‘Behind You!’

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This afternoon, we took a drive through the forest. Being the tourist season, there was much traffic, including cyclists, on the road.

Pony and traffic

On the way into Brockenhurst, a pony trotted elegantly ahead of a car, until it obligingly stepped onto the grass verge and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way.

Ponies and tourists 1Ponies and tourists 2

A string of ponies by Whitemoor Pond attracted both me and a family of visitors.

Ponies and ball

First the children attempted to involve the creatures in a game of football;

Ponies and tourists 3

then a young woman tempted them with slices of bread.

Pony and tourists

I did my best to indicate that this wasn’t a good idea, but we didn’t speak the same language, however,

Ponies and tourists 4

the equine teeth got the message across.

It was then that I heard Jackie crying ‘behind you!’ I turned around with some trepidation. This was no pantomime.

Highland cattle 1

Behind me, cooling off and slaking their thirst, were two Highland cattle.

Highland cattle 3Highland cow 1

I wondered how they could see through their fringes.

Highland cattle 6

They commandeered the pond;

Highland cow 4

 another loner joined in;

Ponies and Highland cattle

and a fourth, with number five on its way across the road, gave the ponies second thoughts about reclaiming the pond.

High Corner Inn

Having battled along a pitted track of Ringwood Road, we stopped for a drink at High Corner Inn,

Pony in car park

where ponies in the car park

Ponies being fed carrots

were being fed carrots by a chef who told me that the animals congregate under the kitchen extractor vent because it keeps the flies off them.

Donkey and foal

Near Frogham, a pregnant female donkey with two foals escorted by a large pony temporarily blocked the road.

Donkey and pony

At least one of the infants seemed confused about its parentage.

Back home, my choice of the goodies superfluous to yesterday’s feast was Coronation chicken and rice, with which I drank McGuigan Bin 578 merlot 2015. Jackie drank Hoegaarden with various other items.

The Ugly Ducklings

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Bees on poppy 1Bees on poppy 2

There was much competitive activity from honeybees, particularly partial to poppies

as we loaded two bags of hedge clippings and other green waste into the trusty little Modus for transporting to Efford Recycling Centre.

Recycling queue 1

This was to take some time, much of which was spent in a queue of traffic,

Hedgerow 1Hedgerow 2

admiring the hedgerows.

Recycling queue with yacht

On the horizon, through a gap in the trees, can be seen an intriguing land mass.

Isle of Wight from Efford Recycling Centre

We had enough time to watch several yachts floating by. This confirmed that the land is that of the Isle of Wight. The yachts were skimming over The Solent.

After this, Jackie drove us to Hatchet Pond and back to see if the swans had hatched their cygnets. They had.

Swans and cygnets

Here are the proud parents with, according to Hans Christian Andersen, their three Ugly Ducklings,

Swan and cygnets 1Swan and cygnet

Cygnet 1

one of which wasn’t quite sure what to do with its legs.

Cygnets

The Pond was so swollen that the birds chewed grass under water.

Swan and cygnets 2

One of the parents proudly stepped onto the land,

Couple with labrador

and when they both began hissing I thought that perhaps I had alarmed them into protective mode. Not so. They had seen the couple with the black labrador as they walked behind me.

Black-headed gull

Black-headed gulls also frequent this pond.

On our return home, I posted the sixth of my seven photographs in the Filling Facebook with Nature project.

Ponies and photographer

Here it is, first featured on my post of 23rd November 2013.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s piri-piri and lemon chicken; a melange of leeks, onions, and mushrooms; mashed potatoes; and carrots and green beans. This was followed by sticky toffee pudding and cream. I finished the Bordeaux.

Gooseberry

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This morning Jackie drove us around the east of the forest.

Pony on road

At East End we passed some ponies chomping by the roadside.

Lane

It was a narrow lane, so Jackie drove on and parked in a passing spot for me to walk back to photograph the scene.

Field and hedgerow 1Field and hedgerow 2

This is a small farming area with fields enclosed by hedgerows.

Ponies on road 1

Back up the hill and round the bend, I observed a novel method of clearing ponies from the road.

Ponies on road 2

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.

Ponies and foals 1

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.

Ponies 1

Falabella 1Falafella 2

This adult horse, lost in a group of larger ponies, rarely exceeds 75 cm. in height.

Ponies 2

Ponies 4

Two pairs in this group were indulging in heavy petting,

Ponies 5

which extended to love bites,

Ponies 3

Ponies 1

which was all rather difficult for the unfortunate, mournful-looking, gooseberry.

Lavender Farm 4

We visited the Lavender Farm at Plaitford where we enjoyed coffee and plants along with many other visitors.

Lavender Farm 1

Even before entering we could see that lupins and foxgloves were in abundance.

Lavender Farm 5

Many more plants at their peak were also on sale;

Lavender Farm 2

Lavender Farm 3

and, of course, numerous types of lavender,

Lavender Farm 8

Lavender Farm 7

also growing in the gardens. I am not sure which bird is represented by the avian topiary in the centre distance of this shot,

Lavender Farm 6

but this is surely an elegant swan.

Plough, Lavender Farm

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.

Mothers’ Protection

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I watered the pots in the front garden this morning.

Roses on trellis

More pink roses bloom on the trellis each day;

Clematis Piilu

and clematis Piilu

Solanum

and a tiny solanum are now making their way across the garage door frontage.

Rose Mamma Mia

New arrivals in the Rose Garden include Mamma Mia,

Rosa Mundi

Rosa Mundi,

Rose Deep Secret

and Deep Secret;

Rhododendron

and my favourite rhododendron is coming to fruition.

Rose peachRose peach crop

The peach rose is reaching its peak,

Bee in peach rose

and attracting bees.

This afternoon we took Sheila on a forest driveabout to the North of the forest.

Ponies on road 1Ponies on road 2Ponies on road 3

A group of ponies on the far side of Burley ignored a Give Way sign as they held up the traffic.

Ponies 1

While we were watching another group, including a couple of foals, drinking in the stream at Ibsley,

Ponies 2

an alarming neighing was set up by two other adults of these normally silent animals. There was a clattering of hooves on the tarmac to our right, and a thudding on the sward on the other side of the water, as the spooked ponies scattered. The foals clambered up the bank at the calls of their dams. This one nuzzled its relieved parent.

Ponies 3

These creatures reconvened on the road.

Ponies 4

Meanwhile others tore frantically around the field until a loose collie dog ran off and joined its owners out of sight. The horses then quietly regrouped under the trees.

Pony with carrot

Some homeowners leave carrots out for ponies. This mother crunched on one, whilst her foal satisfied itself with grass to the right of the cattle grid protecting the house entrance.

Foal 1

As I disembarked from the car, the youngster made its way back to its Mum,

Pony and foal

and had a scratch under the protection of her flanks.

We stopped off for a drink at The Royal Oak in North Gorley, then Sheila treated us to a meal at The Plough in Tiptoe. We all chose gammon steak, eggs, chips, and peas. My drink was Ringwoods Best Bitter. Probably because I had also had a pint at The Royal Oak, I wasn’t able to fit in a dessert.

Traffic Control

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Most of our roses are now in bloom.

Rose Laura Ford

We have, for example, Laura Ford;

rose Summer Time

Summer Time;

Summer Wine 1rose Summer Wine 2

and, sharing the blue painted arch with Madame Alfred Carière, Summer Wine;

Front garden

whilst the pink ones at the front are beginning to festoon the trellis.

A couple of times in recent days, when we haven’t had time to stop, we have seen ponies in the forest attached to very young, limpet-like foals, their Pelham puppet legs only just out of the box. Today we went in search of some. For the first hour we saw none. It is a Bank Holiday weekend, and Jackie speculated that the parents had led their babies off into the forest for their protection from grockles and their groping fingers.

Cattle

All we encountered was lowing cattle leading their larger offspring across our path.

Pony and foal 1

Then, at last, on the moor along the Beaulieu/Brockenhurst road, our patience was rewarded.

Ponies and foal 2

This mare and her foal were part of a larger group, initially keeping their distance.

Ponies and foal 1

The mother decided to lead her infant away from the others,

Ponies and foal 2

but, despite an abrupt change of direction, couldn’t shake off the determined member of a smaller breed who was clearly well imprinted, so,

Pony and foal crossing road 1

Pony and foal crossing road 2

in a vain attempt to escape, she initiated her lanky infant into the arts of traffic control.

Pony crossing road

The rest of the team loyally followed.

Pony and foal 2

Further on, its mother close enough, another young pony dared to be inquisitive.

Foal

It jerked to its feet when she moved a few metres away, reached the safety of her flanks,

Pony and foal 3

and stood, chomping, alongside the mare.

This evening we dined at Royal China in Lymington, where we enjoyed the usual excellent food with very friendly service. We shared chicken satay, king prawns in a chilli sauce, and plain chow mein with bean shoots; and both drank Tsingtao beer.

Ducks In The Window

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Road garden with 2 seasons

The statues bought yesterday were what we think are two of a series representing the seasons;

Summer figure

the girl is for summer,

Autumn figure

and the boy, autumn.

These are termed ‘vintage’ which probably means c1950. They have had time to gather signs of age.

Mid-morning today, we left Aaron painting the metal chairs in the rose garden, and Jackie drove us to Upper Dicker where we; and Becky and Ian; visited Mat, Tess, and Poppy and stayed the night.

pony

ponies

By the roadside between Brockenhurst and Beaulieu, possibly because Barack Obama is visiting at the moment, a despondent Donald Trump attempted to drum up support. for his candidature. Signalling a dismal failure, his target audience showed him a clean set of hooves.

Poppy 1

Poppy 2

Poppy 3

Poppy is now able to join us at the table;

Tess and Poppy

and enjoys reading with Tess.

Washing line

Looking through the window at the washing he had just hung out in the garden, Matthew rekindled childhood memories, which he shared with Becky, of strings of ducks drying in the Soho restaurants.

This evening Tess produced a wonderful beef stew with roast potatoes and a quinoa salad, followed by chocolate and peanut icecream. My choice of beverage was an excellent Valdepenas red wine.

Triangulation

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Rape field

As the golden dawn crept across the rape field on the other side of Christchurch Road that greets Jackie when she opens the bedroom curtains, she commandeered my camera to good effect.

Hat by Lucille

From one of the back bedrooms she looked down onto the lead planter fashioned by Lucille Scott in the form of a wide-brimmed hat.

Clouds at dawn

A little later, I photographed the clouds over the front of the house.

Drawn by the beautiful morning we took an early drive into the forest, where

Ponies

ponies enjoyed a crisp breakfast;

Reflected traffic

and commuter traffic was reflected in the roadside pools.

Woodland and Modus

Having dropped me off for me to take the above picture, Jackie drove on to a turning space, back-tracked, and parked on the edge of the woodland I was now investigating.

Woodland 1

Woodland 3Woodland 2Woodland 5

Slanting shadows slid across tumbling terrain and plunging pools, and

Gorse and trees

in haze on the other side of the road, gorse conversed with fresh arboreal plumage.

Donkeys 1

Further on, a pair of donkeys dozed on Norleywood village green

Donkeys 2

whilst another couple availed themselves of the street furniture to have a good scratch.

Bluebells English

As we approached Lymington we passed a bluebell wood. Given that there is a fear that the stronger, less delicate, yet lighter hued Spanish breed will subsume our native stock, an indigenous collection is a welcome sight.

On our recent trips to and from The First Gallery, we have several times passed a short man-made pillar in a stretch of moorland bearing a number of signs bearing the word Hilltop. Pooling our combined smatterings of knowledge we realised this was what would be marked ‘trig point’ on the Ordnance Survey maps and was something to do with measuring height, presumably above sea level.

Jackie decided to research this today, and discovered that, according to BBC News, on this very date ‘Ordnance Survey (OS) is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the triangulation pillar, most often known as a “trig pillar” or “trig point” and a welcome sight to many a walker as they reach the peak of their walk.’

Trig pillar

That, in fact, was the real reason we dashed out to catch our little pillar in the morning sunshine. The pillar wasn’t going anywhere, but the light, we knew, would change. As will be seen on the link below, OS no longer use these markers for their original purpose, but they remain helpful landmarks. Many also now bear decoration from the general public. What this particular set of graffiti signifies I do not know.

Trig point number

Each pillar bears an identification number.

Trig pillar top

Most cameras have a tripod mount into which the steadying instrument is screwed. The theodolite, the measuring device used by these early surveyors was clipped to a fitting on the top of the  pillar,

Trig pillar setting

here seen in its setting.

For anyone wishing to explore this subject further, I can heartily recommend

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-36036561

which is lavishly illustrated by photographs, both historic and modern.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s succulent and spicy sausage casserole; creamy mashed potato; and crunchy carrots and Brussels sprouts.  It is worthy of note that the sausages were Ferndene Farm Shop pork with chilli, which afforded a delicious piquancy. The Cook drank Blanche de Namur and I drank Reserve des Tuguets madiran 2012.

Spot The Deer

On a dull afternoon which only brightened up on our way home, Jackie took us on a driveabout to the North of the forest and back.

Riders and cyclists

Riders and pedestrians

It being possibly the first weekend of the holiday season, pedestrians, cyclists and riders, like these on the outskirts of Brockenhurst, sometimes holding up proceedings, abounded.

Among the prizes © Norman Thelwell. National Trust hosts Norman Thelwell exhibition of original illustrations from private family archives. Mottisfont welcomes in the New Year with a major exhibition from the private family archives of one of Britainís most popular cartoonists, Norman Thelwell. Best known for his hilarious cartoons of plump little girls on equally spherical ponies, these familiar pictures are joined by other satires of twentieth-century life, alongside beautiful paintings of local landscapes. The exhibition, which features over 70 original artworks, includes many that have never been on show before. First created in the 1950s and published extensively since, Thelwellís pony cartoons are still easily recognisable today. The artist drew the endearing characters Penelope and her mischievous pony Kipper in hundreds of humorous scenarios, from ungainly jumps and gallops to the destruction of country fairs. Thelwell also produced numerous other satirical cartoons, with astute and amusing observations on country life, from gardening and fishing to the upkeep of heritage properties. While these images have given Thelwell a lasting reputation as a talented cartoonist, he is less well known for his beautiful landscape art. Thelwell lived close to Mottisfont ñ an idyllic country house in Hampshire, now owned by the National Trust ñ and captured the surrounding countryside in a series of stunning watercolours.Mottisfontís exhibition reveals many of these pictures, including images of Mottisfont itself, Romsey Abbey, and the landscape and villages of the Test Valley, brought to life by an extraordinary talent for naturalistic painting. Displayed alongside Thelwellís well-loved cartoons, the exhibition demonstrates how the artistís amusing observations on life in the country are rooted in a deep-seated love of the Hampshire landscape. Also on display are a series of never-before-seen sketches and a selection of models which the artist created as protot

It was the red coated little girl on the Thelwell pony, visible as the group turned left off the road, who caught our eye and had me leaping out of the car. Thanks to http://www.telegraph.co.uk for the image.

Waterlogged drive

Beyond the 30 mph sign to the right of the first picture, can be seen the start of a waterlogged drive,

Waterlogged verge

whilst the verge on the left bears typical pools of recent rainwater.

Ponies 1

Pony and cyclistPonies 2Pony 1Ponies 2

Ponies, ignoring the passing traffic, continued their task of mowing the grass, which is more than I could do at home today, because it was too wet.

Gorse over pool

Apart from the cyclist’s outfit, the fresh yellow gorse was the brightest aspect of this particular soggy stretch.

Donkeys 1Donkeys 2Donkeys 3

At Ibsley, a string of sedate donkeys exercised their right of way among the traffic,

Cow and calf

whilst, further on at Hyde cows had the intelligence to teach their calves road sense by taking a detour around us. As you can see, there is one behind us.

Deer in forest

Readers may discern a camouflaged deer in this shot. It’s there, honest.

Unfortunately I pressed Publish before adding our meal and the tags. This should put that right. We enjoyed beef burgers, fried onions, chips, and baked beans for our dinner, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Reserve des Tuguets madiran 2012.

Mulching And Composting

Front garden 1

The early sun set the front garden glowing gold, as always, this morning. The autumn flowering cherry has been in bloom since last October. The telegraph pole, from which a cluster of cables fans out along Christchurch Road and all points of the compass, receives regular visits from BT engineers.

Front garden 2

What this area looked like a year ago can be seen in ‘Before And After: Through To The Front’.

Much maintenance was carried out today,

Rose garden mulching

my major contribution being mulching the three bags of Landscape Bark bought yesterday into the rose garden;

Jackie mulching palm bed 1

and Jackie’s, weeding and composting The Palm Bed.

Owl

This wide-eyed owl was decapitated by storm Katie. Surgeon Jackie performed the necessary operation.

We are still at least three bags of bark short for the rose garden, so this afternoon we drove back to

Mole yard

Mole Country Stores and bought them;

Ponies and Sway Tower 2

after which we took a roundabout route back through the farm lanes where we spotted a group of ponies, three of which masqueraded as sheep. Sway Tower can be seen in the background. Otherwise known as Peterson’s Folly, this landmark has featured in a number of these posts.

Finally, we topped up with compost in the form of ten 35 litre bags from Lidl.

We left those in the car and settled down for a beer (well, one each, actually) in the rose garden. It is quite a sun trap so we were certainly warm enough.

This evening we dined on tender fillet steak lost under lashings of fried onions. accompanied by mixed vegetables au gratin (left overs in cheese sauce), crisp carrots, Brussels sprouts, and new potatoes. Jackie drank sparkling water and I finished the Memoro.

Folding Flyers

Moon and mahonia

Last night a full yellow, pink haloed, moon was framed by limbs of garden trees such as an evergreen mahonia

Moon and beech

or rolled in the grip of deciduous fingers of beech.

This morning we collected Paul’s mount board from Wessex Print in Pennington and delivered this, the flyers, and exhibition prints to The First Gallery, where, whilst enjoying coffee and Margery’s mini hot cross buns, Paul and I checked over my work, and

Jackie and Margery folding flyers

Jackie and Margery had fun folding flyers.

Pool

On the moors between Beaulieu and Lymington linger many pools in which trees stand.

Pony

On one, another grey pony slaked its thirst in its own bath water (I am indebted to Johnna of painkills2.wordpress.com for the bath water).

Ponies and pool

Suitably replenished, the dripping animal bounded onto the turf, circled the neighbouring pool above, and settled down to graze beyond its bay companion.

Table top

Unfortunately I had overlooked one of the A3 prints. This was the table top abstract which I therefore made on our return home. I suppose one out of fifty isn’t bad.

This evening Jackie’s delicious lamb jalfrezi was served with pilau rice, chick pea dhal, and parathas. We both drank Kingfisher