First thing this morning I phoned the Verderers office and sent them a link to my post of yesterday. It seems they did not know of that particular foal. My link has been “sent to the local Agister who will check on the foal and inform the owner.”
Immediately after lunch Jackie and I, after a visit to the Milford on Sea Pharmacy followed by making purchases at Ferdene Farm Shop, drove further into the forest.
On this overcast and somewhat gloomy day we could still see distant cattle and ponies on the moorland flanking Wilverley Road, down which we continued until tempted by many of the animals gathering at Whitemoor Pond. Jackie parked beside the road at the entrance to a gravelled access route for the forestry commission, and I set out to commune with cattle and ponies.
Beside the two tracks leading across to my quarry one of the ubiquitous signs warning of rare birds nesting enjoined the public not to disturb them.
I refrained from photographing the drink can tossed into the scrub which would be sheltering the said birds whose shrill cries syncopated with
the low drone of overhead planes.
I passed a number of grazing ponies as I trudged along the dry, sandy, soil of the given paths.
Ahead I could see, faster than I could reach them, the animals departing from the soon empty pond.
I turned back the way I had come. It was not until I had almost reached the Modus that I was rewarded by the sight of a pair of ponies and foals stepping out of the shrubbery and
crossing to the other side of the road. As the youngsters skated across the tarmac they almost came a cropper and I wasn’t quick enough to catch their ungainly efforts to right themselves.
Further on the way to Norley Wood a few more ponies settled for their afternoon siesta.
Later, I watched the Wimbledon tennis second round match between Caroline Garcia and Emma Raducanu.
This evening we all dined on meaty pork and chives sausages; creamy mashed potatoes; firm carrots, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli, with tasty gravy; followed by strawberries and cream, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden, Flo drank mixed fruit cordial, and I finished the Ponce de Leon.