Elementary, My Dear Watson

Undercover Cat, Prince Richard, (P.R., for short), prepares for duty.

Good Day, Poppy View Readers, 

P.R., here, Private InvestiCATor, at your service. Poppy asked me to take you on a little tour of the garden, to reveal the identities of those puzzling personalities she introduced you to a few days ago.  Just before you got here, a little bird, (my trusty, canary confidant), told me that Poppy's previous post had left you rather perplexed! Rest assured, you're in good hands. After all, I live with the woman, (and between you and me, she's a bit of an enigma, herself!)...Ahem...Right this way, ladies, watch your step...

 

Let's take another look at that red striped sack, shall we? 
Upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that the bag
 is densely packed with some sort of egg shaped pieces. 

Walnuts, drying in the Cretan sun.

Kudos to those who guessed 'walnuts', since the
  answer was practically dropped into your lap, with
 the phrase, 'a hard nut to crack', in the description.

Walnut harvest: a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Have you ever seen walnuts in their fruity form? 
These were manually shaken from a few trees that Poppy's 
mother-in-law planted many years ago. They were collected, hulled, rinsed several times in cold water, and finally left in the sun to dry completely. Poppy has promised to make a traditional walnut cake; (after all, it's the least she could do for teasing you so, wouldn't you agree?).

Late September, 2014

These raddish lookalikes, which some of you referred 
to as 'thingamabobs', and 'thingamajics', are actually...

 

 budding  flowers! I, myself would
 have guessed some kind of tropical fruit.

Far left: star jasmine, mid July 2014

Yet, here they are; sweetly scented stars  among a 

herbaceous cast of sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, laurel,

 and lavender. Yes, Trachelospermum jasminoides, 

more commonly known as star jasmine, is what those 

carbon copy, kumquat-y sprouts eventually bloom into.
 And soon, they'll honour us with an encore of their

  delicate beauty and signature fragrance.

A coil of courgettes curls itself around quinces and plums.

 If you perceived these bumpy, lime green spheres to
 be quinces, then you are correct! Here on the island, they
 are made into marmalade, compotes, and other sweet treats.



And speaking of treats, here's a peek at Poppy's peace offering. 
She's confident all will be forgiven after the first bite!
 

P.R. plays Sherlock

 Well, it's been swell hanging out with you gals!
That Poppy's sure got some real sweet pals! 

xo
P.R.

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A Case, (or Two, or Three), of Mistaken Identity

 Case #1
What are these gnarly globes, decked out
 in a patchy, Granny Smith hued suit,
bordering the more easily recognizable,
 plump and purple fruit? 

This sour apple/pear impersonator,
  too tart and tough in its raw state,
 is commonly cooked up into spicy compotes,
 thus, more pleasing to everyone's taste.

 Case #2
Now, let's see, what could these knobby, red buds be,
bursting from the rain stamped greenery? 

source

To me, they resemble these pungent pretties,
  packed with Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C.

  Case #3
But, what have we here?
 No clues regarding shape or colour.
Nothing at all to help us uncover
 the cryptic contents of a delivery,
 wrapped up in a sack, of this
  'hard nut to crack' of a mystery!

 Any ideas as to the ID of these three?
Guesses, hunches, theories, and predictions
are all welcome in the comments section.
Stay tuned, and see you soon for the solutions!
Until then, thanks for visiting,
and have a happy weekend!

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A Rooftop Refreshment

Black and white: alluring opposites, a dynamic duo.
Both beautiful, they boldly cover my wardrobe, sparingly
 dot my decorating, but never represent my thinking,



as most topics of conversation, opinions, attitudes,
 and beliefs, fall somewhere in between, for me. Life is not
black and white; if anything, it's filled with vibrant colour!

 And so, we come to the subject of this black bistro set, 
that crossed the Atlantic in a container from Canada,
along with several antiques, and second hand gems,
many years ago.  In its prime, it was quite pretty,

  but, due to the negligent behaviour of its occupants, 
(the guilty yours truly and hubby), having literally, been left out 
in the cold, and clearly, not rejuvenated by the rain,
 its brilliant, black radiance was unfortunately, 
 (but not intentionally),  reduced to a corroded, rusty malady.

It was time for a much needed makeover. Two coats
of creamy white for metallics were sprayed on, and,

like magic, the weary, wrought iron trio 
morphed into a lovely and lustrous place of leisure;

 a rooftop refreshment, with which to peruse

 the picturesque and panoramic 'Poppy Views'.

Thanks for visiting and
have a wonderful week!





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Brushstrokes in Bali

Recently, I visited the seaside settlement of Bali, Crete, although, judging from the image above, one would think 

I had spent my days floating on a cushion of clouds, 

rather than bobbing on wavy pillows in the sea.

Can you spot the dab of a sailboat on the

 canvas of dreamy blues in the distance? 

A whisper of white, it silently floats, to and fro, 

creating just a sliver of contrast against

 the palette of marine toned hues.

From afar, it seemed that a pack of gigantic sea monsters, were keeping the little boat at bay, the latter, fearful of anchoring at the ghost town the brutes had created earlier.

 As we headed inland, I wondered how long it could linger there, cradled in the wavy safety of the sea.

Then, pausing to take one last look, I was startled to discover, that the hazy horizon was suddenly, and puzzlingly, sailboat free.

Thanks for visiting, and

have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Poppy 

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The Tricoloured Trio

 

Yesterday, while splashing about in the pool, 

swimming lap after lap, in order to stay cool,

 I noticed a symphony of yellows, greens and blues,

around the surrounding stage that is my garden.

 

  Luminous, the lantana, like lyric sopranos,

dotted the scene in sharp staccatos, 

while the pale, periwinkle blue plumbago, 

mimicking a low profile, rather quiet alto,

hid behind little canopies of green.

  Cypresses, crowned in tones of gold,

 bookmarked the blues up in the sky,

and as the maestros of this lullaby,

conducted the clouds to descrescendo.

With the puffy masses in pianissimo,

the yellow, green, and blue trio

speckled the countryside

 in complementary hues,

in a melodic melting pot of solos. 

Thanks for visiting!

 xo

Poppy

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Garden Gossip

 Today, the Tecoma Capensis, or Cape honeysuckle,

almost had a temper tantrum, claiming that I had not

properly acknowledged its presence, since it arrived more

  than a week ago. Hence, the close up of its 'good' side. 

 It huffed and puffed that, while it was 'on leave', it had

heard through the grapevine that, despite the maple's 

burnt leaves, the tarnished tree was the most

 photographed subject this past summer -

even more than the ravishing red verbena, (horrors!),

 whose petals, it professed, were surely pure perfection!

 Of course, being the designated photographer

of these garden roomies, this was completely untrue.

The green with envy grapevine, hiding in the huddle.

Hmm. I needed to get to the bottom of this, so

off I went to the aforementioned grapevine, 

which miraculously, always seems to have

 the latest scoop on this gullible garden group!

I wasn't surprised, (or convinced),

 when the conniving vine

 tried to pin the whole thing

 on the Goldcrest cypresses!

Its motive? Jealousy: 

for being evergreens,

 and getting to hang out with the

 herbs, and the flowers and the grass,

 rain or shine, unlike the vine, 

that runs out of time,

 deprived of that precious,

 all season pass.

Thanks for visiting

and happy weekend!

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