This morning, having read yesterday’s blog post, Jackie demonstrated that she has a broader recollection of our first date than I do. I was clearly so bedazzled by her that I only remember the ‘cannibal’ moment. She, however, recalls the first occasion on which she had to hang around waiting for me to take photographs. 
I had, you see, taken her to see the ‘Burghers of Calais’ on that day in February 1965. She experienced a certain compensation in having seen David Kernan, of ‘That Was The Week That Was’, fame walking in the park. She remembers tight white trousers. Although I had, as stated yesterday, made the prints in the 1970s, it was the smitten young man I was almost fifty years ago who took the colour slides. 
There they were, correctly labelled, in the box from a decade earlier. Here they are now reproduced.
This afternoon we had an appointment with Elliot, the agent who had shown us The Old School House at Bisterne. By now, we were so keen on that one that we didn’t really want to see today’s choice. However, we thought it would be sensible.
Glenacre in Thorney Hill in the heart of the New Forest, is in a setting to die for. The view from the house takes in a field at the bottom of the garden which is a section of Glenacre’s land that has been sold off, but accommodates the residents’ own horse. The only possible drawback is that the terrain is so hilly it would put my knees in jeopardy. That, however, has been thoughtfully taken care of. The older style bungalow with a very large footprint and wide doorways was designed for a resident in a wheelchair. It has high ceilings and a double-ended wood burning stove.
We arrived early as usual, to see a Community Response Ambulance parked in the driveway. We were still wondering whether there had been some kind of emergency when Elliot drove up and told us that the vehicle went with the owner’s job.
Our agent then gave us the news that the response of the resident at The Old Schoolhouse to being told they had a probable buyer, was to take the house off the market. Given that it is his son who owns the property that may not be the last word, but it doesn’t augur well. The Agency staff are all furious at this apparently inexplicable reaction, and have not given up on it yet. Jackie and I have the experience to speculate about the cause of this stumbling block, but that should not be recorded in a blog. We are less than optimistic, so are applying ourselves to looking elsewhere.
Glenacre is something entirely different and would not push The Old Schoolhouse from the top spot, despite the height of its own position. 
However, we could live there. Nevertheless, I made phone calls seeking appointments to view other properties, the first of which will be Sway Road, Bashley, tomorrow morning.
For those of my readers not familiar with the old adage from which today’s title is taken, its first phrase is: ‘There’s many a slip…..’.
Our evening meal was Jackie’s splendid chilli con carni made with our own chillies,and onion and mushroom wild rice. I drank some Kumala Zenith 2012 which was certainly potable.
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