To the woods

The main event for the day after Carisbrooke Castle was a second visit to the crab people at Bembridge noticed at reference 1. But we started with a modest walk in the woods. That is to say, up the lane at the back of our cottage then left onto a path up the edge of a field which leads to the woods of Brading Down. What would have been known as hangers in Hambledon across the water. A usage recognised by OED, but not by the rather condensed Webster's, only running, as it does, to three volumes.

['Ear of wheat' is a photograph by Adam Hart-Davis/Science Photo Library which was uploaded on October 2nd, 2018]

I happened to notice the wheat in the field, and was surprised to find that an ear of wheat did not consist of two opposing rows of grains as I had vaguely thought, perhaps informed by the sketches of same on food packaging. If anything there were four rows, or at least, four grains at each level.

With the longer range view snapped above, with the woods in the background. Was the green stripe ever going to catch up?

Couldn't decide what this one was, either then or now. Perhaps a large beech?

A glimpse of a large raptor. Plus a lot of mewing overhead, mewing from birds which we could not see. Some of it conversational in the sense that one bird sometimes seemed to be replying to another. I thought at first the mewing of buzzards - but then thought maybe seagulls. We shall never know!

A lot of trees which had either been felled or which had fallen. A lot of trees badly infested with ivy. But I guess that you are going to have to put up with that at the edge of a wood where there is some light, unless you can find the time or find the labour to cut it out on a regular basis.

Another large tree, again with ivy. But this one zooms to a horse chestnut.

We came across this oddly serious fence at one point. Presumably intended to keep the deer out, not that we saw any deer or any traces of same.

On the other hand there were traces of large burrowing animals. My money was on badgers.

Two rather splendid specimens in the recreation ground below the woods, between the woods and what used to be the doctors' surgery until the doctor either retired or removed. Villagers now have to go to Sandown or somewhere like that. As I would, should I ever need a warfarin test - or any other kind of test - when on holiday.

No room for this sort of thing in our garden any more - and, in any event, we have left it a bit late. I would think that they get off to a slow start. Google Images suggests New Zealand flax, otherwise Phormium tenax of reference 2.

The sometimes rough grass having been recently mown, no pyramid orchids. Not the display noticed at reference 5, two years ago now, at all.

And so to the best dressed crab where, having found that a crab salad was not quite enough, we went for the seafood platter. Plus chips. Plus Chablis.

Two crabs and two half lobsters, then made up to weight with a selection of prawns, cold mussels and clams. I was not that keen on the cold mussels and left the clams to BH who has more of a taste for that sort of thing. She also got the couple of giant mussels which had been included in the mix. Pretty good, but I thought I was starting to understand why crab, in so far as it appeared on Home Counties menus at all, was likely to appear as a starter, in a soup or as a garnish - rather than as a main course. It took rather more crab than one really wanted to fill one up. All the same, much better value than lobster.

After lunch we actually made it to the Goose bookshop of St. Helens, being done up when we were last in the area. A well stocked place, hovering nicely between the holiday read and the fancy segments of the market. Carefully sorted into genre and sensibly priced, that is to say, prices at which I would buy. That said, I was the only customer this Wednesday afternoon.

No 'Pnin', but I fell instead for an 'Ada' and a two volume edition of 'Pamela', the publishing sensation which came before 'Clarissa' (of reference 4 of 2021). Pamela being one third of the price of Ada, this last described as a first edition, despite being a book club edition. Of which more in due course. Suffice it to say for the present that there is a lot more of 'Lolita' about it than I had been expecting.

The island games above having been previously noticed at reference 6.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/07/best-dressed-crab.html.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phormium_tenax.

Reference 3: https://thegoosebooks.com/.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/07/clarissa.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/07/yarbridge-one.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/07/fake-162.html.