Drinking Water

Chair, table, camellia, euphorbia

Today I completed the last of the exhibition prints, whilst Jackie continued a commendable amount of garden maintenance, including cleaning up the decking and placing the newly refurbished table between the cane chair and one of the camellias. The prolific euphorbia in the background has been heavily pruned, and one of the recently planted clematises trained along the trellis installed in the autumn is just visible when the image is enlarged.

Pansy We now have a considerable range of blooming pansies that Jackie planted earlier.

This afternoon, we collected the A2 image from Lymington Print and went driveabout.

Leaving the town via Undershore Road we explored the forest and its villages in a fairly small circular route.

Running alongside Lymington River, Undershore is narrow enough to require double yellow lines on both sides. Normally parking close enough to the water is impossible, but we benefited from the gradual decline of the British Pub industry.

The Waggon & Horses

The Waggon & Horses, like so many, is up for sale. This meant we could happily block the entrance to their closed up car park,

Lymington River

and I could photograph the river at low tide

Boats, Lymington River

with its grounded rowing boats.

This, probably the warmest day of the year, clearly encouraged ponies to paddle in potable pools in which they left both reflections and shadows.

Pony in waterPony drinking 1

A grey did so at Boldre

Pony drinking 3Pony drinking 4Pony drinking 2

and a russet-coloured one at East Boldre,

Ponies outside Masseys

where ponies lined the street,

Pheasant

and a cock pheasant, oblivious of the surrounding big beasts, strutted about the turf.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious lamb jalfrezi and savoury rice. We both drank Kingfisher.

72 comments

  1. What a cosy corner to have that chair and table. I’m sure that the view from that chair is gratifying after all the hard work. The drinking ponies photos are great.

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    1. The first looked permanent. Not sure about the second. There are still many waterlogged areas of the forest, some from underground streams. Thanks for reading and commenting

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      1. Welcome Derrick. Your blog is food for the soul, especially for those who cannot walk into their own garden. I am glad I have my own though it is not as well taken care of owing to the fact it is the desert here 🙂

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          1. Welcome and thank you for the suggestion. I thought about that initially but ended up putting a number of green plants and flowers

  9. The corner spot with the chair and table is perfect! I don’t think I’d ever move from there…unless of course it stared to rain. I so enjoyed seeing the ponies, Derrick.

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  10. I have been led to believe yesterday – or your today – was / is Water Day in many parts of the world. The ponies are obviously in the know! Lovely photos Derrick, I particularly like the first one.

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  11. I can’t imagine drinking my own bath water, so I wondered if horses have taste buds. From Yahoo! Answers:

    Do horses have taste buds?

    Best Answer: yes they do, but not as many as us. they can taste only certain distinct flavors, thats why they like sweet snacks like apples and sugar cubes, but they dont taste a lot. they have two main types of taste buds-sweet and other. Sweet taste buds taste and remember the taste of good snacks that they only get once in a while and other taste buds remember and taste the taste of grass, wheat, hey, oats, etc.

    I know that people have 9,000, dogs have 1,700, and cats have 500-but how many taste buds do horses have?

    Best Answer: I could swear that some of mine don’t have any with some of the things I find them munching on.

    For curious people like me, the internet is like magic. 🙂

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      1. We can tell who does the shopping in YOUR house!!!! Smoothies are a new-ish (10 years? less? Any more idea, Lisa?) brand of puréed fruit-based drink, marketed as a health-cum-convenience intake. They come in 1 litre cartons, like standard fruit juices (familiar with those, while still in their storage containers, are we? 🙂 ) or more branded plastic bottles usually smaller. They may contain some milk; if not, a sub-brand has found a market-niche in Milk Smoothies.

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  16. I can’t help but think of the song lyrics”home on the range” when you post pony pictures. They do seem to go where ever the heck they want want go. Why is that?

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    1. Throughout the forest they have priority on the roads. The same goes for donkeys, cattle, and pigs. There are, of course, accidents and deaths, which we are bound to report. Sometimes deer get onto the roads, but they don’t have the right of way. Thanks for reading and commenting

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    2. The New Forest (which is about 1000 years old) was traditionally maintained by usually indigenous, sometimes roaming, human populations, who acquired legal rights over the centuries. There are special courts and laws for The Verderers, as those with these privileges are called. Letting your ponies (strictly, they’re not “wild”) roam to maximize their feeding opportunities is one of the rights.
      A good subject for one of Derrick’s “rainy day” researches.

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    1. That contributes. The rot started when supermarkets were “licensed”, so you could buy quantities at often greatly reduced prices. The ban on smoking in public places hasn’t helped some establishments, whatever its other public health benefits. Among a younger generation, pubs are seen as less ‘cool’. Plenty of other unknowns feed the decline, too, probably.

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  19. Derrick,
    The oddest thing happened…I quit receiving your daily posting. I thought of it last night and checked my spam folder. Nothing there. I think I will sign up again.
    Ginene

    Reply

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