Daffodils and Galloways; Deer and Gulls

Today I spent much time on post-French-house sale administration. The only detail you can probably be bothered with is that I had to pay all the costs resulting from the electricity failure and its consequences. The insurance company was not interested. I am advised that the suppliers should be responsible but the process of recovering this would be so lengthy as to risk losing the sale. Not a chance worth taking.

Today’s weather was heavy but dry. New Milton’s Molly’s Den had moved to Christchurch. Today we drove out there. It was closed, seemingly permanently. We drove on into the forest.

We took a diversion across Avon Causeway to Hurn village. At the entrance to a muddy field brambles danced a duet with barbed wire beside a sump of daffodils such as now line all the forest hedgerows. On slightly higher ground a herd of cattle, mostly Belted Galloways, slosh about in the mud. Lower down the River Avon spilled over onto the fields.

A variety of deer grazed in an enclosure at Ibsley. Gulls seemed to be benefiting from their cast offs. For an explanation of the white deer see my comments exchange with Jodie Richelle below

This evening we dined on Jackie’s splendid roast pork, sage and onion stuffing, crunchy crackling, cabbage, cauliflower, new potatoes, and sautéed peppers, mushrooms, and onions. I drank Concha y Toro Cassilero del Diablo 2016.

 

78 comments

    1. They do, don’t they. I had to look hard to be sure that they were deer. Actually it was a dry day. All that sog is from weeks of rain. Thanks very much, Widders

  1. I like the use of “heavy”…I assume you’re referring to cloud cover? Gosh, your deer look almost white in comparison to the ones I see around our home.

      1. I’m wondering if they could be albino deer. I can’t zoom in enough to see their eyes. Looked it up & got . . . “Unlike the albino deer, which has pink eyes, a pink nose, and pinkish hooves, piebald deer have normal brown eyes and nose with black hooves like a normal whitetail. Their coloration is due to a rare inherited genetic variation (defect) that affects less than one percent of the white-tailed deer population.” Obviously yours are not white-tailed deer – but maybe the same applies. – I swear I saw a white deer around here years ago.

        1. That is very helpful, Jodie. I wondered about albino, too. Thanks very much. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/3948744/White-deer-roam-the-forest.html: White deer roam the forest
          These white fallow bucks make the perfect seasonal picture .
          White deer roam New Forest
          A common misconception is that the deer are albino Photo: SOLENT
          By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent 12:07PM GMT 25 Dec 2008
          But the unusually-coloured creatures are also known as ‘Judas’ deer for making the whole herd more visible to poachers.
          They were snapped by wildlife enthusiast Stan Kemish, president of the British Deer Society’s Wessex division.
          The 73-year-old believes the bucks are two of a group of around 20 white fallow deer that roam the New Forest.
          “The white deer are such remarkable creatures and such beautiful animals,” he said.
          “It’s so spectacular to see them and people love to come down to the forest to catch a glimpse of them because they are seen as such a big novelty.”
          It is thought the snowy-white complexions are not down to a lack of pigmentation but a gene found in some fallow deer.
          Mr Kernish, from West Wellow, Hants, was delighted to find the two unusually-coloured young bucks roaming together.
          He said: “It’s a common misconception that the deer are albino.
          “If this were the case they would have pink eyes and pink feet but this isn’t the case with these deer.”
          The creatures are also known as ‘Judas’ deer because their pale colouring stands out among a brown herd and makes them visible to poachers.

  2. I know there are many great things in your blog but all I can remember is “roast pork, sage and onion stuffing, crunchy crackling”.

    Mmmmm

    Yes, I am shallow. 🙂

  3. Oh, those deer made me think of that Paul Caponigro photo from Wicklow of the running white deer. It is odd to see a whole herd of them that pale. Tonight I had pork tenderloin, green beans with mushrooms, and rice for dinner with a nice glass of California Pinot Noir. And since I am full, I am not imagining myself at your table partaking…I do like those banded cows and am glad you identified them.

    1. Many thanks, Lisa. Your dinner not so different from ours. 🙂 I’ve never seen a white deer before – although I did see a white stag when we were in Minstead

  4. The white deer is probably because of the inbreeding in a limited genetic pool. Lots of the rabbits on the Scillies are black for probably the same reason. I am trying to answer jodierichelle but sad to say, I don’t know how to get the reply underneath what she has written.

    1. I have the same problem when trying to do that on someone else’s post, however Jodie has prompted me to google and I have added the results underneath her comment. Thanks a lot, John

  5. Thanks go to you for the pictures and your combined explanation with Jodie about the deer.
    And then you topped it off with roast pork!! I haven’t had that in a while.

  6. D*mn, I guess I’m too late for that dinner, which didn’t contain the “l” word! It sounded yummy.

    There were a few herds of Belted Galloways in the hills near Adelaide, South Australia. I always wondered about the quirks of genetics when I saw them

  7. Oh, phooey, my highly intelligent, yet amusing, comment hasn’t appeared. I no doubt forgot to push “send”.

    So, I was thankful to see a meal that didn’t feature the letter “l”, yet sad that I wasn’t able to partake of the tasty fare.

    And, we used to see mobs of those Belted Galloways near Adelaide, South Australia. They’re cute, and I need to find out more about the genetics of their colouring.

  8. Too bad you had to pay for the repairs, but I can certainly understand that you didn’t want to risk having the sale fall through.

  9. All elements of nature seem to be represented here! Such a unique view of the deer, never knew they could be so pale. . . Those gulls were perfectly​ captured, Derrick. ?️

Leave a Reply