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Another splendid pastel sunrise heralded a cold, bright, morning, which sent us into the forest early.
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We pulled into the entrance to The Joinery Barn, a short distance along our Christchurch Road,
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so that I could photograph the sun-misted landscape alongside.
Since there is no real verge I needed to perch on a little bank at the entrance to the field gate.
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Gaps in traffic along this road are in short supply, so I had to employ considerable concentration to nip across. The Assistant Photographer was on hand to catch me.
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In search of Christmas gifts, we visited Setley Ridge garden centre. It should not be difficult to discern that we did not come away empty handed.
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From there we continued along Sandy Down where trees shadows striated sunbeams.
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Jackie parked alongside the nibbled tarmac of Church Lane while I wandered back to photograph
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cattle in a still misty field,
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and fallen trees with reflections in the old mill stream.
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Jackie, meanwhile photographed the garden beside her, including its bench and its stream, complete with ducks.
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Further up the lane a pair of pampered ponied chomped on heaps of hay.
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One took great interest in us as we focussed on
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the garden next door, with its dying bonfire
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and boxing hares exchanging fisticuffs on the sloping lawn.
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A grazing pony could be glimpsed beyond a bend in Undershore on our way home.
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Our wood pigeons mate for life and grieve for days when, as a day or so ago, their mate is slain by a predatory raptor scattering feathers.
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Nugget, however, is still going strong. He had just left his feeder when Jackie produced “Where’s Nugget?” (50)
This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome cottage pie; crunchy carrots and broccoli; and tender cabbage with tasty gravy. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Minervois.