“We’ll Leave You Alone Now”

After lunch we took advantage of a spell of sunshine and drove into the forest.

At the Roger Penny Way end of Cadnam Lane

we stopped to converse with the pair of Gloucester Old Spots we often see there; and a robin that we don’t.

Reflections rippled over the stream spanned by the road bridge.

Jackie’s photographs are the last two in this woodland gallery incorporating a large decaying stump.

Further along ponies chomped on hay against the backdrop of a sheep field.

The ford fence that I had reported in a state of collapse on a recent visit has now been repaired; a trio of sows and a solitary pony will now be safe to cross.

On the lane to Bramshaw we kept meeting and passing a friendly equestrienne until I finally called out of the window “We’ll leave you alone now.”

This afternoon’s Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and Wales failed to record, so later I watched the game between France and Ireland.

We then dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken and vegetable stewp with fresh crusty bread.

96 comments

  1. At this time of the year, the trees have no leaves, and seeing wood in varying stages of both life and decay, I’m led to see how “long lived” the New Forest is…

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  2. The old stumps make for excellent designs.
    And – you KNOW I loved the ponies – the pigs are kinda cute as well.

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  9. The ripples under the arch photo is beautiful. I also liked the woodland photos by you both, but Jackie captured the creature look of that giant stump. I wouldn’t want to be near it at night. Those cute little pigs should stay away from it.
    I laughed at the “robin that we don’t.”

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  10. Perfect pretty pony -n- plucky piggy photos! 🙂 That one piggy has a lot of rings! 😮
    Love seeing the robin! 🙂
    All of these photos are beautiful, Jackie and Derrick! They bring light, smiles, and joy to my cold winter day. 🙂
    I always love your forest photos…stumps, trees, light and shadows, reflections, etc! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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  17. The fallen logs with moss and the decaying stump look like works of art. Come to think of it, they ARE works of art as you and Jackie have photographed them. That is true of many natural wonders of your world.

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  21. You have been capturing New Forest in body and spirit. The intricate life cycle of smaller parts of the woodland emerge in vivid details in these photographic tours, revealing the regenerative and miraculous processes of Nature. The inhabitants and roamers find their due representations. Jackie has merrily joined force in these expeditions.

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  28. What great captures if the fairest piggies! You have really brought this part of England to life over the years Derrick. I am now considering returning to the UK and this area looks so lovely.

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  29. I love the photo of the arch bridge. The decaying stump is interesting and during our travels to mountain towns, we’ve seen tree stumps salvaged and coated with some sort of product and used as a sitting stool.

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      1. Let’s see. Pig names for the Glocester Old Spots? I will think on that and get back to you! They appear to be both girls as best I can tell from the photos.

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      1. You are not crazy. I noted a problem with the WordPress reader yesterday when trying to reply. When I hit the “reply” button and start typing in the box, WP will try to redirect me somewhere when I hit the “k” key when typing. I think some kind of malware has been injected into WP code. I can get around it by typing my reply into a text editor, then cutting and pasting it into the reply box. That works, so far.

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  32. I love that “pair of Gloucester Old Spots” – they’re so fluffy!! They’re eating the chestnuts that are poisonous for the horses?? Is that right?

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    1. It is acorns that are poisonous to horses – and there has been a dearth of them this year. These particular sows are often found at that corner – perhaps they live in the nearby yard. Thanks very much, Jan

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  35. I liked the winter coats on the old spots. And the photo of the horse and rider coming at you down the lane is captivating. As ever, all the woodland shots are lovely.

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  36. Initially, I had difficulties making a comment on this post, so I gave up, I intended to open later on a different device, but then moved on to your next post.
    My iPad does not seem to be communicating very well with WordPress since the last Apple update.

    Lovely to see the pigs having a wander, I had thought it was just in the autumn when they went walk about.
    Those woodland images are really lovely, Derrick.

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