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This morning Jackie drove us around the east of the forest.
At East End we passed some ponies chomping by the roadside.
It was a narrow lane, so Jackie drove on and parked in a passing spot for me to walk back to photograph the scene.
This is a small farming area with fields enclosed by hedgerows.
Back up the hill and round the bend, I observed a novel method of clearing ponies from the road.
What this driver did was to give the rear end of the white pony a gentle nudge with the vehicle’s nose and keep creeping forward.
In the field alongside stood, in awe, a little foal with a thought bubble above its head bearing the caption ‘Will I be like you when I grow up?’ I am not sure, however, that this was not a Falabella (named after its Argentine breeder, Julio) such as we encountered at St Leonard’s, further down the road.
This adult horse, lost in a group of larger ponies, rarely exceeds 75 cm. in height.
Two pairs in this group were indulging in heavy petting,
which extended to love bites,
which was all rather difficult for the unfortunate, mournful-looking, gooseberry.
We visited the Lavender Farm at Plaitford where we enjoyed coffee and plants along with many other visitors.
Even before entering we could see that lupins and foxgloves were in abundance.
Many more plants at their peak were also on sale;
and, of course, numerous types of lavender,
also growing in the gardens. I am not sure which bird is represented by the avian topiary in the centre distance of this shot,
but this is surely an elegant swan.
Since our last visit a blue painted plough has been added to the interesting artefacts enhancing the beds.
This evening we dined at Dynasty in Brockenhurst. My choice of main meal was Ayre (fish) jalfrezi with special fried rice. We shared onion bahji, tarka dhal, and egg paratha. Jackie and I drank Kingfisher, and Sheila drank sparkling water.