There it sits, down by the lake. How old is it? Are there boats still moored inside? A life belt is still attached to the back wall as the wood gently greens and rots… .
I’ve never been down the steep steps to the shore, it’s green and slippery and there is no handrail. If I was young I would explore. The reeds and rushes are starting to grow up, and no doubt moorhens or coots will be nesting there soon. Chicks still waiting to be laid in their eggs. There are Canada geese about. Life is renewing.
By a lake, an old obelisk. No inscription except carved trysts, g+j, p+b? How old are they? The letters are neatly carved, so I would guess early twentieth century, when people were taught to be neat (even when defacing this!). I guess they will be related to the owners of the hall? I would have taken a close up but other people wanted to take photos. Perhaps we will go back and investigate more. There may be details on the websites. Whatever it signifies or memorialises, it is a strong statement on the hill above the lake….
Looking down into the water I saw a reflected horse, brown and white with a dark mane. Pleased to see some life around me I looked up from the reflection, but there was nothing there. Only an old tree overhanging the water, flecked with red and brown leaves, that was all, then the sky and a wooden fence….
I looked back down into the water, it was murky now, covered with ripples from the wind, no sign of my previous vision.
I stood up and started walking around the path. The lake was not big and it took me ten minutes to walk through the grass and sedges to the gate. The lake was in a dip so it was soon disappearing behind me. Flowers and hedges shimmering in the sun. I looked back over my shoulder and saw a horses head appearing out of the water, it stepped onto the bank, it started to trot, gallop, it was moving fast towards me. Covered in pond weed, mud slipping off its coat, steaming in the sunshine. I RAN as fast as I could. I could feel its breath on my neck as I reached the gate and flew through it. I stumbled and looked up. Just the sky with white clouds scudding by. No water horse!
Simply use an app that can flip your photo over and join one image to the other. You can get some surreal images of apparent reflections. In this case I’ve created an image looking like the landscape is reflected in a lake or large pond. Symmetry is a wonderful thing!
At the lake my hubby sailed his radio controlled speedboat. All was fine for a while. He sent it round a little bouy a few times, although he did come a bit close to some ducks though. But then the battery started going flat, he kept sending it out and it started to slow down. He got it back but sent it for one last run and… It stopped and stuck by the bouy! What to do? We threw a couple of stones but it drifted outwards. Oh no! Hubby took his trousers off! No! Waded into the lake with his shoes on! No! Used a branch to get the boat, almost fell over into the foul smelling water and waded out. Then he put his trousers back on (with black and green coloured legs). He had to squelch a few hundred yards to the car. It was brave but silly, people have drowned in the big lake, luckily the small lake was shallow at that edge. But after all that’s happened recently, well I wasn’t happy.
The plants are turning red in places, golds too. The rushes by the lake have dark heads. We are just starting to head into autumn. I took a photo through the glass on the balcony of Westport Lake Cafe. The cafe is a few meters above the lake. It is curved wood like a boat standing on massive metal legs. It is built into a slope because of the way the land falls away. The entrance is at ground level on the side opposite the lake. There is a white curve in the just above and to the right of the middle of the photo. That’s a reflection. Not sure what caused it.
Sculpture at Trentham Gardens at the North end of the lake. It is the main sculpture and has been there for many years.
Persius killed the Gorgon Medusa by using his shield to reflect the image of her face back at her. Her power was to turn men to stone with her glance. Her hair was made up of writhing snakes. Only by doing this could he save himself.
I think I first heard of the story when I was a child, reading Greek myths and legends in a book for children. But I did not see this sculpture till I was an adult. I think I would have been upset to see this rather graphic image as a child.
I found this photo from 2019 and was amazed at the deep blue reflected in Rudyard Lake, which lies between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek. You get to it down winding roads. There is (was)? A small lake cruiser and a minature railway up one side of the lake that runs from the car park on the road between Rudyard and the road towards Macclesfield. Then it follows the lake side up towards the top end of the lake (the path finally goes to Rushton Spencer I think). The lake has something to do with Rudyard Kipling, not sure he was named after it? Its another lovely place near Stoke-on-Trent.
Humid but no rain sadly. The air is sticky with moisture. The storms we have been promised haven’t materialised. We got out and walked round Trentham lake because our neighbours are doing building work and digging up the land next to our garden. This was despite my back hurting as I got in the car. But I think the walk has helped. We managed to get round slowly and the breeze off the lake has helped. It’s still humid but I do feel better.
Finished for now. My painting of Westport. I may do a bit more work on the sky. It needs to settle on me. I mean I need to look at it and decide if it needs tweaking. My closest explanation of this style is that it’s like painting through a pane of swirled glass….
Mallaband-Brown 