Today I invite you to take the perimeter walk with me. When I did this three days ago, I undertook to repeat it in a photo shoot. This is it:
![Footpath - wide](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/footpath-wide.jpg)
At first the path looks wide and safe enough.
![House through wire fence](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/house-through-wire-fence.jpg)
The house can be seen through the occasional gap in the fence on our left.
![Forest](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/forest-2.jpg)
To the right we can look down further into the forest.
![Slope, fence & house](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/slope-fence-house.jpg)
Soon we reach the more precarious sections, where the fence makes a handy grab rail.
![Track made by animals](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/track-made-by-animals.jpg)
![Fence and track](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/fence-and-track.jpg)
The animal tracks largely follow the contour lines.
![Tree shadows](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/tree-shadows.jpg)
Whilst clinging to the fence don’t forget to enjoy the forest views in the sunlight.
![Trunk shadows](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/trunk-shadows.jpg)
We have long shadows,
![Dappled fallen tree](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/dappled-fallen-tree.jpg)
dappled fallen trees,
![Animal track](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/animal-track.jpg)
animal tracks,
![Dappled bank](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/dappled-bank.jpg)
and leafy banks.
![Sloping track](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sloping-track.jpg)
![Track, slope & fence](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/track-slope-fence.jpg)
We are getting near the dicey bit,
![Slope I slid down](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/slope-i-slid-down.jpg)
and managing to pass the slope I slid down until I reached that tree on the left.
![Robin in forest](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/robin-in-forest.jpg)
That bird flitting about is a robin. It has come to rest. Can you see it now?
![Eleanor's abandoned den](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/eleanors-abandoned-den.jpg)
As we take a left bend alongside Running Hill, Eleanor’s abandoned den comes into view,
![House through rhododendrons](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/house-through-rhododendrons.jpg)
as does the house itself, seen through the rhododendrons in which she built it. Backtracking, I see there is a section of the fallen fence that we can step over.
![Shadows on leaves](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/shadows-on-leaves.jpg)
So, taking a last look at the downward sloping bank outside,
![Fence from inside](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/fence-from-inside.jpg)
let’s go inside, and grapple with the the ancient rhododendrons
![Rhododendron branches](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/rhododendron-branches.jpg)
until we return to the garden via John’s compost heaps.
After bidding you farewell the day continued with a drive to Nomansland , around which Jackie and I wandered for a while.
Wagtails waded in the car park puddles. What is it with wagtails and car parks? Even town car parks often host them. Certainly the one in Ringwood does.
Stretched out on the ground, breathing strongly, a possibly pregnant mare alarmed me a little. It is not a position in which ponies are often seen. We are supposed to report sick or injured animals. Was this one in trouble, or was she just having a siesta? How would I know? She had a companion who stood in the usual motionless stance not batting an eyelid. Until she, maybe the midwife, turned, bent her head, and nuzzled the prone animal. By the time Jackie and I had returned up the slope from the edge of the green, both creatures had disappeared. Their places had been taken by donkeys.
![Ponies nuzzling](http://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ponies-nuzzling.jpg)
This evening Jackie fed us on lamb steaks with crisp vegetables, including cauliflower and broccoli in a gentle cheese sauce. I finished the Languedoc.