Today the air was cold; the cotton-clouded cerulean skies bright and sunny.
After lunch we took a drive as far as Hatchet Moor and back, enabling me to tramp over the
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7560.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7557.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7563.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7568.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7565.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7579.jpg)
burnt gorse Nash battlefield beside the lake.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7555.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7569.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7571.jpg)
Beaulieu Road is lined with pools surrounding the rooted feet of trees which are generally dry in summer.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7564.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7582.jpg)
Walkers with dogs sought dry land and children sought pools in which gleefully to splash.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7561.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7562.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7559.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7573.jpg)
Muddy tracks surrounded this extension of Hatchet Pond and its environs, paradise to
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7576.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7580.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7584.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7586.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7587.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7588.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7589.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7590.jpg)
stately swans exploring the tufted grasses.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3899.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3894.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3895.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3896.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3897.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3902.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3904.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3893.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3901-1.jpg)
Here is Jackie’s take on the swans as they preened and investigated the tussocks.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7578.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3880.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_3884.jpg)
She waved from her vantage point on the far side of the water, from which she also photographed fishermen in the battlefield and “Where’s Derrick?” (4).
On our return a shaggy grey pony blocked the entrance to Gaza Avenue in East Boldre, opposite which her equine cousins grazed.
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7593.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7594.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7595.jpg)
![](https://derrickjknight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_7596.jpg)
One bay crossed the soggy reflective terrain and was immediately followed by a slightly more mottled specimen.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s succulent beef and mushroom pie; creamy swede and potato mash; firm carrots, tender cabbage, and meaty gravy, with which she drank Hoegaarden and, having opened another bottle, I drank more of the Macon.