Sunday Sauce on the 12th of May

[Allen]

Hey Ho it's ... ... ... Sunday;
Phew that's better, after a hectic bank holiday weekend they have all
gone home. Well not everybody of course but all those with jobs to go
to, schools to attend and mammon to serve. Isn't it a pity that we can't
all live this life of leisure, I wander around with my camera and think
how splendid the cottages of this forest are.
Just outside Brockenhurst is the splendid Rhinefield Lodge, a Richard
Branson hotel these days but opulent beyond your wildest dreams, set at
the bottom of the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive it is frequented by the
upper classes and those newly rich who emulate them.
The Princess Anne stays there sometimes, visiting the New Forest Show by
carriage driven along Forest Roadways restricted to the common herd.
Yet just a few hundred metres before this palatial edifice is Butts
Cottage, set on the edge of Butts Lawn a piece of land just off Meerut
Road and Rhinefield Road. I have put the illustrations of this on the
website as words cannot suffice to describe the lovely place it is.
There is a sign which says no shod horses, the lawn would soon cut up
and be ruined if it were used indiscriminately.
Trees, Lilac and other flowering varieties exotic and common deck the
gardens and speak of a life where beauty is more important than
convenience.
At nearby Minstead we have this lovely parish church where visitors are
welcome as the villagers continue a lifestyle almost unaltered for
centuries. In the little cemetery is a cross and inscription to
commemorate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, overgrown by multicoloured mosses
and set about by wild daffodils the only touch of colour on his grave.
The scene is set in a village well worth visiting, a country pub serves
food and ale fit for a king.
Yet I prefer my little caravan, set in a glade with apple, holly and
mountain ash. Shaded by birches and surrounded by gorse and blackberry
thickets. It's not the most modern of its type, in fact it like its
owner is under the weight of years. The awning is relatively new,
Grannie Annie insisting that as we returned home acquiring it en route,
in the last season we were together, we erected it at Bicester her
favourite stop on the way home.
The griddle is readied for a Birthday Barbecue next Saturday, some
friends are coming to make the day special. Vegetable grills are just as
ready as steaks, burgers and sausages.
What's that you say ? How old ?
Well I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth. ;-)
News of the world ? Well this week we'll let the matter go and hope that
mankind learns the lesson of the article I've written this week.
Don't forget to take time to smell the flowers on your way through life,
to watch the birds, to breath the fresh air of our rural heritage and to
love one another.
Mr Man is nudging my elbow, I've had Muesli this week, I tried some in
the hospital and found it a nice change. The Douwe Egberts goes down
well as an after breakfast cuppa.

Ok I'm coming !
Got to go.
Illustrated Sauce @ http://www.outlane.com/page214.htm or
http://www.age-net.org.uk a site for silversurfing.

See you next week.
--
Allen
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.