scarecrows – Page 2 – derrickjknight

Selfie With Sir Robert

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This afternoon we drove around the lanes to the east of the Forest. Our first port of call was the beach at Tanner’s Lane. A rowing boat lay among the rocks in the shallows.

The water further out, fronting the Isle of Wight was blue, still, and clear. Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower stood steady on the horizon.

Was this print evidence of the New Forest yeti?

Several couples took advantage of this balmy September day.

This pair claimed no knowledge of

the champagne glass standing on a nearby post. I tested the quality before deciding to leave it where it was.

A lovely view of the rolling hills of the Isle of Wight was available from St Leonard’s Road,

along which one of my driver’s acceptable cyclists happily pedalled. Jackie takes exception to those dressed in bum-hugging lycra with a professional air and knobbly calves.

Further on, St Leonard’s Barn

and its ruins basked in the late afternoon sunshine.

Valerian sprang from

the ancient stone walls;

dog rose hips mingled with blackberries in the hedgerows opposite;

hay bales were poised to roll across the fields;

and a pool by the wayside reflected the skies and iron fencing atop the slope above.

Nearer home we passed a Batman v Superman scarecrow contest at Classic Hair & Beauty Clinic, 40 Stopples Lane;

and I took a selfie with P.C. Robert Peel at Hordle Pharmacy, 26 Ashley Lane.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious lamb jalfrezi served with onion rice. I drank Prestige de Calvet Cotes du Rhone Villages 2016. The Culinary Queen had already consumed her Hoegaarden in the Rose Garden.

Heroes And Heroines

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Most of my day was spent on wrestling with administration involving phone calls, some of which were not returned; form filling the requirements of which were unclear; and e-mails, one of which I had never received. I really can’t be bothered to go into details on this, save to say Jackie drove me to Hordle Post Office to catch the last post, and to obtain a leaflet listing the entrants to the Hordle Scarecrow Trail, and giving me the opportunity of photographing a few more scarecrows.

Heroes and Heroines is this year’s theme. The first example we encountered today was ‘Firefighter and rescued cat’, outside Flanders House in Silver Street.

The fireman’s phone flashed blue at intervals.

Next came ‘Superman’ at the Hordle Crossroads Garage.

The residents of 62 Everton Road celebrated the ‘Unsung Heroes – Our NHS Nurses’.

Laid out on a bed was a poor unfortunate

flanked by an equally startled looking Theatre Nurse S. Crow

and eager Sister Strawman.

Pressing where indicated on the victim’s device elicits an agonised cry of pain.

Jeremy Hunt is the Conservative M.P. who has been Minister of State for Health since 2012. It was a witty stroke to provide him with a pair of crutches.

Perhaps there was another joke in propping him up beside

Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, who’s mystical boudoir so entranced Ronnie Barker in the the television sitcom ‘Open All Hours’.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s sublime beef pie with marvellous gravy; boiled potatoes, carrots, broccoli and green beans. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I started another bottle of the Fleurie.

New Roses

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This has been a day of varied activities. This morning involved various administrative phone calls; a trip to Lymington to confirm the order and pay for Jackie’s new laptop; and a drive among the lanes around Sway.

Other road users somewhat impeding our leisurely progress included a horse and rider;

a group of cyclists consisting of a gentleman and young girl lagging behind two boys pausing on the brow of a hill;

and a truck bearing a precarious looking wide load of hay.

Coombe Lane, in particular, is home to Long Cottage, the garden of which contains a row of sunflowers fronting a rather wizened little oak tree bearing large clusters of cupped acorns.

Further along this road a group of inquisitive young Friesians thronged to their gateway in order to enquire what we were doing there.

Hordle has its own Scarecrow Trail, but since we followed the Bisterne one thoroughly, and parking is quite dangerous alongside the exhibits in the more populous village, I will simply photograph those we come across in our wanderings. The first of these are outside Hordle Parish Church of All Saints. They have been created by the children of the nearby Nursery School.

Early this afternoon Jackie dug the first hole for the roses that will ascend the now unclad Gothic Arch seen at the far end of this section of the Brick Path, alongside which stands the Nottingham Castle bench with its attendant sweet peas.

The rear of the bench can be seen in this shot of the Star of India clematis in Margery’s Bed.

The elegant forms of white gladioli take centre stage on this view of the Dragon Bed,

while, to the right of them, the colours of Japanese anemones, fuchsia, and lobelia form a similar sinuous shape.

Later, we visited Otter Nurseries where we bought two roses for the bare arch. We have examples of these elsewhere in the garden. Penny Lane wanders over the potting shed in the Rose Garden, and the bright red Super Elfin has taken off like a rocket in the herbaceous border.

Here Jackie, having planted Penny Lane, starts on a hole for the heavily pruned Super Elfin. I helped out a bit with that one, but the Head Gardener refused to photograph me on the grounds that my minor effort didn’t warrant a presence on the blog. Frankly that seemed a little harsh to me.

In a short while we can expect to see a difference.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s brilliant beef pie, with meaty gravy, boiled potatoes, spring greens, and bright carrots. The Culinary Queen finished the sauvignon blanc, and I finished the Fleurie.

Fifteenth Anniversary

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This morning we set off on the Bisterne Scarecrow Festival Trail. At each end of the road through the village and its environs a town crier announced the event.

Various outlets sold leaflets listing the entries with a map showing their locations. The price was £1 in aid of the Village Hall. Most scarecrows sported a receptacle for donations to the same cause. We bought ours from Tyrell’s Ford Country Inn. As this was the last stop on the route, we carried on our search in reverse order, although my photographs are here presented starting at number 1.

This was The Scarecrow with no Name!! outside Old School House. It didn’t look much like Clint Eastwood.

24, Dragon Cottages was responsible for both no. 2, We’re all going on a Summer Holiday;

and no. 3, We have gone to Pot.

Gangsta Grannie resided at 23, Dragon Cottages. It was a neat touch to provide her with a walking frame.

A punster was responsible for Country Life is in the Jean’s (sic).

Charlie the Train was a recycling of Thomas the Tank Engine featured four years ago. An engineer stands in the cab;

the prospective passenger behind him can be seen through a window;

and a signalman waits outside. This exhibit was produced by the residents of 71, Lower Kingston.

A subtle wit was employed for I’m just Cheese (Cheese straws – Get it?), at Clover Cottage, 16 Lower Kingston.

It was particularly breezy at White House, Kingston, where Crow Farm was situated. The farmer had lost his hat and his wife swizzled on her stick.

I picked up and replaced the hat (seen beside the wall in the first picture) and the wind righted the good lady. They seemed rather pleased.

There was a Hive of Activity outside Iona, 18 Christchurch Road. Witticisms were written on tags attached to some of the bees,

and other clever details, such a bridal couple.

A leggy spider is Surfing the Web outside 221, Christchurch Road,

while on the green across the road cheeky Peekaboo Pikachus enlivens the shrubbery.

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson peers from the garden of 6 New Road.

By the cattlegrid in the forest on Charles Lane we have Not Forest Rangers it’s the Power Rangers.

3 Little Pigs inhabit the brick sitting room outside Rose Cottage, 51 Bagnum. Mum’s photograph stands on the mantelpiece, and a notice asks visitors if they can find

the Big Bad Wolf.

At 37, Sandford, Country Fun portrays the television programme Country File. Each of the figures,

for example John Craven, carries a photographic image of a presenter.

On the big oak trees in Dragon Lane hang an explanatory notice about Whispering Wood

and half a dozen pairs of eyes fashioned from car parts.

A Tin Can Alley had been set up outside 39, Sandford, in Roll Up Roll Up.

Another work that invites us to a further search is Noah’s Ark in the grounds of St Paul’s Church.

We failed this one, because we only found five of the six pairs of animals.

The Blue Planet appears somewhat out of its element outside the driveway to the Stable Family Trust.

Wonder Woman had lost one of her amulets in the grass of Garden Cottage,

while another unlikely American symbol, Humpty Trumpty, sat on a wall

in the grounds of Tyrell’s Ford, above a snoozing Mexican.

A fifteenth wedding anniversary was being celebrated outside Lower Bisterne Farm.

Having completed our tour we just had time for lunch in The Three Tuns at Bransgore.

Jackie enjoyed a burger, chips, and salad; while I chose superb Mudeford haddock and sea bass in an excellent sauce served with a crisp range of vegetables. My lady drank Peroni while I drank Ringwood’s best bitter. As usual, this rendered an evening meal unnecessary.

By Request

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Pauline, The Contented Crafter, recently expressed an interest in seeing a photograph showing the whole length of the garden and the house. Well, this may have been possible were it not for the foliage in between. Nevertheless, I did my best to comply.

I managed to cross the road at the front of the house without either dying in a road accident or falling in the ditch on the other side.

There was no room for the corner facing the trellis in that view of the building.

I aimed in the direction of the house from as far south as was possible, beginning with the Weeping Birch Bed;

the Brick Path was next;

then the Back Drive barrier;

the Oval Path;

and the Rose Garden.

Well, at least they show glimpses of the back of the house.

Here are a couple of sightings of the roof, one from the Back Drive,

and another from the compost heaps.

Here are some aerial views from the bedroom and bathroom windows.

This one features Jackie watering, on which she spent much time. To the right of the fence is the North Breeze jungle.

Here are today’s dahlia

and some white sweet peas.

Normally Aaron takes his clippings to the dump at no extra charge. Yesterday Jackie insisted that he left them for us to deal with. The orange bags in this picture were already destined for the Effort Recycling Centre. The heaps in the foreground filled them up again after we had completed our first trip. We needed to chop them up a bit more to fit them in. We then made a second journey.

I was only a couple of days ago that Jackie was announcing that she had come away empty handed from our last few trips to Efford. That run was to be interrupted today with these two tables. The metal, glass-topped, one was for the greenhouse to be delivered tomorrow, so she may be forgiven.

We had then earned a break, so we took a trip into the forest.

Seeking shade under trees in Sandy Down a little donkey was given similar masked protection from the pesky flies to that afforded to its larger equine cousin.

Our chosen approach to Brockenhurst was somewhat congested with ponies and their foals. Can you count how many?

Eventually we found ourselves at Patrick’s Patch in Beaulieu.

This community garden has its own wildflower meadow;

colour coordinated marigolds and nasturtiums;

echinaceas in the form of shuttlecocks;

splendid Swiss chard;

a variety of sweet peas;

russet sunflowers;

and a carved rabbit.

An admirably creative collection of scarecrows are distributed throughout. This one is a revolving balloon;

and this one, having a rest from watering, has a gourd for his head.

This evening we dined at The Monkey House just outside Lymington. The service was excellent, friendly, and unobtrusive; the food excellent. We both enjoyed gammon steaks for main courses. My starter was whitebait, Jackie’s brie in breadcrumbs; my dessert Eton mess, Jackie’s crème brûlée. I drank a very good pinot noir and Jackie drank Amstel.

Away From Its Natural Environment

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It was a bit early in the morning to be presented with a Rorschach test, but that is what Jackie spotted in this morning’s sunlight.

The cosmos and lobelia planting in the iron urn obscures the gazebo path.

Ginger lilies are now in bloom.

After the early burst of sunlight, the morning was dull, but the skies cleared this afternoon when we visited the last four stragglers in the Hordle Scarecrow Trail. All are individual entries.

There are two more Rapunzels, being No.15 at 22 Stopples Lane,

and 20 at 6, Heath Road.

No. 21, The Pied Piper of Hamelin attracts the rats two doors away at number 10;

Rodents, in the form of entry number 19, Cinderella’s mice, also appear to infest 43, Charnock Close.

After this, Jackie drove us to Christchurch, on the banks of the River Stour.

The Red Arrows (http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/) were performing various routines in the sky above,

leaving their trademark trails passing the mastheads.

Various activities included kayaking;

more leisurely boating;

feeding the birds,

like these swans vying for victuals;

kicking pigeons;

swinging on rails;

or toddling along, balloon in tow.

Some, more sedentary, enjoyed the comforts of benches and deckchairs.

Others stepped it out along the quayside.

One young woman enjoyed a ride in a wheelchair.

Jackie and I were not the only ones who enjoyed an ice cream.

Some way from its natural environment, a hippopotamus canoodled with a mallard,

and, in the distance, waterfowl lined up in harmony with the beach huts of Mudeford. Thanks to my friend, Lisa, I now know that the woman on the right is paddle boarding.

This evening we dined on a highly spiced pizza and salad. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Almocreve tinto reserva 2014.

The Trail Picked Up Again

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Today was one for Jackie to water her babies, and for me to dead-head the Rose Garden.

We have many dahlias enhancing various beds;

and rudbeckia, canna lilies, Japanese anemones, and buddleia blending in the Palm Bed.

This afternoon we hit the Hordle Scarecrow Trail once more.

Entry No. 1, at 9, Longfield Road, is a commendable Junior effort. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is embellished by the Cheshire Cat in the window.

A number of Individual competitors have chosen to portray ‘Rapunzel’. No. 2 at 33 Longfield Field road has set the heroine in her castle prison, with her hair trailing along the shrubbery;

at 8, Myrtle Close, entry number 10, she resembles a lengthy caterpillar snaking along the top of the fence;

No.7, at Rose Cottage, Woodcock Lane is an imaginative junior entry. The castle has been incorporated, and the eponymous character hangs out of the window.

‘Three Little Pigs’, No.4, at 152 Everton Road tells the story to which I referred in ‘The Uses of Enchantment’.

There are two ‘Pinocchio’s. 3, White Barn Crescent houses entry number 5;

no.6 at 3, Mallard Close, also features Jiminy Cricket. This excellent piece of work was an Anglo-Canadian collaboration, in that the creator’s Canadian grandchildren had a big hand in the operation. Making Pinocchio a puppet on strings is a splendid touch.

‘The Wizard of Oz’ at 62, Everton Road, entry number nine, is interactive. Not content with three-dimensional references to L. Frank Baum’s story, Robert Gill has provided a witch on the gatepost. If you dare to press the button you will get a scare.

You could easily miss parts of entry number 8 at Beehive Cottage, 86B Everton Road. Firstly, why ‘Crow White’? Surely she is ‘Snow White’? Not if she’s a scarecrow, she isn’t.

Then, she bemoans lack of help with the housework.

If you look up to the bedroom window you will see the wicked stepmother reflected in her mirror;

but unless you investigate the Land Rover parked in front of the garage, you won’t see the ugly old woman into whom she was transformed, with the poisoned apple on the dashboard. It was useful to have my Driver’s extra pair of eyes to take in all this.

Looking decidedly out of her element was ‘The Little Mermaid’, the Hordle W.I. entry number 12.

This evening we dined on roast beef, new potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and green beans, with scrumptious gravy. I finished the Fleurie, and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.

Hordle Scarecrow Trail

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This morning we visited New Milton, for a shop at Lidl; for me to have a haircut at Hair Design opposite; and to pay some cheques into the bank, although there’s hardly any point in the current economic climate.

Following the amount of interest expressed in yesterday’s scarecrow photographs, we investigated further. The competition is judged by visitors, like us, who bought a list of entrants with space for voting on three categories: Child, Individual, and Business. There is no prize, but subscriptions go towards the September fete. The theme is Children’s Stories. The pictures taken yesterday are of children’s creations. Today we visited a few more, including

Jun(ior) 3 ‘Red Riding Hood’, at 29, Sky End Lane;

IND(ividual) 14 ‘Ugly Duckly’ at 49, Ashley Lane;

and Businesses 11 ‘Tinkerbell’ at Hordle Post Office, 14 Everton Road;

13 ‘Little Red Riding Hoodie’ at Hordle Pharmacy;

16 ‘Mr Wolf Little Red Riding Hood’ at Everything Pets in Stopples Lane;

17 ‘Alice in Hordle Land’ at Classic Cuts alongside the pet shop;

and 18 ‘Wanna bite, Snow White’ next door at Co-op Stores.

Back at home, the sunlight played on front garden plants

hibiscus,

and some rather splendid lilies.

Shelly visited this afternoon and wandered around the garden with her sister.

The Raj in Old Milton is the third reincarnation in our time of the restaurant that was The Jarna when we first arrived in April 2014, then Spice of India until six months ago. We tried it this evening, and found it to be good. My choice of main course was king prawn naga. Jackie and I shared a naan, pilau rice, and tarka dal. She drank Kingfisher and I drank Cobra.

Letting The Toddler Win The Race

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This morning we went for a driveabout in the forest.

It is not unusual to notice cartoon character flattened squirrels on the winding lanes. On the very narrow track bounded by thick impenetrable hedgerows that links Newtown with Minstead, a young tree rat caught ahead of the car tried to outrun us. Jackie in turn, attempted to drive slowly enough to allow it to do so. This was a bit like allowing a toddler to win a race. Not until we reached the wider road leading down to the ford named The Splash, did the creature spot a giant oak for which it made a beeline.

The sky was a clear blue, and strong sun filtered through the trees, dappling everything in its path.

This was especially apparent on Roger Penny Way,

and off the paths on either side of it.

This area was well supplied with ferns,

and the occasional buttercup.

The lane that leads towards The Royal Oak at Fritham drops down steeply, bends frighteningly, then soars up past the pub and on to Eyeworth Pond.

Behind Myrtle Cottage, which stands in the cleft,

sheep graze on sloping hillsides.

A cyclist took on the challenge of climbing the hill.

When he reached the top, another was preparing to coast down in no time at all.

The residents of these lanes clearly suffer from overflow parking from The Royal Oak, and have resorted to sensible signage.

The Water Lilies on Eyeworth Pond are in full bloom.

Canada geese dominate the water;

and mallards,

when not in full sunlight, are as dappled

as the shrubberies.

I had an interesting conversation with another photographer who told me that it was common practice for people to place titbits on the gatepost to attract birds. Apparently there are no takers for peanut butter.

A moorhen (I am grateful to Simon of Quercus Community for this identification) even left the water to investigate today’s offerings.

Other visitors were blue tits,

and chaffinches, which were happy to take their pickings from below. They must have been deterred by whoever shed that feather.

The Hordle Scarecrow Competition is now on.

Seven entrants are propped against the hedge outside Hordle Parish Church.

This evening we dined on haddock and cheese fishcakes, sautéed potatoes, carrots, green beans, courgette bake, and baked beans in tomato sauce. I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2014, while Jackie abstained.

Should I Be Concerned?

The garden was refreshed by early morning rain.

This failed to dampen the ardour of the passion flowers eyeing the red hot honeysuckle,

and gave sweet peas a welcome drink.

The rich red climbing rose Aloha,and the pale pastel bush Margaret Merrill are both in full bloom.

A comment on Houzz GardenWeb forum, posted in July 2007 states that ‘the Margaret Merrill rose was named [in 1977] after a fictitious character in British advertising, but Harkness had to track down various Margaret Merrills for permission to complete naming the rose’. Margaret Merrill was the nom de plume of a beauty advisor who helped Oil of Ulay (now Olay) sell its beauty products. If you wanted cosmetic advice you wrote to this woman.

This afternoon Jackie drove us to Chandlers Ford for her physiotherapy. I settled down to an hour with Primo Levi’s ‘The Periodic Table’, but I didn’t get very far in my hoped-for completion of this, my current book. Jackie soon emerged with a happy face. She had been told she was doing brilliantly and didn’t need to go again.

On our return we stopped for a visit to Patrick’s Patch in Beaulieu.

This is the community garden’s peak time. Marigolds, dahlias, gladioli, sunflowers and lavender are just a few of the flowers we observed as we wandered along the paths, where various imaginative scarecrows were drafted into service.

The Annual Border, with its Painted Lady runner beans, was particularly stunning and, as Jackie discovered, sweet pea scented. We didn’t see a weed anywhere.

Produce like apples and courgettes looked ripe and plump.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious chilli con carne, egg fried rice, and green beans, followed by chocolate eclairs. I finished the bordeaux, whilst Jackie drank Hoegaarden, this last of which, whilst I completed my post, she took up to the rose garden for what has become a nightly drink with Alan Titchmarsh. Like many women of a certain age she is in love with the man. Should I be concerned?