"It was imprudent of us, in the first place, to become authors. We could have become something regular, but we managed not to.
We were lucky, but we were also determined." Roy Blount Jr

"I don’t change the facts to enhance the drama. I think of it the other way round, the drama has got to fit the facts,
and it’s your job as a writer to find the shape in real life."
Hilary Mantel

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday Stroll: Searching for Charlotte

Since returning to the Lodge at mid-week, I've missed my outdoor "office mate." Charlotte the giant spider (at 2+ inches from toe to toe of her longest legs) has been absent from her amazing large web. Here's a photo taken 3 weeks ago.



For my Sunday stroll I decided to wander my way through the Lodge gardens, photographing flowers, to the backyard to see if Charlotte had moved house, buiding some other web nearby.

But before going outside, I admired the fuchsia, one of many sympathy plants given us when my father-in-law passed away in mid-June, now blooming again. Quite timely, for there's a second memorial service for him this afternoon, here in NH.



It's bright today but rained yesterday, as will be apparent from the pictures.

Geranium on the deck.



Cupani's Original, the fragrant 17th century annual sweetpea created by a monk.



Down the steps, tall garden phlox.



Turtle head plant.



Sedum.



My perennial sweetpea. I planted the regular mauve coloured one...



then this White Pearl...



...which cross-polinated to create this varicoloured pinkish version!



Rugosa.



Alba rugosa.



Like the sweetpeas, they created a pinkish offspring, which isn't flowering at the moment.

Rugosa hips.



In the grass, a mushroom.



Lots of them, in fact.



This one looks like something you'd see through a telescope, it has a planetary aspect.



The heather.



My honeysuckle is still budding and flowering.



At last I reach Charlotte's web. It's empty, in bad repair with holes, raindrops hanging from the fibers. No sign of my large, vivid friend. Any reader of E.B. White's classic story knows the eventual fate of spiders.

But I felt sure Charlotte had left behind a gift, so I started looking for it. And at the point where the web was attached to the side of the house, I saw this:



The egg sac.

Thank you Charlotte, for living your short but beautiful life within my gaze.

Rest in peace.



Thanks for visiting. To keep strolling, head in this direction!


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