CLOCK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.
This afternoon we drove around the lanes to the east of the Forest. Our first port of call was the beach at Tanner’s Lane. A rowing boat lay among the rocks in the shallows.
The water further out, fronting the Isle of Wight was blue, still, and clear. Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower stood steady on the horizon.
Was this print evidence of the New Forest yeti?
Several couples took advantage of this balmy September day.
This pair claimed no knowledge of
the champagne glass standing on a nearby post. I tested the quality before deciding to leave it where it was.
A lovely view of the rolling hills of the Isle of Wight was available from St Leonard’s Road,
along which one of my driver’s acceptable cyclists happily pedalled. Jackie takes exception to those dressed in bum-hugging lycra with a professional air and knobbly calves.
Further on, St Leonard’s Barn
and its ruins basked in the late afternoon sunshine.
Valerian sprang from
the ancient stone walls;
dog rose hips mingled with blackberries in the hedgerows opposite;
hay bales were poised to roll across the fields;
and a pool by the wayside reflected the skies and iron fencing atop the slope above.
Nearer home we passed a Batman v Superman scarecrow contest at Classic Hair & Beauty Clinic, 40 Stopples Lane;
and I took a selfie with P.C. Robert Peel at Hordle Pharmacy, 26 Ashley Lane.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious lamb jalfrezi served with onion rice. I drank Prestige de Calvet Cotes du Rhone Villages 2016. The Culinary Queen had already consumed her Hoegaarden in the Rose Garden.