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After a leisurely breakfast we left Aaron, his nephew Rory, and Robin working on the fencing while Jackie drove the two of us, Jessie, and Guru to Ferndene Farm Shop for our friends to shop for their return.
This was such a hot, heavy, and overcast day that the Ferndene pigs had even less energy than we did.
One managed to snuffle around in a hole;
another was spark out.
Across the road, the thatching of The Homestead is complete.
After this we drove on to the cliff top overlooking The Solent, where a number of yachts sailed in the hazy sunlight. We were able to point out The Needles and their lighthouse.
The beach was quite populated.
One group walked past beach huts, one of which was clearly in use,
and settled down near the water’s edge.
Meanwhile, a gentleman emerged from the hut and raised his binoculars. The watcher was watched.
The above photographs were all taken with the Canon SX700 HS, because I hadn’t anticipated needing the zoom lens, and hadn’t tried out the fixed one.
Back home we continued a very enjoyable weekend over lunch, before Jessie and Guru returned to North London.
Later, I tried out the 55mm lens on the EOS D5 Mk ii.
Every time I pass this chimney pot planted with lobelia shoulders and cosmos crown, I have a sense of being stalked.
After vigorous bondage from The Head Gardener, the clematis Ville de Lyon now stretches across the side wall of No. 5 Downton Lane along our Back Drive,
and outside the kitchen window, Marie Boisselot is having a second flush.
This evening, Jackie and I dined on her superlative chicken jalfrezi, boiled rice, and parathas. She drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Fleurie.