My Under Gardener tasks this cooler, more cloudy, morning consisted of a little clearing to compost and a lot of rose decapitation.
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Among the regular bloomers like the White Winchester Cathedral,
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the prolific bright yellow Absolutely Fabulous, and the fulsome Lady Emma Hamilton a number of repeat performers are taking the stage.
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Just Joey has risen from
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the red carpet that continues to attract bustling bees.
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The peachy velvet Schoolgirl graces the arbour
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beneath which Gertrude Jekyll stretches from sleep, while
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budding Deep Secret is currently keeping us in the dark.
This afternoon we drove to the less touristy east of the forest.
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We had been promised a 30% chance of rain today. The nearest we got to that was a distant fall when driving along St Leonards Road.
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The skies on the opposite side, across The Solent over the Isle of Wight, had no rain to drop.
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The roof of the ancient St Leonard’s granary, which, as explained in https://derrickjknight.com/2016/08/04/salt-marshes/ once served Beaulieu Abbey, glows a rich rusty orange;
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a pigeon surveys the scene from a ruined arch bearing similarly hued highlights.
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Our mighty oaks do suffer in the heavy winds. Here, one huge limb has recently been wrenched off. The stump in the fourth picture has been a more distant casualty.
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Further along a covey of juvenile pheasants were possibly discussing the approaching 1st of October when their shooting season starts.
This evening we dined on a rack of pork ribs in a rich barbecue sauce, mini spring rolls, Jackie’s tasty egg fried rice, and tender green beans, with which the Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Trapiche Pure unoaked Argentinian Malbec 2019 – a birthday present from Helen and Bill.