Haiku 25-31

These were, in good haiku fashion suggested by our recent visit to Namibia where the fragile life forces are just winning. It would be inspiring to visit at the end of the rainy season when life explodes briefly.


25                                                      

orangegrey skystripes

jinglejanglemorning gold

dustsand nightfootprints

26                                                   

scorchred dune lifemist

lizard beetle stoneytrees

delicate lily

27

sharktooth thorns brushbloom             

tiny pinkgreen buds foldcoiled

like stick insect eggs

28                                                          

hanginghaystacknest

chattering citytwitter

fluffy zebra wing

29                                                       

thousand yellow stars

desertgritsand thorny parched

unlikely survival

30                                                        

winter never rains

dormant grassland bluesunsky

small stormcloud rainbow

31

craggy islandrocks

flaxdrygrass-sea flaxblue sky

fragile lifebalance

23: Tea at the Savoy

I finally had my birthday tea at the Savoy today, it's taken since April to find a date they could fit us in when we were all free, so book early! A nice young man greeted us royally, & took our Snow&Rock & Cotswold bags, then gave us a low table with soft chairs & sofa next to the grand piano in a gazebo with giant Chinese vases.
Deciding on which tea was a major task, Laura went for a fruity-flowery red one, Amy iced tea with raspberry syrup, I had silver needle white tea, mild & subtle, and a small fortune to buy. Sandwiches next, smoked salmon, chicken&mango, ham, egg, cucumber.

 Scones, plain or fruity with cream, jam & wonderful pale creamy lemon curd, possibly even better than Auntie Ethel's. Pastries: the clear winner was the little round pink gooey-chewy meringue.

 After classics like the Moonlight Sonata, Bohemian Rhapsody & Pachelbel's Cannon, Happy Birthday and more cake for the half dozen of us celebrating, then the cake trolley with spicy carrot cake among others.

A million thanks L&A, what a treat. Please may I have a night & dinner somewhere like that when I'm 70 & you're rich&famous?

Travel Memories 1st10

1. The rattly 1950s ferry from Sandbanks to Purbeck. It doesn't seem to have changed much.
2. Parents, 2 children, 1 aunt, 1 golden retriever + camping gear in a pale blue Morris Minor, OBP381
3. Mother, Aunt, aforementioned golden retriever & me travelling by sleeper, the "menfolk" driving, to Scotland, & seeing the car trying to race us.
4. Farmer McKenzie letting us camp in his field at Red Point, collecting water from the spring we had to re-dig each year. Giving us ALL whisky when it was horribly wet&windy
5. Getting salty milk from a farmer, the "coo" had been eating seaweed.
6. Pollock cooked over a driftwood fire minutes after catching them.
7. A campsite in Santa Maria Castellabata with unlimited fresh-ripe-succulent figs, never been able to eat dried ones since, nasty!
8. The Blue Grotto really being blue.
9. The smell of Solfatara & Vesuvius. I still use pumice from the beach.
10. All our holiday souvenirs and films being stolen in Domodossola.

Namibia. 20:Oyster 21:backpacking 22:60Afrikaans words

Careful watchers may have noticed a slight pause in posts, not total laziness, we have been in Namibia for 3 weeks, L&A filled in with posts I did in advance. Namibia is a wonderful place of contrasting landscapes, I'd love to go again just after the rainy season and see the full botanical glory. I will post some more pictures when they're sorted, all 2557 of them. How I love my digital camera!
When I was about 6 my father had a bad oyster and was ill for days, I've never dared try them until "The Lighthouse" in Swakopmund offered a special salad. The beast was not alive & wriggling fortunately, and was delicious

They also offered this rather decadent burger-variant

In spite of all the trekking and camping we've done, I've never done "proper" backpacking, carrying food & stuff until we did Fish River Canyon. We slept under the stars, but carried food, sleeping bags & all necessities. An experience to be repeated if the weather's equally dependable.
Finally, I tried to learn some Afrikaans words, just about got to 60, good ones included spruit: a usually-dry stream-bed, sounds like a cross between a spring & a conduit, tackies: trainers, no idea why, drankwinkel: a drink shop & bobalas: a hangover. I hope to remember them for our next visit.

Haiku 21-24

21
silent reflections

remember frogspring frenzy

hear bubbling tadpoles         

22
galey ridgetop

dewy cloudswirl window glimpse

evanescent world

23
primeval power

pregnantfat giving goddess

kindly mother earth


24

leafyfaced greenman

ancient earthing fatherforce

why so sinister

flowers, travelling

2 more of my suggested challenges are another list, this time travel recollections, and a portfolio of unusual views of flowers, inspired by my camera-with-magical-macro and Amy's suggestion of 60 single colour photos which was enormous fun.
Here are some previews:

vegetables&competition

I posted a photo of an embryonic cucumber a few weeks ago, sadly the slugs had it, & the plant gave up in disgust and shrivelled. Laura, however has bright green fingers & her veg garden is most productive. I'm delighted she has such an interest, but slightly miffed that she does better, a bit like the first time she beat me in a friendly swimming race, proud but a bit sad that Mum no longer ruled supreme!