Satisfied with the glorious sunset, I thought it time to move on. Just about a mile or so further on is Ebernoe. Again, out from under the trees, the common opens up. I pulled off of the road and parked in a convenient position.
My first visitor was John, who had stopped by at Butcherland. He had his wife with him this time. At the same time, a Roe Deer appeared, stood around for a minute, then disappeared back into the hedge. All before I could get my camera. I keep missing photographic opportunities. The problem is that the camera is the instamatic one on my mobile device. I used to have an SLR camera with all the attachments. It was always ready for any opportunity. I can’t afford to replace it with a digital SLR. So, I have to make do.
Immediately behind my combo, a footpath lead off to another adventure.
It opened to some old farm buildings.
Lesser Stitchwort
Spanish Foxglove
Then, back into woodland,
before opening to a church.
I then reached a footbridge
at Furnace Pond.
Marsh-pepper Smartweed
The footpath continues on
to an old brick kiln.
Common Spotted Orchid
I then reached a pond that was overgrown with Narrow-leaf Cat-tail and River Horse-tail.
The pond was busy with both Red and Blue Damselflies.
Large Red Damselfly
Yew
Golden Cinquefoil
Continuing along the footpath,
I crossed a boardwalk at Birchwell, a much smaller overgrown pond.
I then crossed an interesting single-board footbridge.
Northern Bracken Fern
Grey Poplar
Ash
Drooping Catchfly
Elder
Rusty Sallow
Red Campion
Eventually, I came to Blackwool Farm.
Shasta Daisy
Burnet Bloodwort
There is a large duck pond there.
Muscovy Duck
Little Robin
Hemlock Water-dropwort
Marsh Thistle
Sweet Chestnut
Lady’s-smock
Lesser Spearwort
Germander Speedwell
Speedwell
Saw-tooth Blackberry
Young Holly berries
Willow
I then crossed Streel’s Lane, the road that cuts across the common upon which I was parked.
Continuing on, the footpath was incredibly overgrown.
I then crossed a field.
Lesser Trefoil
Soon, I was back at the village green.
Pavilion
And the Common
There is a little brick kiln in the wall close to where I was parked.
In the evening, I had a visit from a Pheasant.
It was a very warm night. So much so, that I left the door and windows open all night.
On the Sunday morning, the man preparing the cricket pitch for a match popped over. He only wanted to let me know that the standpipe on the common had been blanked off and that there is another behind the pavilion. I thanked him for the info and asked him about the day’s cricket. He told me that it was due to start at 2.30pm.
Lindsay had ‘phoned and said that she would bring our mum to visit again. I asked her if she would get me a small selection of Summer fruit and salad vegetables and gave her directions to Ebernoe. Well, for some reason, she got it into her head that I was nearer to Wisborough Green, so she decided that she must be going the wrong way. That resulted in a number of ‘phone calls, then me walking halfway back to Butcherland, before deciding to return in order to unhitch the caravan and go scouting for her in the truck. I was most of the way home again when she appeared. As it turned out, had I continued walking around the next bend, I would’ve found her! She picked me up and we headed home to offload the shopping. There were three full bags! I pointed out that three huge bags of groceries was not not a small selection of fruit and vegetables. Bless her heart, she does have a habit of going a bit over-the-top. Mum also brought some cakes that she had baked. Bonus! I stashed the shopping under the caravan away from the heat of the Sun, then we got going back to Wisborough Green where a table at the Three Crowns had been booked. We were, of course, late.
Lindsay had pork. I didn’t want anything that heavy given the weather, so had fish. Mum plumped for lamb. The food was really good, except for the lamb. It was tough and full of gristle. I tried a bite, but found that I was constantly chewing on what felt like rubber. I had to leave the table and go outside to dispose of what I could not swallow. It was awful. Totally inedible. Lindsay mentioned it to the waitress, who apologised and brought out a nice bit of beef. The sweet selection that we had was fabulous.
Back home, I bade farewell to my mum and sister. It was great seeing them again. I then grabbed my folding chair and sat and watched the cricket. Ebernoe were playing Worplesdon, near Guildford. It was entertaining and I even chatted to some of the players. Ebernoe won by 74 runs.
The next morning, I had more Wix problems! I had to get Daniel to finish uploading the last photo and publish the post. The poxy system crashed on me.