Free Ice Creams

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We spent a sweltering morning on garden tasks. Jackie prepared an area in the West Bed from which Aaron had removed an ancient, unproductive, rose yesterday for a replacement yet to be acquired. I occupied myself dead-heading and clearing up.

This afternoon we drove into the forest. Jackie did her best to avoid the bank holiday visitors, many of whom were beginning their slow trek home.

Landscape 1Landscape 2Landscape 3

We found ourselves at Thorney Hill where the views down the slopes were uninterrupted; the bracken is beginning to adopt its autumn colouring;

Blackberries

and blackberries sprawled over the hedgerows.

Cyclist

The occasional car, and one sole cyclist occupied Braggers Lane,

Horses 1Horses 2

further along which we stopped to observe horses in a paddock. Some wore fly masks.

Shadows

The fencing cast criss-crossed shadows.

As we were about to leave, Heather and her companion drove up. Despite her Scots accent, this delightful woman owned one of the horses. Another belonged to her friend. Heather was enjoying an ice-cream. She offered us each a Magnum, for which we were suitably grateful.

Heather's horseHeather and horses 1Heather and horses 2

The two horses were eager to be tackled up for a ride. Their noses appeared over the barred gate, and I do believe that, as they were petted, they sampled Heather’s ice-cream cone.

Once my driver had consumed her choc ice on a stick, we waved farewell and continued on our way.

Ponies 1

Ponies at Furze Hill cropped the grass

Ponies at pool 1Pony and foal at pool

beside a stream

Foal at pool 2Foal at pool 1Foal at pool 3

into which one of this year’s foals ventured

Foal at pool 4

for a paddle while it chomped on blackberries.

Pony 1

Possibly it was this creature’s parent that pounded down the slope and across the pool to the far end; slaked its thirst, then clambered past me to the road. I thought it best to move out of the way. It looked quite heavy.

I had made my way down to the pebbly bed of the stream, so, when a passing cyclist called to her companion to look at the baby down there, it took me a second or two to realise she was referring to the young pony.

After this we enjoyed a drink in the Foresters Arms at Frogham, and returned home.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wonderful beef in red wine; creamy mashed potato; and crunchy carrots, runner beans, and broccoli. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Fleurie.

56 comments

  1. That looks like a lovely day. And any day with ice cream can’t be all bad. Beautiful photos. Had to chuckle about the cyclist’s comment.

    1. Many thanks, Quercus. The A31/M27 route from the west was jammed solid with all those folk returning home. As we crossed it, Jackie wondered if I’d like to photograph it. Perhaps the contrast would have been interesting

  2. I just love all you animal photographs, you catch them just as they are, lovely!

    But you have me wondering what has “Despite her Scots accent, this delightful woman owned one of the horses” a Scots accent to do with owning one of the horses?

    I know that a Scot is hard, (for me with my loss of hearing, impossible) to understand, but I can’t figure out why it would worry the horse; which probably thinks it’s the humans way of neighing

  3. As of yesterday, I am the proud owner of a new pressure cooker, to replace one that stood me in good stead for 20 years. I’m going to look for a beef and red wine recipe.

  4. What beautiful photography. I love all your shots of horses, they are so gorgeous as are your shots on waters. Thanks for sharing such a lovely day!

  5. Love those horses! Especially the foal eating blackberries. My that road is narrow. As a biker, I would be a bit nervous biking on it, but I suppose local folks are used to it.

      1. Well, let us hope that someone is watching over them because as I have learned the hard way, when there is a confrontation between a car and a bike, the car always wins. Fortunately, when I had my confrontation, I was young, the car was going slowly, and all I got were a few bruises. But I still remember the event and certainly don’t want to repeat it. 😉

  6. I haven’t tried a Magnum ice cream but think the layers of chocolate (and caramel) sound scrumptious.
    The water perfectly reflected with the pair of burnt sienna colored ponies was gorgeous. All of the photos of horses were beautiful.
    This was a lovely post, Derrick.

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