This morning we shopped at
Setley Ridge Garden Centre for
a birthday present, and continued to Rhinefield Ornamental Drive where Jackie parked in Blackwater Car Park while I
followed a group of younger walkers,
who were soon out of sight,
into the forest,
which is strewn with arboreal detritus
in various stages of contribution to the sylvan ecological system.
Some of the giant conifers bear wrinkled leathern skins;
Bright green mosses cling to weathered stumps
and gnarled roots sprinkled with
last autumn’s fallen foliage,
some of which soaks into the wetter tracts rent by underground streams.
More recently toppled trees
still bear their shallow roots demonstrating what easy prey they are to heavy winds.
It may have been my conversation with a couple walking two small dogs that caused me to miss my mental milestone at which I intended to retrace my steps. I sailed on past it. This extended a 30 minute walk by 15 minutes. Too much for my knees.
As I staggered back into the Modus Jackie pointed to a Just Married message on the rear window of the vehicle alongside us. Wherever they were hiding, I hadn’t seen them.
On our return home we we unable to exit Vaggs Lane because there had clearly been an accident which had blocked the road. As far as we could tell before we turned around, a small car had managed to become sandwiched between a couple of OpenReach vans. A police car arrived while we were reversing.
After lunch we finished our shopping at Otter Nursery. Later, I succumbed to persuasion from various sources and we watched episodes 8 and 9 of series 2 of The Crown. I’m still not comfortable by the dubious intrusive nature of the presentation but I have to admit it is good drama and the history is like tracking back into our own lifetime.
This evening we dined on Hordle Chinese Take Away’s excellent fare with which Jackie finished the Suvignon Blanc and I finished the Cabernet Sauvignon.