Stuck in the mud

 I got stuck in the mud. Inspired by the Discovery Centre collection of curious objects retrieved from the creek, along with some cheap daffodils purchased from Sainsburys, I went after a vase lying half submerged in mud next to the yacht between us and the mooring. Lowering myself slowly from the gunnel at the back, both my wellies slid easily into the silt up to their ankles, making me immediately aware of my folly. There was no way I was going to wade even the few yards to where the vase was, so deep and yielding is the mud that accumulates at the high bank of the creek by the boats. Once in the proverbial shit, my almost immediate objective shifted from obtaining mucky bric-a-brac to hoisting myself back onto the boat. This was quite difficult. I vainly tried to lift each boot back up onto the gunnel, which was well above waist level now, and each attempt to do this just made the remaining foot sink further. C was on hand, to express her sympathy and concern if nothing else, and my main worry for the few minutes it took me to maneouvre and haul myself back on with the assistance of the available ropes was that nobody else would come past to enjoy with my daughter the spectacle of my silly predicament.

 

A little wander around Deptford St Nicholas church yesterday. We happened to bump into the vicar in the churchyard who let us in to have a look around. C was impressed by the clergywoman’s interesting hairstyle, a mixture of long braids and dreadlocks, and also impressed by the famous skull and crossbones stone carvings on the churchyard gateposts. Inside however, she was somewhat spooked by Grinling Gibbons' Valley of the Dry Bones woodcarving. Presumably the small children who play with the toys, trikes and suchlike piled up under the carving (not in my picture) are less bothered by Ezekiel's vision of a valley full of dry bones brought back to life by God.

A full list of all the ships built in Deptford is on display. The famous Mary Rose (1623) is near the top of the list. Other ship names raised a few chuckles. 1797 was a particularly good year and we wondered what became of BLAZER, CLINKER, CRACKER, CRASH and SPITEFUL?  In 1804, the year before the Battle of Trafalgar, the dockyard begat, among others, MANLY, PLUMPER and TEAZER (none of these, it would appear, saw action in said battle). ICARUS (1858) is a beautiful name but we wondered whether that one was doomed to end up a sinker. Ditto INCONSTANT (1804). I also liked WRANGLER (1864) of course, and C  the Star Trek fan was pleased to discover the ENTERPRISE was built that same year.