We began the day by shopping at Ferndene Farm Shop for three more bags of compost, vegetables, and begonias. This was quite a quick operation, after which we drove into the forest.
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At the top of Holmsley Passage another wrecked vehicle blocked the side-lane to a house. This was upside down and looked as if it had been overturned in an accident.
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Many cyclists, singly or in various groupings, were about this morning. The trio and the two singletons wheeled up Holmsley Passage and the pairs sped along Bisterne Close.
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Purple heather brightened the moors around the passage.
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Much of the bracken in the woodland beside the close was still fresh enough to appeal to the ponies,
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who were there in abundance today.
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I was drawn further into the forest by a thudding beat which transpired as the stamping of a cluster of ponies with one bushy tailed foal retreating from heat or flies or both.
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The higher rhythmic clopping of their iron-shod cousins pulling an historic carriage along the close chimed a different note.
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A red haired walker blended with rowan berries above.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s flavoursome cottage pie; crunchy carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, served with meaty gravy and accompanied by Hoegaarden in her glass and more of the Rioja in mine.