Knowing that we were in for a cool day of continuing rain we took an early forest trip before the showers had begun, therefore before a planned visit to the new Antiques Emporium behind Redcliffe Garden Centre.
Outside Brockenhurst we stopped to watch ponies and foals.
We are accustomed to seeing crows pecking about among the pony droppings, but magpies foraging there is unusual;
one foal, young enough to bear the vestiges of the umbilical cord wondered what the black and white bird was doing perched upon it. Accompanying adults ignored it. It has been an exceptional year for these birds – we even have one nesting in or near to our garden which could be one reason why we have fewer small birds this year. In our Newark Lindum House magpies would come one year and there would be no small birds. The next year the predators would be gone and eggs had a chance to hatch.
Our timing was good. Drizzle began as we turned towards Redcliffe Garden Centre and had begun beating a tattoo on the roof.
It is a fairly long trek through the Garden Centre,
beyond Warman’s Architectural Antiques Area,
to the Emporium, which looks like a resurgence of
(Dammit, I published too early so I am continuing with this addition)
the now defunct Molly’s Den, featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2014/08/22/her-very-own-seaside/
Jackie can be seen studying the contents of some of these antiques cubicles.
On my way round I met a man walking with a stick. Having by now found the unaided walk a real struggle I mentioned that I was regretting having left mine in the car. He said he had done the same thing and bought one here. I decided that it was better to put up with the pain of perambulation than paying for a prop I wouldn’t use again.
This evening we will dine on a roast lamb meal which is already tickling my nostrils.
