A Bit Steep

Nugget and Lady were together in evidence this morning, as was Ron or Ronette.

“Where’s Nugget?” (69) by Jackie.

Storm Jorge treated us to a bright, albeit windy, day with very little rain.

Leaving the family’s cockapoos Geri

and her daughter Coco behind with Jackie

I accompanied Louisa, Errol, Jessica, and Imogen as tour guide to Lyndhurst. We began at the Museum and Heritage Centre where we admired exhibits such as

‘Forestry then and now’ comparing the axe-wielding earlier woodman with today’s chain-saw carrying forester;

and ‘Mr Burt a commoner’ who, like his modern descendants, held the rights to pasture his animals in The New Forest.

Shops visited included Pages with its wide range of gifts; Lyndhurst Antiques Centre where the visitors were intrigued by Elizabeth’s well-stocked cabinet; and Down to the Wood where Errol bought a wooden solitaire board complete with glass marbles.

By the time of my son-in-law’s purchase, apart from a brief respite for cold ice creams in the warmth of the Tea Rooms, we had walked for more than an hour up and down the town’s steeply sloping high street.

Knowing that a set of gravestone steps led down from the church of Saint Michael and all Angels to the car park I thought I could just about, with the aid of the handrails, manage the necessary descent after showing the young ladies the grave of Mrs Alice Hargreaves, better known as Alice in Wonderland.

Unfortunately it had beenย 7 years since I produced the above photograph and there were now no steps. Instead, having been replaced by a circuitous serpentine tarmacked path, the stones that had formed them were stacked on the edge of the lawn.

In more ways than one this seemed a bit steep. Clearly I had no option but to overdo it.

Aaron, in the meantime had passed the Agriframes challenge by assembling and erecting their Bower without recourse to their destructions.

Jackie laid on her usual spread for lunch, after which the Nottingham family set off for home in order for Errol to watch the F.A. Cup Final featuring his beloved Aston Villa.

This evening we ate more of the luncheon fare of cold meats and plentiful fresh salad with which I drank Valle Central Syrah reserve privacy 2019 and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.

 

 

 

69 comments

  1. I thought my beloved AVFC played really well, nearly drawing level just before full-time. But we were never likely to beat a team who could field Jesus – unfair advantage. Glad Jorge was a bit of a damp squib, congratulations to Aaron, the new arch looks lovely in situ. Those cockapoos are too cute!

  2. That second dog photo, with the soulful eye, is an absolute gem of a photo.

    Steps are often a lot easier than ramps in my opinion, but modern design seems to favour ramps. We need more designers with bad knees to test these things out.

  3. Oh, such sweet pups! I hope you aren’t feeling the effects of all of that hill trekking. So pleased that Nugget and his lady friend are doing well. He’s looking quite plump on that piece of slate.

  4. Congratulations on fully-operational Agriframes. And boo! on ramps replacing steps. A wet (or worse, icy) ramp makes an excellent launch for skiing or tobogganing, but a poor one for pedestrians. But perhaps tarmacked surfaces are less slippery than asphalt or blacktop.

  5. That sounds like my kind of morning.
    The storm was similar up here, very windy but much less rain than expected.
    Hope your knees haven’t suffered too much.

  6. Good to see Nugget again, and the dogs look very sweet! I hope your knees are alright, Derrick! It sounds like you all had a good time touring about.

  7. Your first picture at the Museum and Heritage Centre looks like some dreadful murder. I’m going to be doing some posts about Alice, and she seems to have had a life of extreme highs and lows.
    Our robin has a young lady to court and he has been hovering near her in a fine show of aerobatics, so that may be something to watch for.

  8. Glad the birdies are out and about and well!
    Oh, those pooches are so cute! What sweet faces!
    YAY for Aaron! The Agriframe Bower looks beautiful! It will be a beautiful home to the flowering vines!
    I hope your knees are doing well…give ’em a rest.
    HUGS!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. I prefer steps to ramps especially when descending. The ramps are ubiquitous and are mainly for those on wheels (or pushing wheelchairs etc) and constructed with never a thought to the multitudes who have painful or fragile knee-joints. Take care, Derrick!

  10. Lovely to have some sunshine again Derrick and I expect Nugget too is pleased to have his feathers dry out for a while..
    Loved your images and so cute is Geri and Coco… ๐Ÿ™‚ ?

  11. Geri is looking like she needs a little love. The museum figures look very lifelike; are they wax? It’s too bad that the pretty stone pathway is gone now. Kudos to Aaron for winning the Agriframes challenge.

    1. Thank you so much, Liz. Geri’s family had just disappeared. I’m not sure what the figures are made of. I’ll investigate next time. I’ll pass the message on to Aaron.

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