Summer Holidays In The Woods

In an effort to avoid the holiday traffic and the intensely hot sapping humidity of the day we set off for a forest drive at 8 a.m.

Beside Ober Water which passes under Rhinefield Road ponies quietly grazed, cattle strode purposefully, cyclists and cars sped along;

sunshine dappled the woodland, reflecting trees and skies on the surface of shallow, bubbling, water

from which a splashing, excited, dog time and again retrieved a soggy tossed tennis ball.

Three different shoes and a rather useful looking pan had all been abandoned on the banks;

as they swooped from tree to tree and hunted among the roots I witnessed ample evidence that robins spend their summer holidays in the woods.

Cattle drank from the stream.

Early bracket fungus stepped up trunks further along Rhinefield Road;

bracken pierced the shadows along Mill Lane

where walkers and dogs were beginning to wander.

On Bisterne Close an inquisitive foal left its mother’s flanks in order to investigate the warm bonnet of our Modus. It took a loud application of a certain amount of vroom to shift the mohican-coiffed youngster.

Purple heather, such as this beside Holmsley Passage among which a lone walker tramps is brightening daily.

As usual, clicking on any image will access its gallery, individual members of which can be viewed full size and further enlarged if required.

Even when entering the garden for a watering session we were hit by a blast furnace, and the library dehumidifier required emptying twice today, when normally once every two days may suffice.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious liver and bacon casserole; creamy mashed potatoes, crunchy carrots; and tender green beans with which I drank Carles Priorat 2016, and the Culinary Queen abstained.

85 comments

  1. Hot and humid! Not my favourite weather at all, but good to see you make the most of the early morning and share those lovely pics with us. Despite indications to the contrary we have enjoyed some pleasant days here too, without the humidity – an indication of warmer days to come. Just had a lovely week with our Jo visiting and no time to pop in. Back to normal life again 🙂

  2. You and the horses and cows have a wonderful forest in which to recreate! I love the trees and shadows and reflections in this post!

  3. We go out cycling at 06:30 to avoid the worst of the heat but we’re stuck with it for another week at least. Gorgeous array of photos and I particularly liked the mohican coiffed foal.

  4. Beautiful photos. I particularly liked the first dog in the water, the cow drinking from the stream with the reflections, and the tree with what looks like little umbrella steps going up its trunk. Also that coiffed foal with the jaded look. ?

  5. Oh, my shoe! There’s my shoe! You found my shoe! 😉 Oh, my pan! There’s my pan! You found my pan! 😉 HA!!! 😀 😛

    All brilliant photos, Derrick! You know I love the doggie photos! I love the foal’s mohawk-‘do!
    And your light-shadow photos, AND your reflection photos are amazing! 🙂

    Good to see you saw Fern! And some fun-guys! 🙂

    I have a friend who always tries to straighten her very curly hair. Humid days are her enemy. Ha. Sometimes, on a humid, she’ll say, “Today my hairstyle is: I tried.” 😀

    Please stay safe whilst it’s hot and humid-idy!
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  6. I learned what bracket fungus was here – never had a name in my mind for it – thank you. And also, that pan does look useful – I could easily work that into my dinner prep routine 🙂

      1. Haha – I’ve been giving my old ones to our kids as they move out and then getting new ones – just super-glued the handle back on one for my son 🙂

  7. These are beautiful, restful photos from your forest drive, Derrick and Jackie! The foal was a real treat, too. They are inquisitive!

    I am sorry it is so hot there. Our Monday return to heat here has been downgraded to high 80s as of tonight.

  8. A riveting black and white photo of tree trunks and a plodding cow with an interesting spot of light in front of it. Your reflection photos are lovely as usual, Derrick, and the baby pony with a mohawk hairdo is adorable.

  9. That was a refreshing meandering in those tranquil woods. I was glad to see that Robin. For a while I mistook him for Nugget. That is an interesting pan left behind by some wanton picnicker. The single abandoned shoe also suggests a hasty flight from the scene at the sight of a wayward ghost.

  10. Well, my last comment didn’t go through so I’ll try again..I was suggesting that Morrie could give that little dog a run for his money..and also commenting on your seemingly daily wanderings and adventures. It makes me feel somewhat of a hermit, which will get even worse as in addition to a sprained ankle, I broke my little toe today. Ouch.

  11. I love the fact that robins have summer holidays. <3 What a lovely early morning meander. We just spoke to my Mom-in-law. She was feeling the heat today, so we told her to drink lots of liquids and to switch her table fan on. She hadn't thought of that until we mentioned it.

  12. I enjoyed the cow drinking at the stream and the robins, but I especially like the shelf fungus. It’s not ‘pretty’ in any traditional sense, but it surely is interesting — and eye-catching, too.

  13. delightful pictures from a morning walk, Derrick! the reflections are beautiful especially the cattle drinking from the stream. fun to know robins take summer holidays 🙂 keep hydrated 🙂 🙂

  14. Our dehumidifier is getting a workout at the moment too. I dislike this heat at the best of times and the accompanying humidity doesn’t help.

  15. Wonderful flowers! I think I will pass on the liver casserole!! Tell me about your free range horses? Are they wild or belong to a neighbor or what??

    1. They roam the forest with ancient rights of pasturage. They are all owned by commoners who hold those rights. Every year there is a round up with medical checks and branding of the new ones. The animals have right of way on the roads. Thanks a lot, Dwight.

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