Market Day

Lymington High Street descends a steep incline towards Quay Street at the bottom. The good quality Saturday Market stalls are set up on both sides of the street.

Who would be daft enough to struggle through these throngs up and down the hill combining Christmas shopping with a photographic record of the Saturday before Christmas?

OK, OK, you’ve got me. I did my best not to injure anyone.

Jackie drove me to the main car park from which I walked to the High Street. She drove off elsewhere and we rendezvoused in the same place 50 minutes later. This time span was a test of my knees. I just made it.

If there is a way with the new editor to return to the old jigsaw type galleries, I haven’t found it. The default system crops my pictures ‘for alignment’, it says – in other words to produce uniform sizes which mean I lose parts of my images. If I prevent this, the sizes of my images are altered, leaving gaps as above. Once the galleries are accessed (by clicking on any one in a group), the pictures are fine and can be enlarged in the usual way.

The titles of each of the pictures is given in the galleries. I will let them tell their own stories.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s succulent sausage casserole; boiled potatoes; crunchy carrots; and tender runner beans. I finished the Saint-Chinian.

“I Buy Dat”

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.

The weight of traffic through Lyndhurst and on the A27 meant that the journey to Upper Dicker on the way to Poppy’s birthday celebration took 4 hours in contrast to the normal two and a half that the return trip occupied. Fortunately we left home early enough to spend the afternoon there.

Poppy drawing on paving

When we arrived our granddaughter was occupied with coloured chalks drawing on the paving stones in the garden.

Poppy and pink dress

Jackie and I had brought her a couple of ballerina dresses. She liked them both,

Poppy and red dress

Poppy 2

but it was the deep red one that she proudly chose to wear on this occasion.

Tess and PoppyPoppy 1

She is very fond of her food, and now needs little assistance, here rendered by Tess, to unwrap a biscuit. She thought her hat complemented that of her mother.

Balloons

Plenty of balloons testified to the festive occasion.

Poppy with balloon 1Poppy with balloon 2Tess and Poppy

Becky and Ian gave her a helium filled one that was a great hit. Tess inconspicuously prepared a splendid spread of grilled steaks and various tasty salads. Mat was in charge of beverages, and thought it a good wheeze to offer me a local beer named Old Man brewed by the Long Man Brewery. I enjoyed it.

Poppy and mirror

Poppy’s aunt and uncle also gave her a suitably decorated mirror which she gave several nose prints.

Poppy, bubbles, Becky, Scooby 1

Poppy, bubbles, Becky, ScoobyPoppy, Tess, Becky, bubbles

Another of their presents was a battery-operated bubble machine.

Poppy operating bubble machinePoppy and bubbles

She soon got the hang of operating this.

Poppy asleep

 

Soon, a sleep was in order, until

Poppy and birthday cake 1

Tess’s delicious birthday cake was produced.

Poppy, Tess and birthday cake 1Poppy and birthday cake 2Poppy, Tess, and birthday cake 2

Although the birthday girl was persuaded to blow out one candle herself, she needed Ian’s assistance because she was far more interested in prising of the M & Ms and popping them into her mouth.

Matthew told us the story of the blue hat. He and Poppy had visited a charity shop in Emsworth with Becky a few days ago. Spotting the hat, Becky had placed it within Poppy’s line of sight. Her niece grabbed it and tottered off with it to the changing room, from which emanated “I like dat. I buy dat”. Out she came. Her Dad gave her the necessary dosh. Over to the counter she trotted, slapped the money on the wooden surface and said “I buy dat, lady”

Jackie and I needed no further food or drink, other than water, this evening.