This was a mostly dismal, overcast, day which brightened up towards the end of our afternoon forest drive.
Wheatfields are maturing along Lodge Lane, near Beaulieu; blackberries are burgeoning in the hedgerows; wildflowers such as cream and yellow linaria vulgaris, young ferns, and creeping ivies, mingle with exposed tree roots; log piles line the drive into Ashenden; a dead tree clutches at the air.
An adolescent foal, its mother foraging nearby, crossed the lane into
Cripplegate Lane, where its dam soon followed.
Other ponies emerged from Church Lane, East Boldre.
Donkeys and foals congregated at the corner of Norleywood Road, where two of the youngsters were clearly assessing each other.
Note the reflective collar, rejected by a pony, hanging on the road sign.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabbiata with which she drank Mendoza Malbec 2020 and I drank more of the Shiraz.