Blackberrying Donkeys

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I had an interesting conversation at my bank this morning. For some months now there have been placed several bowls of sweets on the counters, for customers to consume. I commented that they still had these on offer. ‘We do look after you’, was the response. ‘Hmm’, I observed. ‘Do you know what letter I received this morning?’ ‘No’, was the reply, ‘I left home before the postal delivery’.’The bank is no longer paying interest on current accounts’, I informed the teller. I was transferring money to France. I doubled the amount. My money might as well be under the mattress.

This afternoon Jackie drove us to Lyndhurst to buy birthday presents, after which we went on a driveabout.

Spider

As we left three spiders were waiting in the centre of their webs in the front garden. When we returned, almost three hours later, none had moved.

Lyndhurst High Street 1Lyndhurst Hight Street 2

It is still hot and humid in our environment. With children back at school, the family holiday season is over, but Lyndhurst High Street was still teeming with older visitors,

Ice cream eaters on bench

many of whom were enjoying ice creams

Ice Cream Cone

purchased from one or other of the thriving purveyors.

Goose Green window

The street is well stocked with gift shops, of which Goose Green is a fine example.

At the top of the High Street, on the corner opposite the church of St Michael and all Angels, stands the Lyndhurst Antiques Centre in which Elizabeth holds a cabinet. We took the opportunity to view this and were very impressed with the quality of her stock. We did buy one of the birthday presents from another dealer. It would be too much information on this post to reveal the details.

Down to the Wood 1Down to the Wood 2

Next to this centre there is the double-fronted Down to the Wood, stocked with well-made wooden items. We have shopped there in the past.

Antique car

On the road in the vicinity of Beaulieu, a number of elderly, stately, open-topped motor vehicles were taking the warm air. Some were going at quite a lick, but not as fast as this dodgy photograph suggests.

Donkeys

Also pictured through our car windscreen were some of the many donkeys blackberrying in the hedgerows. You or I might carefully select our berries, pick them off one by one, and drop them into a container brought along for the purpose. Not so these equine creatures. They just chew the whole branch. We had to stop and wait, so I didn’t need to rush the shot.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious Lamb jalfrezi, parathas, and onion rice with an omelette on top. I drank Mendoza Parra Alta malbec 2016.

73 comments

  2. I love the fact that the donkeys were blackberrying! Love that boy on the ice-cream too – I am a sucker for folk art. Those endless jams of traffic as all roads lead through Lyndhurst – they’re getting worse.

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  5. D, we had some albino donkeys a little way up from where we live which is quite rural for the city. Lots of green. Anyway they were always ‘doing it’ and it was quite disgusting actually and so anti-cute but then lo and behold a tiny albino donkey was born, the cutest thing EVER. Love these pictures my friend.

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  6. Excellent spider photo. I’ve heard the more spiders we have this time of year, the harsher the coming winter. Hopefully that’s nonsense. 🙂

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    1. Two good questions, Lonely. I can only answer the second. The rate has been negligible for months. It is not worth the administration either to them or their customers. Thanks very much

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  11. Banks!! Sadly many do think a sweet on the counter, pawed through by everyone before them in the queue, is being appreciated ……………. Taking care of their customers is the last thing on the agenda – top is taking their customers money and turning it into profit for the banking elite. [Oh-oh, is my anti-establishment view showing?] I did appreciate the comment about the recommended height of blackberry picking 🙂

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  15. Oh, banks! ugh. Still, can’t get on without them. Are they paying better interest in France? The Federal Reserve decided not to change interest rates today, which are practically nothing. They meet again in December…Now, the donkey’s. I’m so glad they eat blackberries. But they remind me of the way bears eat berries, which is to consume the whole bush…In any event, they are cute, and don’t have to worry about fox wee, given they are donkeys.

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  20. Just as Leslie says, it clearly takes patience to be a good spider. I imagine it may also take some patience to be a driver around Beaulieu if there are many of those blackberry-loving donkeys in the area.

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  21. What a beautiful town Derrick, loved the Donkeys and yes its been warm here today and I had an icecream this afternoon after gardening.. And yes the Banks now have us all where they want us.. Keep putting money into our accounts while they pay is nothing for keeping it while they lend it for 17% APR.. .. And pay themselves ever bigger bonus’s If we did all draw it out wonder what would happen then? <3

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      1. I went into my bank yesterday Derrick and asked them to put on my book what interest was in that particular account.. The cashier said this is embarrassing it is only 0.01%. on that account ..Another I had is going down to 0.05% in Dec… The bankers have us where they want us.. Interest rates I doubt will ever rise.

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  25. Ah, glorious ice cream. I love to sit leisurely and eat a cone 🙂
    Cute donkeys, how can they eat these terrible brambles. Sometimes I too go blackberry-picking in October. For a pie 🙂

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