’s poached pear. Having drunk two glasses of very good Merlot I was beyond registering the beers for which the ladies opted.The service and cooking was excellent.