Tag: greenfinches

Lupercalia

Two days ago I mentioned that our reception at The Fishers Pond had been so insulting that we left without a meal. A rather more generous complaint than mine would have been is detailed here in a copy of my sister Elizabeth’s e-mail received today:

‘After a recent visit when I was so well received and looked after by  the staff team and enjoyed a really delightful meal I was eager to introduce my brother and his partner to what I had hoped would be another lovely evening and a new venue for them to try.
Unfortunately I was really shocked by the contrasting experience at reception. I had rung ahead and was told that a table would be made up for us right away and 20 minutes later we arrived at the venue. We waited a very considerable time at the reception area and eventually my brother’s partner walked around to the seating area and raised a menu to draw attention of the waitresses who on seeing her turned away ignoring her.
After some considerable time the member of reception staff arrived and when I gave my name and said that I had a table reserved, he abruptly said that we were early and we would have to wait for a table to be made up. I replied that we were not early and at the same time two other people arrived saying that they had a table booked. Without responding to me, or any other acknowledgement  he spoke with the new arrivals, rudely speaking right across our little group and took the couple to their table leaving us standing open mouthed in surprise..
I am afraid this rudeness after already having been kept standing for some considerable time at the greeting area was too much for my guests and we therefore left without having a meal.
Even if there had been a delay in making up our table there were plenty of empty tables and at the very least we could have been appropriately greeted and offered somewhere to sit and wait.
Thank you for taking the time to read this complaint.’
This morning, we noticed a greenfinch pair pecking prize primulas in the front garden. Faster than it is possible to repeat that, The Head Gardener was out there investigating. She found that
Primula heads
 the plants had been decapitated. Naturally she found a use for them.
Brick path 1Brick path 2
 Aaron almost finished weeding the brick paths, while Jackie continued clearing and planting the borders of the back drive. We are really quite ahead of spring this year.
Ted_Hughes.jpgThis afternoon I finished reading Lupercal, being the second collection of the poems of Ted Hughes (1930-1998), one of our greatest modern poets, who served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.
The poems are mainly about the animal life he would have known in his native Yorkshire. His muscular language and powerful imagery, presented with supreme poetic skill, depicts the violence of nature, shrieking of the harsh landscape with which he would have been familiar. Just as he would have wrested his verbal sculpture from the world about him, we must wrestle with it fully to understand his work. I can’t say I totally succeeded, but I responded viscerally to the experience.
The final offering is Lupercalia.
Wikipedia tells us that ‘The Lupercalia festival was partly in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled the infant orphans, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, explaining the name of the festival, Lupercalia, or “Wolf Festival.” The festival was celebrated near the cave of Lupercal on the Palatine Hill (the central hill where Rome was traditionally founded[8]), to expiate and purify new life in the Spring. A known Lupercalia festival of 44 BC attests to the continuity of the festival but the Lupercal cave may have fallen into disrepair, and was later rebuilt by Augustus. It has been tentatively identified with a cavern discovered in 2007, 50 feet (15 m) below the remains of Augustus’ palace.’
This evening we dined at Dynasty in Brockenhurst. The food and service was, as usual, top quality. My main course was chicken chilli garlic, and Jackie’s was chicken tawa. We shared special fried rice, an onion bhaji, and an egg paratha; and both drank Kingfisher.

Sharing A Meal

Unidentified plant 1Unidentified plant 2Unidentified plant 3

When we arrived in Downton on 31st March last year, clumps of large leaves were present in the front garden. Following our policy of giving unrecognised plants time to make themselves known, we refrained from disturbing them. These produced nothing more until now. We don’t know what they are. Does anyone? The holly leaf in the first picture gives the scale of the small blue flowers that have poked their heads out. The next two offer enlargements as an aid to identification. The fresh foliage is much smaller than it will be in the summer.

PrimulasPrimulas 2Allium

Today I took a slightly longer and more gainly hobble around the garden than yesterday. Other new arrivals are different varieties of primula, and the first of the numerous alliums which will crop up everywhere as the year goes on. These latter are very welcome in the beds, but far too many of them pierce the gravel and brick paths. As the weather warms up their heady aroma is nowhere near as appetising as that of the frying onions that tempt you to stop at a hot dog stall. Indeed, when we first savoured it we thought there must be a problem with our septic tank.

Tete-a-tete daffodils

Among the new daffodils are tiny tete-a-tetes.

Brick barrier

A single layer of bricks that, last week, Aaron placed at the end of the back drive in order to deter offending vehicles, has survived unscathed.

During our lunch we watched others enjoying theirs. Through the kitchen window I was able to photograph the avian diners.Greenfinches 1

First, a pair of greenfinches sat opposite each other, as did Jackie and I.Greenfinch

When I reached the window, one flew off, leaving its less timid mate in sole possession.Greenfinch and blue tit 1

It is not usual at the moment for different species to share a meal, but our then unaccompanied visitor seemed content to accommodate a blue tit.Greenfinch and blue tit 2

Once this little creature hopped down to a lower perch,Greenfinches and blue tit

The more cautious greenfinch joined the party, the couple remaining on the alert to repel any more boarders, but allowing their companion to continue lunching.Greenfinches 2

Finally, the smaller bird having had its fill and flown off, the braver greenfinch took its place on the lower berth, whilst its mate emulated the cow in the hedge.

My egg and bacon wasn’t too congealed by the end of this little interlude.

This evening, for our dinner, Jackie produced her classic cottage pie, cauliflower, carrots, and brussels sprouts, followed by a juicy raspberry crumble. She drank Hoegaarden and I drank Heritage de Calvet Cotes du Rhone Villages 2013.

P.S. Jackie thought the plant was possibly borage, and Vicki Haynes confirmed it. This enabled my lady to do further internet research, establishing it as a perennial borage, boraginaceae trachystemon orientalis. In UK it is termed Oriental Borage. In Turkey the plant is eaten as a vegetable.