Mother's Day

I began the day with a fried breakfast in bed courtesy of the teenager, then I hoiked her out of the house for a stomp around Parkhurst Forest. I had forgotten that it was likely to be squelchy so my lightweight trainers got a bit soggy. Ah well. We had a good stomp around, starting by walking up to the squirrel hide and spending a few minutes sitting quietly and listening to the bird song. We then carried on and presently heard lots of whooping and yelling; this turned out to be a pack of adults running round the forest on a 'hash' looking for piles of sawdust to show them where to go, and blowing hunting horns as they went. Everybody seemed to be having fun, and it made us laugh. It appeared to be a cross between orienteering and foxhunting without horses or foxes.

 

We continued on, following paths at random, mostly keeping our feet dry, and commenting on how full the streams and ditches were. After about an hour we made it back to the car and then headed to Forest View nursery for a cup of tea and more nattering.

In the afternoon I took my Mum out for a cup of tea and a slice of cake at Isle of Wight Pearl on the west coast. The cake is to be recommended; I had the chocolate cake and Mum had coffee and pecan. We bumped into friends who were also very pleased with their cakes! We then drove along the military road to Freshwater Bay and back home. Lovely Island!
 

View from squirrel hide

Parkhurst Forest

I dragged the teenager out for some fresh air this afternoon, and headed for Hillis Gate Road and one of the entrances to Parkhurst Forest. We ambled through the trees, taking random turns along side paths and putting the world to rights. Some of the side paths were very muddy in places, due to all the recent rain, so we didn't stay very clean; however I enjoyed all the verdant greenery on the verges and in the woods, as well as the many fungi we saw along the way. The teenager wasn't particularly bothered by the 'nature'. Ah well.

We were accosted several times by a variety of bouncy, cheerful dogs and their apologetic owners but didn't see a great many other people. I have no idea of the route we took, other than we didn't get to the squirrel hide or the main car park!