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Early this morning we had an avian visitor, in the form of a juvenile robin looking wistfully through the kitchen window, during intervals between frantic flapping. Jackie lifted it up and set it free, but didn’t wait for me to get in another shot.
Unbeknown to us, when we visited Lymington Quay a little later, we just missed Frances and her friends Dave and Kay who also spent some time there.
Initially oblivious of the hydraulic load-lift behind him, a young man dozed on a bench
against the backdrop of the Ship Inn,
with its lichen painted roof.
Tourists gathered around The Boat House Café,
waited for the cruises to begin,
or travelled on the ferry port train.
while more regular visitors prepared the rigging of their boats,
and a pair of kayakers set off between moored hulls.
As the quayside filled up and the hot sun rose in the sky, we set off for the cooler, less crowded, forest.
At East Boldre an imperious boxer dog occupied his own personal observation platform. (See comments from arlingwoman and 10000hoursleft below. The dog is an Old English Mastiff)
Cyclists enjoyed their track around the Ladycross Estate near Brockenhurst
where dappled sunlight played on the woodland trees,
and Jackie saw a dinosaur emerging from a dried up bog.
In this weather, ponies tend to shelter under trees, utilising their fly whisks.
It seems they have learned that those in white clothing need less shade.
Even before we arrived home, we could see mist rolling in from the sea. I didn’t need to suggest we went and had a look at it. My Driver just turned away from the house and made straight for the coast, where
the Isle of Wight was invisible,
and a light pall lay over those on the beach.
This afternoon we received a delightful surprise when the three people we hadn’t known had been at the quay arrived for a visit. We spent an enjoyable few hours together, naturally involving highly satisfying admiration of the garden.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s splendid chicken jalfrezi and savoury rice.
Not a bad day, really.
P.S. Barrie Haynes put the following additional information about the lifting device on my Facebook page: ‘As an amendment to that, the heavy duty ones (as in this case) do use oil when going down. It is released through a small orifice, thus making the tail lift go down slowly and safely with a heavy load and taking the stain of up to a couple of tons off the operating mechanism. So you were right after all Derrick it’s Mechanical (two big chains) Electrical (separate battery on lorry) and Hydraulic (for safety). For anybody reading this, never use a tail lift on a hired vehicle unless you are happy you know exactly how to do it. They can remove fingers!’