Lymington Community Centre

Presenting The Albums

It is almost two months since last we saw a puddle in the gutter alongside our front drive.

After fairly steady rain for most of the morning one built up for a brief appearance (by midday it had drained away). Jackie just had to photograph

it with its raindrop rings; a lesser pool on the patio; further fountain ripples;

more precipitation on pelargoniums, petunias, begonias, hollyhocks and Hagley hybrid clematis.

I, in the meantime finished reading V. S. Naipaul’s ‘A Way in the World’ and, after lunch, posted https://derrickjknight.com/2022/08/16/a-way-in-the-world/

This afternoon, dropping Flo and Dillon off in Lymington, we met Karen and Barry at the Community Centre where we handed them

their completed wedding albums. Jackie took these photographs.

Our friends gave us a thank you card bearing a fond message and a splendid picture someone else had produced of the confetti moment; with tokens for afternoon tea at Rosie Lea, which has become one of our favourite venues.

As we made our farewells Flo and Dillon rejoined us and we did some shopping in the town before returning home.

This evening we dined on a variety of flavoursome sausages; creamy mashed potatoes; firm carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli; cabbage fried with leaks, and tasty gravy, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden, I finished the Bordeaux, and Flo and Dillon drank Ribena.

A Delightful Day

From midday onwards Jackie and I were the official photographers for the most delightful wedding of our friends Karen and Barry Chislett-Bruce.

First, beginning with Barry’s son and best man, Owen, and his partner Tori, guests arrived at the Lymington Community Centre where the ceremony was to take place. As we all gathered together, partaking of Pimms or elderflower cordial, the bride and groom entered the room designated for their interview with the registrars and emerged ready for the service. Jackie and I were invited to move around as much as we liked during the ceremony.

The meal was excellent – of three courses followed by plentiful plates of cheese and biscuits. Cider, wine, tea, and coffee flowed.

Heartfelt speeches from Karen’s father and from Owen were full of emotional moments. Much convivial conversation with friends and family of the happy couple followed before we eventually took our leave.

There are several hundred photographs of our own to process, and will be many more to come from the many other cameras that were in evidence. I will print the best of these and find albums for them all. Because these pictures will belong to Mr and Mrs Chislett-Bruce, they will not appear on this post.

We did return home via Brockenhurst on order to find a pony or two for the blog.

Cattle and ponies basked on the moorland opposite

Highway Cottage, in the shade of which a group of equines sought a place to sleep. Maybe another on the verge was searching out her own refuge.

Planning A Wedding

We began the day with a trip to The British Heart Foundation Charity Shop in New Milton, where we delivered the clothes, various ornaments, and nicknacks that our renovations had prompted us to give away.

Richard finished building the shelves in the airing cupboard, then began

removing the internal vestibule door he is to replace. This will remove the trip hazard that the frame of this door, once an entrance, has become.

This afternoon we joined the planning meeting at Lymington Community Centre for the wedding of

Barry and Karen, whose wedding I will be photographing next year.

Sunset was descending as we left the building,

and Jackie drove us down Lower Pennington Lane in search of a clearer view.

Later we dined on Jackie’s spicy chicken jalfrezi with tasty mushroom rice and light plain paratha. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Douro.