Day 1 in New Forest

In one word: gorgeous.  I just love it here.  There are loads of free-ranging ponies roaming around all over the place.  We've not been for a proper walk through the forest to get up close and personal, but that's on the agenda for a bit later I think.  We went to the sea to give the dog a run (and swim!) and it was a stunning view with Isle of Wight in the distance.  It was a bit cloudy but when the sun did manage to break through the clouds it offered up a beautiful shimmer.  It was great.  Of course I couldn't help but to have the following lyric playing on a loop in my head: "we'll go to the Isle of Wight if it's not too dear - we shall scrimp and savvvvvve; grandchildren on our knee - Vera, Chuck and Dave."  Ah...The Beatles.

I found some great treasures on the beach: these bit of dried out seaweed with this amazing sort of animal-like print on them which had attached themselves to shells and rocks.  I love looking at them so I picked up a few to put in my studio for inspiration.  PLUS, I think they'll be great for displays when I photograph my jewellery and crocheted necklaces (speaking of which I've just received some inventory back from a gallery and have a lot of new colours available - I'll post pics soon). 

As for now, we're just having a bit of a chill as we wait for a reasonable hour to commence with the consumption of libations.  Mmmmm....libations.  In the meantime, here's a slideshow of our adventures so far - enjoy!