Cattle In The Woods

Early this morning Jackie drove me into the forest.

We aimed to take our normal route along Holmsley Passage which had been closed for four days from the 21st. The signs from the entrance beside the A35 had been lowered so we merrily sped down the winding, undulating, lane, only to find barriers at the halfway point. There were indications that some patching of the eroded edges of the tarmac had been begun, but nothing was happening today. This is not an unusual phenomenon but we had travelled hopefully. I photographed the woodland beside the carpark, beyond which we could not continue.

We backtracked and deviated over the newly repaired bridge on the A337.

Outside Burley we came across some curious cows

and their quizzical calves merging with woodland foliage and browning bracken.

The size of fallen oak leaves among the grass beneath the trees gives perspective to a string of very small, almost imperceptible, mushrooms

near larger fungi, some of which had provided breakfast on the hoof.

This afternoon I made further headway with Richardson’s “Clarissa”.

We dined this evening on a rack of pork spare ribs; hot and spicy and tempura prawn preparations; and Jackie’s flavoursome savoury rice, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden, I finished the Comté Tolosan Rouge, and Flo and Dillon drank fruit cordial.

46 comments

  1. Looks like those bossies were laying down on the job. We have some black cows near Barboursville that always lie down under a huge shade tree whenever it gets hot. More sense the the humans that stand out in the noon sun to gossip. Love your country drives. Wish we had rooting piggies at times. They are comical in your descriptions and pictures.

  2. What amazing little treasures you always find in the forest! And you take such beautiful photos of them! I love the little “tables” and “umbrellas”. 🙂
    And those cows seem to pose just for you! Those faces are so sweet! And they do seem curious to watch what is going on with you. 🙂
    What a wonderful day! Thank you for sharing it with us! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) ❤️ 🙂
    PS…Thank you, again, so much for letting me use your donkey photos in my donkey post.

  3. The cows seem to feel relaxed and at home in the woods which I’m guessing is better than being on the road with cars merrily speeding down the winding, undulating, lane. 😉

  4. I like the shades of green, the relief of the photos of cows About mushrooms I would have a defiance for the white ones. Are not the small brown ones collybies, Derryk?
    In friendship
    Michel

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