mallards – derrickjknight

Meds Week 1

Until now I have kept quiet about last Thursday night’s fall, when I tripped on the steps into the bedroom carrying laundry and attempting to switch on the light; I cracked my head on the bottom of the door frame into the en suite bathroom, cut my ear, already thick from years in the rugby second row, and flayed a large chunk of skin from the back of my right hand. This looked very nasty. I then had to heave myself up to the bed – the ability to turn onto my knees and and use them was the best part of the event.

Jackie did her best to clean up the major wound and seal it with Melolin – so successfully that, although it wasn’t supposed to, it adhered to the flesh. After being bandaged up until today this was rather painful and not going to move.

Fortunately I had an appointment with the excellent, caring, and efficient, Gp. Doctor Moody-Jones for a follow up on my UTI sample lab results, who explained that there was no infection, gave me another physical examination which confirmed this, asked me to produce another urine sample for further lab work , and to book an urgent blood test at Lymington Hospital – this I did after Doctor Moody-Jones introduced me to Elaine, one of the practice nurses, who very gently cut away the skin-lined plaster, confirmed it uninfected, and re-dressed it. She also made me appointments for two changes of dressing. The ear and the bandaged hand will be apparent in the photographs Jackie produced over lunch at the Royal Oak.

Our neighbourhood pub, after its second flood in twelve months, very shortly after Matt and Carol’s taking over has been subject to repairs until this very opening day. The front doors are now fitted with flood defences.

A usual, Jackie took these photographs, including some of the interior.

The full menu was whisked away before we ate, so the only menu she photographed was that of Bar Snacks.

We both enjoyed our chosen meals – Jackie’s crispy chicken burger,

and my fish and chips. Mrs Knight drank Diet Coke and I drank a zesty Cornish beer termed Proper Job.

The very attentive service was friendly and efficient; the gentle background instrumental recorded music suited the relaxed atmosphere. We were their first customers since reopening.

There will no doubt be many more, including me.

Later this sultry afternoon we took a short forest drive.

Sluggish water slowly streamed across reflective waterlogged fields along St Leonards Road;

a pair of Mallards practised ducking and diving in the pond beside Exbury Road;

foxgloves adorned the ramshackle shed at Pilley.

Jackie will enjoy a salad this evening. Probably because I consumed half of her chips as well as my own, I needed no more sustenance.

Swollen Pools

Today’s brighter and dry morning greyed over during our afternoon forest drive, as the rain set in again.

Swans and gulls took advantage of the swollen pond on Hatchet Moor. The last two swans and the gull in this gallery are Jackie’s work.

Coots foraged on the bank.

Mallards occupied this reflecting pool at East Boldre. The last of this set is Jackie’s.

She also produced these images of the reflected lichen covered branch and last year’s blackberries, while I focussed on

ponies among burnt bracken.

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s penne Bolognaise sprinkled with Parmesan cheese; she drank more of the Malvasia and I finished the Shiraz.

Fading Light

In the drizzling gloom on the already fading light of late afternoon we drove to Milford on Sea Pharmacy for repeat medication before continuing into the forest.

The decorated post box on Pilley Street now has a Christmas theme.

Further along a small van sprayed some of the pool crossing the road. An oncoming car let this vehicle pass in order to avoid trying the deeper level.

Mallards now own the fully filled and

reflecting lake alongside Jordans Lane.

The thatched Corner Cottage at Norley Wood has an outside decorated Christmas tree.

On our way home the lights decorating the lamp posts on the outskirts of Lymington were coming into their own.

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s savoury rice with tempura and salt and pepper prawn preparations and spring rolls, with which the Culinary Queen finished the white Zinfandel and I drank more of the shiraz

Fire And Ice

Early this afternoon we received a further oil-fired radiator from Amazon. This had kept us in until 4 p.m. when we ventured out into another cold-blue-sky day in search of a forest sunset.

We drove up Holmsley Passage turning right into Clay Hill at the top.

There the golden disc flirted with trees and clouds,

burnishing the trees above their reflections in the pool home to mallards,

past which a solitary grey pony emerged from the dingy dusk.

Along Bisterne Close the fiery sun slowly slipped into indigo clouds above icy, reflecting, recently filled concavities.

Further verges along the close contained some of the many lingering ice patterns in the woods and moorland, featuring leaves above and below them.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken stewp with fresh crusty bread. She drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Shiraz.

A Knight’s Tale (123: Nearing Leicester)

Here are further images of the journey through England’s midland waterways taken by me walking alongside Sam and James in Pacific Pete in July 2003.

This stone stork beside the Cherwell section of the Oxford Canal seemed amused by the attempts of their mother to draw her offspring away from him.

Sam and James in Pacific Pete and narrowboats 7.03

Sam and James through Shipton Bridge 7.03

Small bridges, narrow locks and a few narrowboats on this section required careful negotiation by the rower. Navigator James looked quite thoughtful in the third picture.

Willowherb on Bridge over River Soar 7.03

The River Soar for part of the Oxford Union Canal stretch. The towpaths here were better tended than some, which was fortunate for James when he took a turn at towing. Willowherb thrived in the brickwork of this bridge.

Dragonflies mated; waterlilies bloomed; and a stone wall provided a backdrop for wild flowers.

An art group concentrated hard on a lock as we approached Leicester.

Nearing the city of my birth, we passed a derelict graffiti-bedaubed factory,

outside which a leaf lay on a bed of water weed.

Soon Pacific Pete was gliding through the city.

A Knight’s Tale (122: The Thames In South Oxfordshire)

Here the row continues along the River Thames in South Oxfordshire

This was still near enough to normal civilisation for elderly couples to be out walking along the banks.

If there were any footpaths on this stretch, they lay beneath the ripeness of, summer requiring negotiation, in the form of wild flowers attracting bees; grasses in seed; plantains tripping over; broad backlit leaves bearing shadows of other floral forms; and convovulous carrying tiny beetles.

One of the latter plants trailed over the river, reflecting on the murky water.

An avian trio perched on the coping stones of a derelict shed in need of replacement tiles;

a peacock and hen entered into head to head negotiations;

a mallard paddled along ahead of her imprinted offspring;

and a pair of swans introduced their cygnets to further reaches of the Thames.

A flock of sheep grazed alongside what I took to be farm buildings of some sort.

The sun-baked natural world disregarded the two young men taking a leisurely row along the sleepy waters, passing a dangerous-looking weir, and negotiating a narrow lock.

Venison, Chicken, Swans, Ducks, Geese

Jackie cut my hair after lunch. Then we enjoyed a late afternoon forest drive.

Swans, casting long shadows, with a group of mallards, which took to flight upon my arrival, wandered across the sward at Beaulieu River.

At East End a donkey and foal clipped a hedge, while a burnished pony watched the traffic passing by.

The lowering sun was reflected along with trees in a pool beside Exbury Road.

The tide was out. at Lepe where I focussed on the Isle of Wight and a container vessel on the horizon between Southampton and the island; while

Jackie photographed a chicken in a field.

We turned down Lower Pennington Lane in order to catch the sunset on the way home.

Here the Assistant Photographer photographed a deer and three geese.

I photographed a skein of geese over head, and others enhancing the sunset.

These shots are Jackie’s.

This evening we dined on more of the Culinary Queen’s wholesome cottage pie with fresh carrots, cabbage, and runner beans. Mrs Knight drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Douro.

One Miniature Member

Early this afternoon I posted “A Knight’s Tale (9: Before The Coming Revolution)”.

Later, we shopped at Lidl and carried on for drive. Everywhere is becoming very crowded. Reaching Lymington was a lengthy process. We kept along Sowley Lane and St Leonard’s Road to the east, which doesn’t have too many visitors.

A family of mallards beside a temporary pool alongside St Leonard’s Road were possibly debating whether to settle on it.

Opposite, in sight of the Isle of Wight,

bees busily worked over the remaining blossom on nascent blackberries while they still had a chance.

Our familiar equine group of friends, with its one miniature member congregated outside St Leonard’s Grange, within reach of

their still liquid watering hole reflecting possibly aquatic plants.

Cattle on the moorland fronting houses between East End and East Boldre were happy to share pasturage rights with a few ponies.

This evening we dined on our second helpings of Red Chilli takeaway with which Jackie finished the Carricante and I drank more of the Fleurie, which involved opening another bottle.

My Carrots!

Despite the amount of Christmas preparation still to be done, the clear skies bright sunshine this morning following last night’s steady overnight rain demanded a forest outing, so we complied.

The rain left its mark on the lanes like Lower Sandy Down, and on much of the

terrain, like this on the reflecting green at Pilley, where somnolent ponies basked, casting long shadows, even on the approach to midday.

Mallards are quite at home on the filled lake alongside Jordans Lane.

Donkeys, as gentle as ever, snoozed along the verges of Bull Hill.

It was therefore something of a shock to see a vicious bully dominating a patch of green at Norley Wood by kicking and butting the rest of a group attempting to partake of carrots laid out for them all. Note the raised heels and the flattened ears signifying harmful intent. The stabbing feet were raised too suddenly and quickly for me to catch the legs at full right-angled stretch. The forlorn creature in the last image had me regretting I didn’t have one to give it, and I certainly wasn’t about to snaffle one of the bully’s who made it very clear that they were its sole property.

This evening we dined on Hordle Chinese Take Away’s excellent fare with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Recital.

A Visible Contrast

The Needles foghorn beckoned us all the way to the coast at Barton on Sea this morning. All other sounds were muffled by clouds of tiny water droplets known as mist.

We took the route through Angel Lane where Jackie parked the Modus and I photographed

misty scenes

and more visible views of the banks of the ditch.

The silhouettes of the few dog walkers on the clifftop at Barton could not have contrasted more with the many enjoying yesterday afternoon’s sunset.

After visiting the pharmacy at Milford on Sea we progressed to Keyhaven harbour where there was not much to be seen:

Bob Barnes reflected in the first picture, a fisherman, gulls, swans, and a few boats.

Later, I was able to photograph Bob and his reflection once more as we engaged in a socially distanced conversation beside

a memorial bench to Peter and Dorothy Thomas. Our discussion was recorded by Jackie, who also photographed

walkers on the spit, the yacht club, a bird on a wire, and a pair of preening mallards.

Another dog walker approached Pennington Lane as we passed on our way to

Boldre’s Saint John the Baptist Churchyard on Church Lane.

Field horses grazed beneath the graveyard, where, above the soil, a mossy, decomposing stump gradually merged with the soil beneath which humans from days gone by engaged in the same process.

This evening we dined on toothsome roast gammon; golden creamy mashed potatoes; pure white cauliflower; and most moist ratatouille, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Recital 2018.