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This morning I made a birthday card for Orlaith, using this photograph taken by Holly a few days after her daughter’s birth.
Jackie drove me to New Milton to post it this afternoon, and on afterwards for a forest trip via Holmsley Passage.
Beside the passage this pony
caught my attention
as it appeared
to be scratching
the bracken. Actually it was stamping it down so it could get at the grass. Too much bracken is harmful to horses.
Birch trees
stood out on the moorland,
and holly berries brightened the woodland opposite.
As we continued along the road,
we noticed a strange tree in the distance.
This was the Burley mobile telephone mast in disguise.
At the end of the Passage, according to this milestone just one mile from Burley,
we turned off right along a cul -de-sac on which we discovered a pool
reflecting
the surrounding trees.
Fungi sprang from fallen logs;
a dead branch dangled.
An enclosure beyond the far side looked rather like a Drift pen.
The road led to the enticing woodland
and undulating landscape of Clay Hill.
The mist rising above Bashley on our return had a distinct aroma of woodsmoke.
We diverted to Keyhaven where the clouds looming overhead
were reflected in the waterlogged tarmac,
and a menacing hoodie lurked on Hurst Spit.
This evening we dined at Mansoori Heights, a recently opened Indian restaurant in Milford on Sea. It was very good. Jackie’s main meal was paneer shashlick; mine was prawn vindaloo; we shared a starter platter, egg rice, and a methi paratha, and both drank Kingfisher.