Nugget and Lady were together in evidence this morning, as was Ron or Ronette.
“Where’s Nugget?” (69) by Jackie.
Storm Jorge treated us to a bright, albeit windy, day with very little rain.
Leaving the family’s cockapoos Geri
and her daughter Coco behind with Jackie
I accompanied Louisa, Errol, Jessica, and Imogen as tour guide to Lyndhurst. We began at the Museum and Heritage Centre where we admired exhibits such as
‘Forestry then and now’ comparing the axe-wielding earlier woodman with today’s chain-saw carrying forester;
and ‘Mr Burt a commoner’ who, like his modern descendants, held the rights to pasture his animals in The New Forest.
Shops visited included Pages with its wide range of gifts; Lyndhurst Antiques Centre where the visitors were intrigued by Elizabeth’s well-stocked cabinet; and Down to the Wood where Errol bought a wooden solitaire board complete with glass marbles.
By the time of my son-in-law’s purchase, apart from a brief respite for cold ice creams in the warmth of the Tea Rooms, we had walked for more than an hour up and down the town’s steeply sloping high street.
Knowing that a set of gravestone steps led down from the church of Saint Michael and all Angels to the car park I thought I could just about, with the aid of the handrails, manage the necessary descent after showing the young ladies the grave of Mrs Alice Hargreaves, better known as Alice in Wonderland.
Unfortunately it had been 7 years since I produced the above photograph and there were now no steps. Instead, having been replaced by a circuitous serpentine tarmacked path, the stones that had formed them were stacked on the edge of the lawn.
In more ways than one this seemed a bit steep. Clearly I had no option but to overdo it.
Aaron, in the meantime had passed the Agriframes challenge by assembling and erecting their Bower without recourse to their destructions.
Jackie laid on her usual spread for lunch, after which the Nottingham family set off for home in order for Errol to watch the F.A. Cup Final featuring his beloved Aston Villa.
This evening we ate more of the luncheon fare of cold meats and plentiful fresh salad with which I drank Valle Central Syrah reserve privacy 2019 and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.