I was going to take this picture of Steve’s pond from a completely different angle, but an incident worthy of a You’ve Been Framed appearance put paid to that.
Steve is a colleague, and we were in his garden to take some shots of his greenhouse. While we were waiting for the photographer we did a quick tour of the garden, coffee cups in hand.
The garden is deceptively large and cleverly laid out, and home to this very large pond, which pre-dates the house. It’s overlooked by a pergola-covered deck, framed by wisteria and lined with colourful begonias.
Just after the pergola is a short, decking slope that leads to a path around the pond. As we stepped onto it, Steve pointed out that the slope was a bit slippery. He cheerily added, ‘We haven’t lost anyone yet!’. And then I slipped, landed on my bum and started sliding at a rather alarming rate towards the pond.
Everything then went into slow motion. My first thought was: ‘I’m going to fall into the pond. This is going to be embarrassing’. My second was: ‘Even more embarrassing, I’m going to be the first person ever to fall into the pond’. My third was: ‘I must hang on to this coffee’ and my fourth was: ‘Oh no, I’m going to crash into Steve.’ And that’s exactly what I did. I took poor Steve’s legs clean out from under him, leaving us both in a slime- and coffee-covered heap. Strangely, we were both still clutching our empty coffee cups.
I didn’t dare venture down the slope again, so I took this pic from the safety of the pergola. It doesn’t quite convey the Giverny-style scene I was aiming for, but hopefully you can get an idea of how charming it is.
That really made me laugh! Hope you both survived unscathed! Sounds like it could have been nasty ; )
Hello Veronica
Only me , Mrs Coates here. Have just read about your exploits at Steve’s Pond. Thank God you didn’t end up in the pond. Oh how I Wish I had been that lucky the other day when I slipped on Battersea Bridge. I’m still not quite sure how it happened. All I remember is that it was raining heavily and I was trying to get over the bridge as quick as possible to stop myself getting soaked. I was almost at the other end too , where my bus stop was, when I suddenly slipped over what looked like a slice of old pizza. Over the bridge I went and down into the river Thames. It would obviously be a terrible thing to happen to anyone but to a woman of 67 in her best dress and coat it was truly awful. I was able to swim back through the current and back to the side of the river without anybody seeing. I would have been mortified if anybody had seen me. You are actually the first person I have told since it happened. I haven’t even told the hubby yet. Anyway take care Veronica.
Lots of Love
Mrs Coates
Oh Mrs Coates, what a terrible thing to happen! Have you thought of starting your own blog? You have so many funny stories to tell!
Yes I might start my own blog very soon. And oh yes it really was a terrible thing to happen. As I was falling down into the river I remember thinking gosh I didnt think this would happen to me again . Yeah can you believe it . Fell off Westminster bridge into the river two years ago. Right next to House of plebs.
Take care
After several weekends of sawing and hammering the slippery slope has been replaced by some rather smart steps. So no future visitors, or bloggers, will risk life, limb or coffee cup.
Good. I’ll get in touch with the council to withdraw my health and safety complaint!