Today, after our visitor had made some photographs in the garden, one of which, when published, will be a delightful surprise for many followers, Jackie drove John and me on a tour of the forest before lunching at the Fleur de Lys in Pilley and delivering him to New Milton train station for his trip to Peterborough.
We had in fact begun with a journey to the station to enquire about the best route, but the queue was so long that we decided just to go back later.
John had also been asked to look up a house in the small hamlet of Brook. We couldn’t find it. He did, however, appreciate the trip on which he made links such as the landscape of Thomas Hardy of which our area reminded him.
At Holmsley Passage
with its ponies on the moorland,
our friend disembarked to commune with the equines. This was Jackie’s view of his approach.
The ponies tolerated having their noses rubbed.
The grey left the heath to stand beside the Modus
and admire itself in the driver’s wing mirror.
Jackie’s view, with the gorse protruding from the pony’s brow, was of a magical unicorn which didn’t take kindly to
John’s removing the thorny attachment.
While waiting on Blissford Hill, an extremely steep and narrow thoroughfare at Frogham, for an approaching vehicle to pass, we watched a determinedly patient blue tit struggling to extract nesting material from a barbed wire fence.
After the unsuccessful search for the Brook house we took a light lunch at the Fleur de Lys, the 11th century inn at Pilley. John wandered around the establishment with his camera. He has taken many photographs on his trip and is looking forward to featuring them on his blog. So are we.
Jackie photographed John and me at the bar,
and John on his investigative rounds.
We each lunched on small bowls of scampi with a larger one of fries to share. Jackie and John drank Blue Moon and I drank Ringwood’s Forty-niner.
At New Milton we sadly left our Australian friend to continue his journey by train.
This evening Jackie and I dined on her toothsome beef and mushroom pie; creamy mashed potatoes; and crunchy carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli.
Do we get a link to his blog Derrick?
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/95569324
He won’t be back home for a few days. Thanks very much, Kavitha
Thank you Derrick 🤗
This should work better, Kavitha: https://paolsoren.wordpress.com
Thank you. I explained to John that I followed him from your page.
🙂
the countryside that you are surrounded by seems to come right out of a fairytale! 🙂
We are so lucky. Thank you very much, Wendi.
🙂
What a delightful day.
I noticed the “unicorn” before you mentioned it.
Thank you very much, Chrissy.
Your surroundings are beautiful; I love the wild horses . You must feel the same way, because so, many of your pictures feature them.
Yep. Thank you very much, Ronnie
You and Jackie are wonderful hosts. We’re looking forward to meeting John next month when we are on his home turf.
That’s good. Thanks very much, Gwen
Magical unicorn indeed! Lovely photos and story Derrick
Thank you very much, Miriam
An intriguing place for a pony to embed a piece of gorse – perhaps he was attempting to open his third eye 😀 Could account for his annoyance at the good samaritan attempting to remove it. A day is not very long to spend with a blogging friend is it – but at least you got some time together and the Knights are clearly excellent hosts!
Thank you very much, Pauline. Certainly a breakneck trip. Eye, eye, eye. X
🙂
I’ve been trying to put myself in John’s shoes and have come to the conclusion that he must have thoroughly enjoyed his short stay with you. Alas, I fear Peterborough will be such a let down, how could it possibly compete with all you and Jackie had to offer 🙂
He will enjoy it, Sue. Thanks very much.
Lovely photos
Thanks you very much, More
You’re welcome
John arrived safely in Peterborough war!t evening. A short your of the Fans planned for tomorrow.
Early
and “tour of the fens” no doubt
How lovely for you to take us along on your trip with John! I enjoyed it.
Thank you very much, Liz
You’re welcome!
There’s nothing like an easy tour with good company. Being able to add in a good deed along the way is perfection.
Thank you very much, Linda.
Sounds like a wonderful trip.
I think so, Gary. Thanks very much.
Great horse pictures today.
Thanks very much, Tootlepedal
Thanks for sharing John’s visit with us, Derrick. Great shots!
Thanks very much, Jill. We told him you named Nugget
🙂
What a wonderful time you have had with John! Wishing him safe travels on his trip.
Beautiful photos from the moorlands. The grey pony looks relieved to have its prickly gorse removed!
Thank you very much, Lavinia. The pony complained a bit before relaxing.
I’m glad you got to visit with John while he was in the northern hemisphere. I look forward to more pictures when he gets home.
Thanks very much, Lisa.
So lovely that you and John could meet up and spend some time together. I will have to pop over to his blog and give him a follow.
Thanks a lot, Sylvia
Btw….the link you gave doesn’t work. 😳
Sorry, Sylvia. Try this: https://paolsoren.wordpress.com
Such interesting adventures you have! The white unicorn is gorgeous, even after turning back to a pony.
🙂 Thank you very much, JoAnna.
How wonderful that John speaks the equine language! And that he loves and helps the horses he talks with. 🙂
Beautiful photos, all of them!
So glad you all are having such a good-memory making time!
Wishing John safety on the rest of his travels!
(((HUGS))) 🙂
Thank you very much, Carolyn X
I loved the documentary Buck…about Buck Brannaman “The Horse Whisperer”. He has written some wonderful books, too.
When I saw the title of this post, I thought you were talking about the book, The Horse Whisperer. Nice bonding with your friend John.
Thank you very much, Arlene. Or the film 🙂
So glad my ponies were well taken care of during the tour. You 3 get along famously!!
Thank you very much, GP
Thank you for sharing this lovely, though brief visit. John seems very comfortable around horses. I’m glad he removed the gorse. It was bothering me to see it! I’m sure the horse felt better, even if he complained a bit at first. It also still amazes me to have lunch in a place that dates from the 11th century!
Thanks very much, Merril. That was the obvious place to take a visitor to 🙂
Indeed! 🙂
A horse whisperer indeed! Sounds as though you had a wonderful, whirlwind of a time. Thanks for providing the link to John’s blog. I am now following it. Oh, the wonderful world of bloggers.
Indeed, Laurie. Thanks very much.
Either the ponies are so gentle that they let people touch them, or John truly is a horse whisperer. It seems that his visit was enjoyed by everyone, including the equines.
Thanks very much. He grew up on an Australian farm, and knew just how to put the animals at ease.
Feels good just to see it.
You have subtly woven the passion for horses in the post. Something tells me I am missing a story here.
Thanks very much, Uma. https://paolsoren.wordpress.com is worth following
The pony with the gorse was very well behaved while having it extracted. Tough little critters.
Many thanks, Sue
I loved this post! What an awesome time you had with your friend and the photos were so enjoyable to look at after my long, crazy week. I was wondering what was on that poor horses head. So glad your friend was able to get it out. Will look forward to his photos as well!
Thanks very much, Lisa. https://paolsoren.wordpress.com
I really like this publication and also the way your friend approaches horses (he reminds me a little bit …)
There is a photo that I particularly like, it is the 9th.
The Australian friend to you and your wife would he accept to know the link of his blog so that we can see his images?
I hope he will find a house soon
https://paolsoren.wordpress.com Thanks very much, Yoshimi
thanks Derrick
What a day! And it really looks like a unicorn 🦄😉
I didn’t trash this. I am very pleased that you liked it, Lisa It looks as if you reblogged The Horse Whisperer and it was trashed