Frost lay on the bright, sunlit, garden this morning;
glittering on benches,
and on geranium leaves;
and the Waterboy pond was frozen. Abstractedly.
This afternoon Jackie drove Becky and me to The Beach House via Milford on Sea Post Office where I posted the prints to Frances.
This hotel, formerly Westover Hall, was built in 1897 from a design by the famous Victorian architect Arnold Mitchell for Alexander Siemens. The magnificent building was a beach house looking across the Solent to The Isle of Wight.
I have often photographed the firs in the front garden, but never before against the lowering sun.
Similarly, this view of The Needles and their flashing lighthouse, is no stranger to my lens. It is the pastel shades of the scene that appealed today.
A cyclist,
and walkers promenaded alongside the changing palette.
Reflecting a new meaning to solar lighting, the sky appeared to have illuminated some neighbouring rooms.
Near these modern homes, in The Beach House Garden, a gnarled pine has staggered to the ground and created a Hobbit house with similar internal lighting.
When I had finished wandering I joined the ladies inside for tea and cakes. Becky said I should get outside again because the light had already changed. I handed her the camera. She went off to collect some images of her own. They included
a dovecote;
an anchor;
a herringbone path;
and more sunsets,
one of which was a backcloth to further walkers.
Turning to the building itself, she spotted the fire escape outside,
and, inside, the hall of mirrors from which all the loos lead.
One of these doors was labelled
She was unable to resist trying the door which was locked. Anyone fancy writing a story about it?
PS. Poet Rummager took up the challenge, with a beautiful poem. See the pingback on her comment below
About to put the car key in the ignition, Jackie asked: ‘Has anyone paid?’ at which Becky and I both leaped (poetic licence here) out of the car and sped to the reception desk. The man who had served us had binned our bill because he assumed his female colleague had taken our money. He had to put it all back into the computer. We thought the charge very reasonable and exchanged jokes about having missed the opportunity to do a runner.
This evening Ian drove us to Dynasty Indian restaurant in Brockenhurst where we enjoyed excellent food and service. My choice was Lamb Tikka jalfrezi with special fried rice. We all shared onion bhajis. Becky drank rose wine and the rest of us drank Kingfisher.