Winter Barn Owl

Winter Barn Owl
Life's a Hoot !
Showing posts with label The New Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The New Forest. Show all posts

Sunday, September 21, 2014

New Forest, Part 2 - Goodbye to the UK and a friend

Our second day in The New Forest started with a hearty breakfast
I needed to work off my meal so went for a walk around the property.
This guy decided to have a little lay down before munching down on the lush grass
I found a very unusual house that was built into the side of a hill!
Must cut down on heating costs!
We dropped the boys off at Beaulieu and stopped to admire a pastoral view
 They must have been pretty itchy as they started the game of 
'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'
Christine and I headed for Lymington, where they were in the midst of a street market
All sorts of tasty items were on show!

We took a break for a tea in Brockenhurst when we heard the loudest braying -
guess who turned up for a visit.....
 While waiting in the parking lot for the boys to join us we couldn't help but notice a flagrant disregard for the 'no parking' sign
  Our last night with my aunt was bittersweet - it was time to go home but we would miss everyone so much
She had prepared a tasty repast, including a caprese salad
Goodbye to our home for the past week
We were quite pleased with the Premier Inn at Gatwick north terminal
and would recommend it to anyone needing a stopover at Gatwick.
The dining room had a varied menu and the food was great!
Almost home...
Here is a view of the start of the St. Lawrence River
Our adventure this year had many highs and one low.
If you read my blog regularly, at the right you will see that I follow 'Riding the Wet Coast', by Bob Scoot.  I could always count on Bob to write a comment and always looked forward to hearing what he had to say.  Bob went silent at the end of August and we were very saddened to hear that he had passed away while on his adventure with his Corvette.
Goodbye Bob, it was a pleasure knowing you! 

Saturday, September 20, 2014

New Forest - Part 1

One of our UK rituals is to visit a lovely spot called The New Forest.
Over 2 days, Netley Marsh and Beaulieu host an auto/motorcycle-jumble (giant flea market for classic car & motorcycle parts) where the boys can cruise through the vast fields drooling over all the bits and parts.
What I like the most is that The New Forest is a haven for horses, cows and donkeys, where they roam free and wander about town with joyful abandon.  They have the 'right of way' over cars, so have been known to create traffic jams if they decide to cross the road, or even go for a stroll!
 We checked into Woodlands Lodge, a charming family run hotel
We shared the parking lot with a loving family
We left the boys to do their meandering while we scoped out a place for lunch
where we dined on tasty sandwiches and cold beer
After lunch, we strolled through the charming village of Lyndhurst

There must be quite a few well-healed residents in the area!
the local car dealership - Ferrari, no less!
Later that evening we decided to stay at the lodge for our dinner.
The boys opted for the steak,
while the girls feasted on lamb...
Next up, more animal encounters and village visits.