Blast from the past: Wet Jane and wet Mike

Jane and I met whilst working at St Ivel on our "work experience" from college/uni. She was in HR and I in the IT Department. We didn't actually meet until I our leaving do's - somehow I wandered down to have some of her morning tea and she did the same and in some weird way ... we're still friends.

Unlike some girls I've "known" (*ahem*) Jane and I never got it on. Despite the fact that we went away to stay in a tent for a long weekend, that it rained and we were both in "wet T-shirts" and that changing out of the wet clothes as the rain hammered down involved getting naked in a very confined space. We didn't then and we didn't ever.

We had driven down to the New Forest but before we pitched the tent (as I understand the technical camping term goes) we drove to a hill to watch the clouds be born as the sunset - it was very cool. We fortunately also saw the large black clouds of the storm getting closer and closer.

We raced back found a spot and didn't quite 'pitch' in time ...

The next morning I can remember thinking two things about the New Forest:

• Bloody hell, someone's been around and mowed it
• Crickey, horses

Coming from the edge of The Forest (Forest Of Dean) I've always had forests as overgrown, tangled, wild and crazy places. The New Forest was shorn, cut and clean. It took me a while to work out "horses" + "eating grass" = "manicured look".

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