Sunday 13 January 2013

A Quick, Cold Walk in the Forest



Today was a bright, sunny Sunday. After days of grey sky and rain, the weather cleared but the east wind was cold. Snow is expected in most of Britain over the coming days.

We walked for just half an hour. Three of the local New Forest ponies were eating someone`s hedge on the village green.

Snowy, the white grey, is an old friend and came over to see us. Her companions, the Black Mare and Baggage, the bay, were more interested in food.




Lovely Snowy..........



...and her stiff moustache which is great protection when chewing on holly and gorse.




Whisper Dog is old and can be grumpy with other dogs, so he wears a muzzle in case he meets one.



Marks on a holly tree, where a pony has chewed on the  bark.




Moss on an oak trunk.



A holly tree where the bite marks are healing and forming scars.



On one side of the lane was a view across pasture land.


On the other side, across a pond, the valley stretched across heath and gorse towards a long, low hill.


From the top of the Beacon Hill, where iron age people once made a settlement with far reaching views.


The lane not travelled.



On the hilltop, an old, leaning oak......


A silver birch......




Turkey tail fungi on a tree stump.....




Sunlit green moss and lichen on winter trees........





....and time to turn back towards home.



9 comments:

Kath said...

your photos are always a delight. I was particularly fascinated by the marks on the trees where the ponies had chewed the bark.

angryparsnip said...

I love walking along with you on your blog today but your one sentence made me smile.... "Three of the local New Forest ponies were eating someone's hedge on the village green"
So perfect !

cheers, parsnip

Pam said...

I've just seen the picture of your baby granddaughter. How adorable! She's really beautiful.

The Weaver of Grass said...

What more could anyone want than that on a sunny afternoon - so restful.

Down by the sea said...

It's lovely to see some pictures of the ponies again, I didn't realised they eat holly! The New Forest looks so beautiful and I will look out for marks on the trres next time we visit.
Sarah x

WOL said...

Why would the ponies be eating bark? is there a shortage of fodder?

Em Parkinson said...

Isn't it amazing what the ponies will eat when there's not a lot else!

Rustic Vintage Country said...

Found you via blog hopping! Lovely photos and I didn't realise about the bite marks on the trunks, I'll be looking out for signs of these now next time I'm in Sutton Park where the pones roam free. Suzy from RusticVintageCountry x

Carol said...

A wonderful walk and how brilliant to meet such fabulous creatures.
Carol xx