In the middle of July 2014 I had a strange mixed up week. There was an extra day at work on Monday and an unexpected day off on Wednesday. In the end it all evened out and I worked the normal four days, just not in the normal order. Of course this left me permanently confused over what day it was. More than normal that is.
20 July 2014
The Monday walk to work began with some beautiful purple roses. My photo may not have been the sharpest but they looked to me like a wonderful bouquet even though they were growing in a garden. The air was so still I couldn’t resist stopping to take a picture of the little boats reflected in the mirror like water of the Itchen when I crossed Cobden Bridge.
Further along, as I rounded the little path leading to Horseshoe Bridge I kept my eyes peeled for the cygnets I saw last week. The tide was out though and they were nowhere to be seen.
On the way home I decided to risk the Boardwalk and the towpath. Since I’ve been working until seven o’clock I’ve been avoiding it in the evening, mostly because of the red haired man. On Monday I finished at four though so I strolled happily along, keeping a watch out for cygnets. There were plenty of swans preening at the water’s edge and enough swan’s down flying to fill a small pillow. Unfortunately, there was also the red haired man.
In fact there seem to be two red haired men, which could explain why he pops up all over the place. It also explains why his hair is sometimes longer, greyer and messier than others. The two are so alike though I’m pretty sure they are related, maybe brothers, maybe father and son. They were drinking something from a large plastic carton, much like a six pint milk carton, wrapped in a plastic bag, passing it back and forth to share. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t milk in there. Because I saw them crouched on the edge of the slipway from quite a distance I had a chance to prepare. Pretending to be texting on my phone I got a rather good photo of them.
As I passed I got the normal stream of obscenities but I ignored them. What is their problem and do they do this to everyone? At home I sent the photograph to Hampshire police with a message explaining what they have been doing and suggesting they keep an eye on them, especially as they threw a bottle at me once. The reply suggested I call 101 if I see them again but I doubt anyone will be sent out and, if they are, there is little they can do unless they actually attack someone. Still, if anyone does get attacked, including me, the police now have a picture of the prime suspects.
On Tuesday morning, before the driving lesson and the following furore, I pottered around the garden taking photos. There were two more tigridia flowers, red and red and yellow, but no sign of the white ones yet. Knowing my luck none of the white ones will come out. The deep purple calla lily I planted at the same time has also flowered. After the dark purple poppy debacle I was half expecting the flower to be pink. It wasn’t. It was the deepest, richest purple with a spadix that put me in mind of a liquorice allsort. Why does my mind always turn to food? The purple cornflowers have finally bloomed too and the colour combination was perfect. I wish I’d put them in the same pot now.
The nasturtiums are still going strong and I think I have a new favourite colour. Some creamy ones have appeared flushed with a soft apricot. Is there no end to the variations? The black fly have finally found them though so I spent a while washing them off, even though I know it’s a futile exercise and they will soon be back.
It’s wasn’t all mooching about taking pictures. There were things to do in the veg plot. The elephant garlic was ready for harvest along with the normal garlic. The harvest was mixed, a great elephant garlic success and a pretty poor show on the normal garlic front. Still, you can’t win them all.
Another of those random squash type plants have appeared. Last year one seeded itself in one of the tubs and I left it hoping it would flower and produce something. It didn’t. I still live in hope so I’m leaving this one too. It must have grown from seeds in the compost bin so I’m guessing it’s either butternut squash or melon. None of the courgette plants made it this year thanks to slugs and my own crack handedness when I dropped the tray. The tub tomatoes are making up for it though and the first fruits are swelling. Last year they were a disaster so I have high hopes this year. The surviving sunflowers are also close to flowering and I’m quite excited at the prospect of my own seeds.
Wednesday was mostly a write off. Once I’d seen Bard to satisfy myself he really was alright and we’d had a little mother son walk and talk I was shattered, emotionally drained. The afternoon was spent sitting in the garden mainly staring into space. Some of that staring involved staring at bees, they seemed to be everywhere. Of course there were also a few photos and I make no apologies for including the best of them.
Back at work on Thursday things were a bit of a rush. Other than a quick stop to capture the fuchsia flowers on the way out of the garden and another to capture a decided lack of swans or cygnets along the river it was all about work. Friday was much the same but with a stag beetle I met on the path on the way to the river and a ladybird with no spots at all that flew away before I could get a photo.
In part the busyness was down to the continuation of the lost property epidemic. One man was so angry at losing his bus pass I thought he might have a heart attack. Not only did he want compensation but he wanted the bus driver sacked too because, of course, it was all his fault for driving off too quickly and not giving the man time to put his pass away. Seriously, I’m not making this up!
It was also down to a roadshow involving the RNIB. This was aimed at making buses more accessible to blind people and, when I went out to take my turn with the glasses that mimic different eye conditions, I bumped into a very familiar blind person, Uncle Bill, there with the RNIB! The special glasses certainly gave me a new appreciation for my eyesight, poor though it may be, especially the ones mimicking glaucoma, which is why Uncle Bill is blind. It also increased my admiration of his steely determination not to let his problems stop him getting out and about.
There were spectacular thunderstorms over night. Sadly I missed them completely because I was so deeply asleep. By morning all we were left with was rain. My final walk to work of the week ended up being mostly a bus ride followed by a head down dash along the boardwalk. In the semi shelter of the shrubs at the Horseshoe Bridge end the fluffy seed heads on the knapweed, spiky and covered in water droplets, were much like my own hair. The last of the chicory flowers were closed up, waiting for the sun to appear.
So that was my mixed bag of a week. It may not have been the best week in the history of the world, there were certainly some ups and downs, but there’s a three day weekend to look forward to at the end of it and walks to plan…