Tag Archives: poppy

Vicissitude, Vocabulary and Victory

Why is it that I can spell vicissitude, a word I seldom use, but I struggle with accommodation, cemetery and success? I use them all the time, so they should be second nature. They aren’t. I always have to think about them. There are others too, but I can’t call them to mind just now.

When I was 16 and coming up to a couple of years of exams (we needn’t discuss the results – the fact I ended up working on a farm rather than carving out a brilliant academic career is all you need to know) I started to read a dictionary – improving my vocabulary and my spelling. If you were to examine my vocabulary and spelling using modern forensic techniques, you would probably find that they are stronger in words beginning with A to H. There is, frankly, only so much dictionary you can read.

Similarly, at that time, I read a number of Shakespeare’s plays to increase the breadth of my knowledge. They mainly went over my head and passed into oblivion. There is only so much you can take in if you are simply reading something. I now realise that in the absence of a teacher I should have at least bought some notes to help me through the work. The only plays of Shakespeare that I know much about were the ones we studied at school and plus Henry V and Romeo and Juliet. The former is courtesy of Kenneth Branagh and the latter is from my watching of Shakespeare in Love.

When you look at my academic career from this point of view it’s hardly surprising that I ended up failing to shine.

However, now I mention academics, I am reminded that I was going to write a post on politicians and skit notes. I will start that in a minute so I don’t forget.

It’s nearly the 11th November, so the header picture is the 2021 Jersey “Masterpiece Poppy” coin 5 ounces of silver and a poppy made using metal from a Spitfire that flew operational sweeps over the Normandy beaches, army mess tins dated 1945 and a Landing Craft that actually landed tanks on D-Day.

Jersey 2020 Poppy Masterpiece Coin

This is the 2020 version – the poppy medallion is made from metal left after Spitfire PM631 had a major restoration. It was one of the last Spitfires in service (until 1957 with the Meteorological Flight) and one of the first planes in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The penny gives an idea of scale. It seems to be quite fashionable, and lucrative, to make souvenirs from bits of wartime scrap.

Apologies for the title, I was stretching a bit to obtain alliteration.

Another Twenty Minutes in the Car Park

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I returned to a familiar car park today. It wasn’t planned but I had time to kill. I see from a quick glance at the post that I haven’t really duplicated any shots, apart from one of the gym car park. so there won’t be a lot to compare. I’ve even looked through the old shots and can’t match anything else up.

Gym car park in lockdown

Gym Car Park today

As you can see, there are more people there, and more leaves on the trees. There has been an outbreak of community gardening in the areas of bare soil around the trees lining the boundary of the car park, complete with solar lights and some arty details in the corners.

Community Gardening – Sherwood – Nottingham

It could do with a bit of maintenance, and I’m not sure the Christmas tree is a great idea, but apart from that it’s good to see. If I was having a go at a community space I’m pretty sure I would find it difficult to keep it maintained, so all credit to them for having a go. I’ve been saying for years that I was going to sow some seed bombs but I’ve never got round to it. I actually reviewed a book on Guerrilla Gardening years ago, but I’ve never done any and I can’t find the link.

Rubbish in the Car Park

There’s a smattering of rubbish in the car park, though not so much as when they still had the recycling bins in the corner. However, one man’s rubbish is another man’s haiku prompt…

If you see me writing about lost luggage and broken coffee cups you will know where I got the idea from. Discarded Guinness cans, however, might be a step too far. Most things, I take in my stride, but I really would like to know how the coffee cup ended up broken by the kerbside.

The sign, even with its disapproving eye, does not seem to be working.

Rubbish Sign in the Car Park

A frilly poppy

For details of my Sunday morning, please see here.

Tales of Tall Poppies

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The header picture is a poppy in the front garden. It was taken at about 10 am and the petals are still crumpled from being in the bud. They don’t last long, by 2 pm, as a previous photo showed, they are already losing their petals. It’s a hard life being a poppy. As a man who is crumpled from life, and has bits falling off, I sympathise with these flowers.

Poppy – already falling apart

I am, as I have often mentioned, 61 years old, and have spoken English all my life. I have read extensively and must have heard millions of words spoken. Today, on Pointless, I heard about tall poppies for the first time.

It seems it is a well known idiom, but it has passed me by. It’s not one of these words that has suddenly appeared either, it was first used in English in 1710 and dates back to Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last King of Rome.

It is also, it seems, a common figure of speech in Australia and New Zealand.

I feel happy to have found a new concept in English, but very ignorant not to have already known it.

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

This is another stock photo, as none of my poppies look particularly tall.

I will leave you with a link to a poem about tall nettles by Edward Thomas. I’ve put it in the blog several times, so sorry to be repetitive, but I can’t think of too many poems featuring tall flowers.

According to Thomas’s Wikipedia entry the Petersfield Museum holds 1,800 books about Thomas in a study centre. I think I’ve read three. The feeling of ignorance persists…

A Change of Gear

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I’m going to relax tonight. No ranting. No description of my dull day. No mention of rejection. This is Julia’s new rule. She decided she had to have a new rule to calm me down.

We were in traffic when a taxi driver, not satisfied with my progress, overtook me, sounded his horn and pulled back in front of me, causing me to brake, as there wasn’t a lot of room. I’m not sure what his problem was, as I was not, as far as I know, holding him up. I think he was just impatient.

I’m resigned to people rushing and driving badly, but I didn’t think the horn was necessary so when we caught up with him at the next hold-up (his hurrying having gained him no time at all), I positioned myself alongside and enquired as to the exact nature of his problem.

I am now in trouble for acting in an unbecoming manner, and have been ordered to calm down.

The header picture is a rugby club reflected in the wing of the car parked next to us at Tebay Services during our trip to the Lakes. The did, to answer the old chant, eat all the pies. This wasn’t their fault – the shop should have had a better stock.To be honest, it was a mixed blessing. We missed out on the excellent pies but we bought lunch elsewhere and didn’t need the normal small bank loan that shopping at Tebay normally requires.

The picture of the Small White is from the garden earlier in the week.

Small White on Red Valerian

The final picture is a poppy in the garden, still crumples as it has only just emerged from the bud. They always look like this when we leave in the morning. By the time we return home then petals have fallen. They are, in many ways, an unsatisfactory flower.

Poppy in the early morning

I feel calmer now…

Eleven Photos and the Benefits of Blogging

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Teasels in flower

The main picture shows some teasel in flower. They have gone over a bit but you can still see some of the bluish flowers. I thought I’d include the picture after showing the mature ones earlier on this week.

Fungus at Mencap gardens

Mooring ring

Common Blue at Screveton

I thought I’d ID’d this one…obviously not.

Straw Bale Bowie Bear

The fungus is growing out of one of the raised beds in the Mencap garden and the mooring ring is from the quay at Burleigh pottery in Stoke. I spotted the blue butterfly on a visit to Men in Sheds in the summer and the bear was in a field near Scarborough advertising a music event. The dragonfly was pictured on our trip to Rutland Water, but I don’t seem to have identified it on the photo and can’t find the reference. I think it’s a Common Darter if I remember correctly – I only see common things.

Nuthatce at Rufford Abbey

Detail of the mouse

Swan at National Arboretum

Mint Moth

Poppy and chamomile

The bird with the bandit mask is another Nuthatch and the Swan was cruising down the river at the back of the National Arboretum last year. The mouse is from a harvest loaf we cooked on the farm and the remaining two photos are also from the farm – a Mint Moth (there were dozens about in the herb garden) and a poppy with chamomile.

They all bring back memories, and without blogging I wouldn’t have restarted with the photography – another thing I like about blogging!

Poppies in Autumn

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First we went to Aldi, because they had been advertising they would have craft supplies in this week. To Julia craft supplies are like cat nip to cats.

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Then we went to the garden centre in search of rooting powder. This was hard because, over the years, the gardening supplies have been forced out by the gift shop and are now hidden like a shameful secret.

The salvage yard has always seemed to stock too many duplicates. If I was a cynic I would be tempted to suggest this is because most of the stuff is modern and made in China – not salvaged or reclaimed. I have nothing against the stuff, or any of the other repro gear, because it adds a touch of elegance to the garden, but it should be made clear.

It often crops up on programmes like Bargain Hunt where the experts don’t seem to recognise it and have to wait for the auctioneer to tell them. I suspect that they are really just being nice to the contestants and stall holders by not mentioning it, because when the Chinese make repro they make lots of it and it gets all over the trade.

They once brought a shipment of repro vases in to the Newark Antique Fair – everyone had them and they were around £15 each. Cheerful, decorative and cheap.

We went to Wales that weekend and there was one in a shop window. It had travelled 250 miles, aged by 100 years and increased in price to £75.

When I win the lottery I want one of those big urns.

Back home two orange poppies were unfurling themselves, a Red Admiral flew off as I tried to focus and the spider still lurks.

The shield bug on the fatsia japonica obliged by posing. Shield bugs are very good like that.