Tag: water buttercups

A Short Forest Drive, And A Result

I sat in the car reading while Jackie shopped in Tesco; then I loaded the shopping into the car and we took a short forest drive.

Water buttercups creamed the reflecting lake at Pilley,

where washing was draped over a gate to a lakeside cottage.

Ponies of varying sizes and breeds basked on Bull Hill pastures,

while three donkeys behaved similarly around the road sign opposite No 1 Sowley Lane

Later, Louisa asked me to trace the post of her 21st Birthday party so she could extract some of the pictures. I did. There were no pictures on it.

Flo came to the rescue by introducing me to the Wayback Machine. This is a site which captures everything anyone has put on the Internet. Fear not, I won’t try to describe the process, but our granddaughter has written it all down for me. I may try to do it again, but here is

From Eleven To Twenty One

the result.

This evening we all dined on Jackie’s tricolour penne pasta arrabbiata sprinkled with parmesan cheese with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Passamano Frappato Syrah 2021.

Grooming

This afternoon I finally managed to post completed forms to Mum’s Bank and to the Premium Bonds Centre in order to release funds for distribution to the legatees.

I popped them into the normally decorated box on Pilley Hill. No doubt the anonymous knitter is between tribute designs.

Buttercups and daisies carpet the bank behind the letter box.

Apple blossom blooms beside the lake,

which bears water buttercups and reflections.

Ponies, including a pair mutually grooming, occupied Bull Hill. Note that flies, on this heavily overcast, warmer, day have begun to descend on these creatures.

One cow alongside Beaulieu Road admired its reflection while across the road another undertook its own lonely grooming.

A group of ponies disturbing the traffic at East Boldre included one animal clearly too short to keep out of mud when entering a pool.

This evening Jackie produced a superb roast pork meal including crunchy crackling; crisp Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes; tasty sage and onion stuffing; firm cauliflower, broccoli and carrots; tender cauliflower leaves; meaty gravy, and Bramley apple sauce, with which she drank Hoegaarden, I drank Calvet Prestige Bordeaux 2020, and Flo drank water. Creamy rice pudding was to follow.

Spot The Ball

After a Tesco shop this afternoon Jackie drove me into the forest.

Along Holmsley Road we had plenty of time to watch the ponies inside an elongated Emlor Polo horse box as the driver executed an impressive reverse.

Daises covered the lumpy terrain of Mill Lane with its reflecting pools; its gorse enhanced woodland; and its decaying fallen tree limbs.

The grassland levelled out enabled these family groups to play cricket with a tennis racket and ball. Enlarging these shots will enable readers to enter the Spot the Ball competition exemplified by the last three images. Give yourselves extra points for spotting number two.

This lane forms a T junction with Lyndhurst Road, the verges of which one of our familiar groups of ponies kept tidy until they became bored and decided to wind up the traffic.

From Lyndhurst Road we turned into Forest Road where water buttercups pierce the layers of pondweed in a pool; mossy fallen branches make their way to merging with the soil beneath;

and ponies crop the grass beside a forded stream

which an escorted little boy investigates with a fishing net.

This evening we dined on oven fish and chips, mushy peas, pickled onion and cucumbers, with which the three older members of the household drank Picpoul de Pinet white wine 2020.

The Beast With Two Backs

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE IN A GROUP TO ACCESS ITS GALLERY, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF WHICH CAN BE VIEWED FULL SIZE BY SCROLLING DOWN AND CLICKING BOX AT BOTTOM RIGHT

Another pleasantly sunny morning gave way to a more overcast afternoon. Much of my day was spent in boring administrative tasks involving banking, form-filling, posting letters, sorting out a computer problem, paying a fixed penalty speeding fine, and finalising and paying for our funeral plans, and exchanging for sterling euros I had kept in a pot for four years. I therefore welcomed a drive out, taking in Brockenhurst, Beaulieu and Lepe.

Several of the forest pools are now foaming with water buttercups.

A virtually deserted Lepe beach was the scene of what I took to be sea defence works of some kind. Apart from a digger on the shingle, much of the equipment seemed to be on larger moored craft with smaller boats engaged in some kind of exploratory activity. Ferry boats and yachts crossed the scene as usual; a daredevil wind surfer delighted in taking to the air; a more upright water skier took advantage of the brisk breeze, and a black dog played fetch with a ball; all against the backdrop of the Isle of Wight.

As we left the car park we were careful not to disturb a beast with two backs.

We stopped off at Milford on Sea to purchase some Mr Pink’s fish and chips to accompany our pickled onions for our dinner at home.