Tag: raindrops

Dead-Heading Roses

Our Covid vaccine reactions dissipated overnight.

I carried out a lengthy dead-heading session on the morning of this Cold. Overcast. Wet. (COW) mid-June day.

Here are a selection of the beneficiaries of my labours. Keen readers may spot some spent buds I have missed. If so, I do not want to know. Each image bears a title in the gallery.

Martin took the dead blooms from Wonderful Grandparents because it was unsafe for me to reach deep into the bed.

Soon after 3 p.m. when we set off for Ferndene Farm Shop to buy salad, sausages, and eggs rain set in for the rest of the day enabling me to produce a variant acronym: Cold. Overcast. Wet.

Here are a pair of pictures of the shop from through the car windscreen;

another of Holmsley Passage;

and one along Bisterne Close.

When viewed through the open passenger window I was able to focus

on a tree draped in honeysuckle,

and two different cornuses.

This evening we dined with Elizabeth at The Royal Oak, enjoying friendly, efficient, service and excellent food. The ladies both chose a very tasty Caribbean chicken curry and rice, while my pick was a fish and linguini dish which I relished. My sister and I each selected baked Alaska for dessert. Elizabeth drank non alcoholic Peroni, Jackie Diet Coke; and Merlot for me.

I Couldn’t Be Bothered

Whilst I enjoyed a Chiropractic session this morning another day’s relentless lashing rain set in.

Before splashing off to Sears Barbers in Milford on Sea, watching windscreen wipers swishing back and forth, I kept well ahead of my targeted daily tally of Kristin Lavransdatter pages.

Raindrops slid down the window obscuring Ellie’s Hey Duggee! bubble machine. I really couldn’t be bothered to photograph any more rain. Jackie, on the other hand, whilst waiting for me outside the

barbers’, noticed the irony of this sign in the window of the gift shop opposite, and bothered to

depict the wet streets and

a pair of sopping crows seeking shelter beneath a dripping bench.

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s curry meals with all the extras that we enjoyed last night, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Côtes du Rhône.

Spring Drizzle

Once again I stayed inside with Vanity Fair, until a lull in the drizzle outside led me to photograph the signs of life.

Many of the new shoots, moss, blooms, in or out of season, and even a fresh white feather, bore jewels of nurturing precipitation. Clicking on any image will access the gallery in which each photo bears a title.

This evening Jackie and I dined on chicken Kiev, chips, and peas, with which she drank more of the Sauvignon Blanc and I drank La Petite Pierre vin rouge 2022.

Brave Peach Rambler

Today was warmer, wetter, and with alleged sunny intervals.

Raindrops clung to the windows;

moody skies suppressed the sun.

I ventured no further outside than to photograph this pink rambler overlooking the patio.

Later, I began reading “My Early Life” by Winston S. Churchill.

This evening we dined on chicken Kiev, chips, and Ratatouille with which Jackie drank Blossom Hill White Zinfandel 2022 and I drank Carménère Reserva Privada 2022

Sunshine And Showers Today

Before this morning’s first shower descended I carried out a session of rose dead heading. Shirt sleeves kept me warm enough.

After a heavy spattering on our roof I introduced my lens to the sun briefly flirting with scudding cloud clusters.

Raindrops on various blooms and a few garden views came into view. The day, much of which I spent nearing the end of the second volume of Richard Church’s autobiography, continued with more overcast skies than with sunshine.

This evening we all dined on succulent roast pork with perfect tooth-testing crackling; crisp Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes; crunchy carrots; firm broccoli and cauliflower; tender runner beans and spinach; and meaty gravy, with which Jackie drank more of the Lieblich and I drank Hacienda Uranus Garnacha Old Vines, 2020.

More Unlikely Bedfellows

Shirtsleeves were just about adequate for my post-gale walk around the garden this cooler and brighter morning.

Once again plants, albeit somewhat weatherbeaten, most unlikely to be found together in the flower beds at this time of year are featured. The yellow climbing rose Summer Time, and the ginger lilies should, for example be over by now.

Today’s gallery harbours more plants not recently photographed which bear titles once accessed by a click on any image. I think the butterfly is a Speckled Wood, which we have not seen before in 2023.

Afterwards I made good headway on Nevil Shute’s “On the Beach” which I had begun reading a couple of days ago.

Elizabeth and Jacqueline visited this afternoon and were very impressed with and bought some of Flo’s all natural materials hand made jewellery. They also chatted with Ellie.

I then watched a recording of the rugby World Cup quarter final match between Wales and Argentina.

We then dined on oven fish and chips, onion rings, mushy peas and pickled onions, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Doom Bar.

Warm Rain

I began my day by watching the ITV recording of last night’s rugby World Cup match between England and Argentina.

Although the air remained humid, the temperature hot, the breeze absent, we did at last receive rain, albeit warm.

It continued to require an effort to catch raindrops with my camera; the resultant images bearing titles in the gallery.

This afternoon I dozed through the rugby match between Japan and Chile, then gave my undivided attention to the game between Scotland and South Africa.

For dinner this evening Jackie produced her classic cottage pie; tasty ratatouille; crunchy carrots; and firm broccoli, with which she finished the Zesty and I drank François Dubessy GSM.

By this time the skies had darkened, the temperature dropped by several degrees, and a cool, light, breeze blew.

Before The Gloom Descended

Neither seduced by the sultry heat that had by early afternoon almost dried the patio after much overnight and morning rain, nor the sunshine that for a short period bathed the garden, we spent some time laying down the usual plants and artefacts likely to suffer from the further storm forecast to rage from this evening onwards.

Jackie has this time pinned down the feet of her most vulnerable owl.

I also photographed flowers before the gloom descended.

Thereafter I took a large bite out of “Doctor Zhivago”.

This evening we all enjoyed succulent pork chops; crisp roast potatoes, the softer centred being sweet; crunchy carrots, and firm broccoli, with which Jackie drank more Sauvignon Blanc and I drank more of the Graves.

A Day Of Contrasts

The morning’s drizzling overture reached a crashing crescendo as Jackie and I began loading our garden refuse into the Modus. My shirt was soaked in seconds, and I donned a raincoat for our trip to the Council dump, now rebranded as the Efford Recycling Centre.

This symphony’s variously placed movements were conducted throughout the day.

Jacqueline visited this afternoon and we enjoyed our usual mixture of reminiscences and updating.

Soon after 6.00 p.m. the skies cleared and the starring, brightly shining sun silhouetted trees against the sky, and cast shadows short and stretched. The rain had ceased after filling numerous receptacles.

This evening, Jacqueline having returned home, the rest of us dined on Jackie’s strongly flavoured lemon chicken and savoury rice with which she drank more of the rosé and I drank more of the La Vieille Ferme.

Getting Cold Feet

Fierce gales that gusted throughout the night had somewhat lessened this morning, although they set up again with increased fervour, beating a tattoo on the unflinching Modus, as we set off for an afternoon forest drive.

An unusually long tailback on Christchurch Road gave us the opportunity to turn round and head for home, but we persevered. Eventually we saw that the cause had been a stationary large lorry with flashing lights which reversed into a side road in which was an emergency police car and another vehicle blocking the road. We have no idea what had happened, But of course drove past.

In a field alongside Sowley Lane entered by muddy ruts bearing puddles, on the surfaces of which swam gradually increasing raindrop ringlets,

a soggy group of horses silently tolerated their damp surroundings.

Further along the road a small herd of cattle cropped the verges and chomped branches stripped from trees with their lichen and ivy coated trunks surrounded by dripping ferns alongside

a glistening five-barred gate.

From May to October I customarily adopt footwear of sandals without socks. Throughout this July I have been getting cold feet. This is predicted to continue until September.

Becky left before tonight’s dinner to return home to Southbourne. She had made some flavoursome chicken stock with which Jackie cooked this evening’s sticky savoury rice to accompany meaty barbecue spare ribs and tender baby sweetcorn. The Culinary Queen drank Vineyard’s Juicy Spanish Rosé, while I finished the Douro.