A wintry walk in the forest

Yes the pretty snow has gone for the moment and the winter sun only came out as we rumbled over the last cattle grid and left the forest but much of winter here is about grey and sombre and overcast and muddy so that is what I captured on today's journey through the New Forest.

We had an errand to run in Lymington so I picked up my 'point and shoot' camera as I left the house in the hope that somewhere en route there might be a chance to take pictures. One of my little intentions for 2013 centres on photography and I figure the best way to improve is to do what photographers do and be prepared to take pictures whenever I can. Having a camera to hand keeps the photographer's eye in and there's no regretful thinking afterwards "If only I had a camera.." (There might be other regrets like "If only I had wellies I could have moved to better vantage points.." or "If only I had a hat, my hair would not have been whipping over the lens all the time..." but those are lessons for another day.)

When I first came to the UK from Australia I was under the impression that the term forest denoted woodland and dense plantings of trees. I was unprepared, on my early visits to the New Forest and the Forest of Bere to see open tracts of heathland with scarcely any vegetation taller than a gorse bush. I have since learned that the original term forest is derived from a word denoting land outside the boundaries of settlement - the uncultivated 'no man's land' and is not really a description of the vegetation at all. The fact that many forests did consist of dense woodland led to its use for such places I suppose. Please feel free to correct me on this or expand on it as I am fascinated by the  derivation and meaning of words.

The New Forest has a wide range of habitats and landscapes. Both its natural and human histories are intriguing. Today I confined myself to capturing the atmosphere of a tiny part of it.

Although, I couldn't resist another shot near Beaulieu. I'll call this one the postcard shot - what else could it be with a pony and a thatched cottage?

So nice to see too, on returning home that the sun was highlighting something enchanting right outside my own front door. I just had to pick a handful and bring them indoors.