Foxglove And Twinkle

Early this bright, sunny, and cool day we drove out to Pilley to deliver a letter to Elizabeth. I popped it into her letter box and we continued on our way.

I have a couple of times before featured the horse and pony occupying the garden of Jordan’s Cottage on the corner of Bull and Jordan’s Lanes. Today I was to be formally introduced. As I photographed the two equines feeding from their trough a Gentleman planting flowers invited me in. This was Roderick, whose granddaughter owns these creatures. The horse is Foxglove and the pony, Twinkle.

Given her freckles, Foxglove is so aptly named. She is an eventer who is convalescing while recovering from and injured back leg. Roderick confirmed that the mask is for protection from flies. Seeing me back away as the horses trotted over to me when I entered the small paddock, he assured me that they were very friendly. I laughed and explained that I was not afraid but had to keep my distance to use the lens on my camera. In fact I left the paddock to take the shots of Foxglove in her mask. It would, of course, have been rude not to have photographed Twinkle’s eye.

On Norleywood Road we passed trick cyclist who probably wasn’t a psychiatrist. This was to have been on our way home until Jackie took a diversion down

Lower Pennington Lane to investigate the nature reserve at the far end.

Hurst View camping site was packed out and I could hear voices planning their day’s trips all the way down the lane along which I walked while Jackie waited in the car, parked on a verge just before a considerable narrowing of the thoroughfare.

Even cyclists had little passing room.

The marshland to my left was quite dry and occupied by a few basking ponies. The Isle os Wight could be seen in the distance.

When I reached the entrance to the bird sanctuary it seemed that the caravan site was decanting its entire contents who were making their way along the dedicated path which I consequently decided to eschew and set off across undulating terrain which I largely had to myself. I took the last section of the path on my return and I have to say that the boys in the third picture above thanked me for stepping aside.

In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that the only birds I saw were flocks of Canada geese,

occasionally joined by others flying in.

Against the backdrop of the Isle of Wight, The Needles, Hurst castle and their lighthouses, across the marshland could be seen walkers, cyclists and a dog. Particularly the last of this gallery would benefit from bigification.

A few goats occupied a field opposite the campsite.

After lunch I put in another stint at pruning Félicité Perpétue in the front garden.

Later this afternoon Elizabeth came for a cup of tea and stayed for dinner consisting of another of Jackie’s succulent cottage pies; crunchy carrots and cauliflower; tender cabbage; and meaty gravy, with which the Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Carles.

66 comments

  1. I am so pleased that you were invited to take photos of the horse and Shetland. You may have made a new friend in the gentleman.

    What a lovely drive around and a great set of photos,

  2. Lovely shots, Derrick. I performed bigification on several of your photos. I was interested in the Isle of White and other long distance features. Oh, and the running pooch was looking really fast!

  3. Thanks for the tour Derrick; I just Google mapped my way from Lymington down Lower Pennington Lane et al. Loved the view across to the Isle. But of course I’m a big fan of buck and geese so that massed flight of Canada Geese was delightful.

  4. I was all set to like the black-and-white of the Canada Geese until I saw “Marshland, yachts, Hurst lighthouse, Isle of Wight.” It’s a tie between the two. I’m sorry to see that Freckles, now Foxglove, is being bothered by flies again.

  5. That was so nice you were invited to meet Foxglove and Twinkle up close. They are a sweet couple. I’m glad Foxglove is getting good care in fly protection. The Isle of Wight backdrop provides an interesting contrast and depth.

  6. It was a pleasure meeting Foxglove and Twinkle. Hauling a spare cycle alongside was a frequently witnessed phenomenon in my younger days, and it was considered a mandatory skill for a cyclist worth his salt. Having attempted it once, I can assure you the trickiest parts are the getting to move and trying to brake. The flock of geese look nice. The curled horns of the billy goats constitute a weighty matter.

  7. Because the wearing of masks in public is mandatory here, I gasp at the sight of so many people – in fairly close proximity too – enjoying themselves sans masks. No wonder you chose the rougher ground to walk over. Your photographs are lovely to explore.

  8. Thank you for introducing us to Foxglove and Twinkle! What a sweet face Twinkle has! 🙂

    I wonder if that cyclist who probably wasn’t a psychiatrist has an imaginary “biking” friend. ??? 🙂

    Love seeing the geese in flight! For years, my youngest lived in a city that had a lot of Canadian geese. I found them beautiful. She had lived “with” them for so long she just found them messy. Guess they like to pooh whether they saw fit. 😮 😉

    Goats always make me smile. 🙂 We had a fav BBQ restaurant and you could sit out side at picnic table…and the owners pet miniature goat liked to roam around the tables and greet people. 🙂

    HUGS!!! and glad you had a marvelous day! 🙂

  9. So it seems, the horse owners are as nice as the horses – isn’t that a pleasure to hear.
    The countryside is looking good, and getting ready for winter?

  10. how wonderful to have met Foxglove and Twinkle! lovely photographs as always. i lingered in the shots with backdrop of the Isle of Wight and the Canada geese flying in are delightful!

  11. Striking pictures of Foxglove and Twinkle. (Love those names!) I wonder why that bike rider was hauling a bike. Your area is certainly a busy place. Reminds me of coastal Maine, a place in summer overrun by those “from away,” as we Mainers put it.

      1. Same in Maine. You can have lived here for 30 years, and you would still be considered to be “from away.” Fortunately, my family has been in Maine for five generations. 😉

  12. It looks like a lovely day. Foxglove and Twinkle are adorable. I wonder about the backstory of the “trick” cyclist.
    The black and white Marshland scene was definitely worth biggification–wonderful shot!

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