Sampling A Dandelion

Early this morning Jackie hoovered the house and I swept the garden paths.

Barry and Karen visited us later, when we enjoyed coffee, cake, and convivial conversation.

“A wobble” has become Jackie’s term for a forest photo foray. It may have something to do with my gait. We went on one this afternoon.

As we turn off Roger Penny Way onto Cadnam Lane we cross a road bridge

over a stream which is very much drying out as a result of our recent paucity of precipitation.

I needed four photographs to cover the stretch of a huge recently fallen tree which, had it descended in the opposite direction would have damaged a nearby house,

seen beyond the evidence of an earlier toppled giant.

Older branches were now covered in bright green moss.

The bright sunshine of this warmer day cast shadows across last year’s autumn leaves and this year’s yellow celandines which also clung to the bank of the stream.

Further along Cadnam Lane we encountered a field full of recently yeaned ewes and their very young lambs.

A young man occupied himself with his mobile phone as he led his pony to its nearby paddock.

Tufts of wool bunting decorated the bramble hedges. Perhaps they had been shed by the mothers before confinement;

perhaps others on the road or in the neighbouring woodland.

Would anyone like to suggest a speech bubble for this squirrel, bearing in mind the creature has its mouth full?

It was another which dashed across the road.

Like all youngsters at this time this donkey foal sought new goodies to eat. We watched it sample a dandelion.

Maybe it was its Dad daring our Modus to come any closer.

This evening we dined on second helpings of yesterday’s casserole with boiled new potatoes; and a perfection of cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Red Blend.

103 comments

      1. I really liked this photo, too.

        And dad donkey ? I’d have a speech bubble for him, too: ‘Don’t you dare, dude!’

  1. It is good to see such a good photograph of a squirrel. I thought about a speech bubble, then realised that if it had been brought up to be polite, it wouldn’t speak with its mouth full!

  2. Oh, Derrick, definitely a wonderfully captured photo of the Squirrel…
    A sqirrel avoiding trouble
    Protecting his mouthful bubble
    Wary and ready to redouble

  3. You had quite an adventuresome afternoon! I love seeing those little lambs – especially the suckling one! And the squirrel with its mouth full will not have a speech bubble. My mom always taught me it’s not nice to talk with your mouth full! I’m sure glad that tree fell in the free direction and didn’t topple on the house. It was quite an old one, wasn’t it? My favorite photo today is the one of the yellow celandines. Magnificent!!

  4. Well, another day, another new word tucked away. I refer, sir, to yeaned. I had to look up the definition, of course.

    What a nive wobble you had, again.

  5. I love the term “wobble.” So does she say, “Would you like to go for a wobble?” This is perfection.

    Loved the little lambs. So precious. I had to look up “yean.”

    1. Yes I do, it started after his knee replacements, when he was definitely a wee bit ‘wobbly’ when he waked!

  6. So sad to see the young lambs. Unlike others, I cannot but think about the awful fate that awaits them. Poor babies.

  7. The Squirrel’s speech bubble – “Mr DeMille I presume!”

    The ewes and lambs have unusual black markings, I was trying to work out the breed but the nearest I could come up with is Kerry Hill originally bred in Wales. Gorgeous aren’t they?

    1. Your speech bubble is so good – making me pleased I had resisted the temptation to include readiness for a close-up. Yes, those markings do seem special. Thanks very much, Sue.

  8. I enjoyed your forest wobble, Derrick and Jackie! The root systems of toppled giants always intrigue me. They often seem so shallow to have held up and supported such a tree.

    The squirrel does need a good speech bubble, but I am not coming up with anything useful. TanGental has a good one. 🙂

    1. Thanks very much, Lavinia. The shallowness of the roots has always made me wonder the same. It is the very wet weather that seems to bring them down as much as the winds.

  9. What a wonderful wobble!!! 😀 Thank you for taking us along via photos! 🙂
    Love all those sweet faces! Especially the donkey foal sampling dandelions! AW! 😀

    Squirrel ? : “Come on everybody! Follow me! Let’s go nuts!” 😛
    Or…Squirrel ? : “I see nutting. I hear nutting. I know nutting.”
    ? ? ?
    Or…a caption for your photo might be…”That moment AFTER you’ve jammed food in your mouth and you realize you didn’t say grace!” 😮
    (((HUGS))) 🙂
    ? ? ?

  10. An interesting and enjoyable batch of photos with the fairy spots dancing over the yellow celandines, fantastic designs in fallen trees, a nice shot of the squirrel, and curiosity about the boy and his horse. Plus, I learned a new word: Yean! We should all sample dandelions, I’ve read they are good for us.

  11. I hate that they spray the numbers on the sheep. I’m sure there is a practical reason, but it certainly destroys the aesthetics of your photos!!!

  12. Wobble made me think of the ubiquitous line dance. ?
    So many wonderful photos–I like both squirrel shots, the daddy donkey, the adorable baby lambs, and I love the celandine photo!

  13. Hi Derrick – the speech bubble for that squirrel: “Now that I’ve chewed up Book Club Mom’s second feeder, I’ve crossed the ocean to hide.”

    1. That is what the sheep must be, Quercus. Well done. WP changed yeaning to leaning until I had battled it out with them. Even now that have underlined it in red. Thanks a lot

      1. Spellcheckers are brilliant, but not quite perfect. We had some Welsh Badger-faced lambs on the farm one year – must have been something in the family tree, because we had no parents with face-markings.

  14. My favorite out of this grouping is the header photo. I like how the post and the donkey are at the same angle, and there is that one tiny pop of yellow in all the shades of gray and brown. My speech bubble for the squirrel is a variation on the one I have for the deer who eat our hostas: Yeah, I’m stealin’ yer nuts. Ya wanna make sumpin of it?

  15. As usual, love the animal shots, especially the free roaming livestock.
    Squirrel: Mmmmmwwwhmmmmwmmwmchkmchk (with appropriate accent for region)

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