Not Passing The Time Of Day

Holmsley Passage cuts through stretch of moorland on the way to Burley. There is a sweep down to a  deep valley which rises as a little bridge takes us up the other side.

Late this afternoon, as we drove along it, the sunshine and showers offered enticing landscape lighting

bringing a glint to a the eye of a trotting thrush.

Bright yellow gorse blended with burnished bracken,

among which bronzed browsing ponies nibbled


and cloven-hoofed cattle chomped.

A black cow ambled across the junction with the main road into Burley,

pausing to admire its reflection in a gutter pool.

Crossing the road at this point, and turning right takes us up to a popular dog walking spot.

Halfway up the slope lies a small pond also harbouring reflections

admired by a distant robin, its breast russet as an autumn leaf, standing out against the shadow of a lichen covered tree,

Back towards Burley the lowering sun still burnished the trees  and the bracken among which

walkers wandered

with their straining dogs,

while ponies cropped the grass.

One canine creature, its tail aloft, passed a busy grey pony. They did not pass the time of day.


Heading towards Lyndhurst the skies grew more dramatic,

in preparation for impending sunset which would soon be visible from the approach to Holmsley Road.

Elizabeth returned this evening after her next stint of moving in to her Pilley House. We dined on bacon chops; sautéed potatoes; spicy ratatouille; and piquant cauliflower cheese Jackie drank Hoegaarden and my sister and I drank Terre de Galets Cotes du Rhone 2016.
 
 
 

0 comments

  1. I do believe that that is the most poetic that any of your posts have been. Absolutely beautiful. Nothing specifically in the individual comments or photographs. But as a whole – beautiful.

  2. The light in some of your photos reminds me of a Van Gogh painting. The light in others reminds me of paintings by artists from the Hudson River school of landscape painting in mid-19th century America.
    Your descriptions are always well worded.

  3. It was almost as good as being there one’s self. With the added benefit of prosaic commentary. Wonderful job here, Derrick.
    You certainly have some amazing ‘Wild’life in your region.
    I particularly love the Pony head shot, the last sunset and the Thrush.
    Do you get the same thrill i do when editing the images you’ve just taken on the computer and up pops a detail like the highlight in his eye?? 😉

  4. Your photos and your words made me sigh. 🙂 Such beauty in both! And just looking at them here brings a calm and warmth to me. I love the light and shade in so many of your photos. 🙂
    Well, even cows have to check “the mirror” to make sure they are lookin’ good! Wouldn’t want to have a cow-lick and not know about it! 😮 😛
    HUGS to all!!! 🙂

  5. The captions under your pictures, when read together, almost make a beautiful poem, Derrick. Intentional or not, it’s pretty neat!
    Thanks for making sure to take pictures of the day’s animals. And please have Jackie give me a hint about the bacon pork chops?

    1. Thanks a lot, GP. Jackie says they were simply baked in silver foil yesterday, removing foil at the last minute to brown them. Had she had some Dijon mustard she would have spread that on them

  6. Each sentence that you write is as much a source of beauty and enjoyment as the next photograph emerging from the page of your blog. Sometimes I reread them and enjoy them afresh to the last word and image.

  7. Those are beautiful photos from your day, Derrick and Jackie! I love the black lace of trees against the fading sky, just like in Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s song “Farewell to the North”

  8. I bet Elizabeth is going to be so glad when everything’s unpacked and, mostly, in place. 🙂 … the horse and dog seem to be of the regularly-passing-by acquaintanceship 🙂 … magnificent sunset photos. 😀

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