Into November

I can't quite believe that it is November already.

The clocks were put back by an hour the last weekend in October making dusk an hour earlier.   Lamps are switched on to relieve the gloom and the blinds are closed against the growing dark outside.  

Fireworks sound most evenings, do they bother Mr Fox?

He visits at dusk, his lovely red coat doesn't stand out in the fading light, but I can see him through the kitchen window as I stand in front of the sink clearing away the pots and pans from our evening meal.  The photo above was taken a couple of weeks ago.  He sits at the top of the garden and relaxes for a while.  A few days ago he brought another fox with him, I assume it is a vixen and that he has chosen his mate for this season.

It's a time for brisk and breezy walks.  Yesterday we strolled around Westport Lake and down by the canal.

The Autumnal Trees were looking wonderful.

Leaves crackled and crunched underfoot.

Squirrels bustled around finding scraps to eat, usually from the seeds left out for the birds.

We always divert from the main path through the gate you can see on the right of the photo and walk around the other smaller lakes and ponds in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive Kingfisher.

A black headed gull in its winter plumage.

An assortment of ducks on the smaller lake.  The two dark ones are Cayuga ducks.  Paul took the photo above as my camera decided to give up at this point. The battery has been running down quickly even after being charged so a new battery has been ordered.

There's still lots of interesting fungi about.

I'll be back soon with a visit we made to Kedleston Hall last Wednesday to see Luke Jerram's Helios.

Morning Mist

 There was a discussion on breakfast news this morning about the difference between mist and fog.  Some areas woke up to fog this morning but I think here it would have been classed as mist.

It wrapped around the garden like a flimsy cloak.

Hanging damply in the trees over the hedge in the little school nature reserve where Mr Fox lives.

There were cobwebs everywhere made visible by the dew.

Drops of moisture shivered and fell from tree branches.

And bright berries shone out in the gloom

The first morning in October that has looked and felt Autumnal.

It's amazing how many flowers there are still in the garden, some usually seen in late Spring and summer.

Hardy Geranium

Hardy Begonia

Clematis

Foxglove

Hydrangea

As I write this the mist has lifted and a weak sun has made an appearance.  We've had an hour in the garden dead heading, cutting back and clearing some of the debris of summer.  It's time to cosy up with a good book and a mug of tea.

Take care. 

Into October

October already, where did September go?  It seems to have passed by so quickly.  We've had wet days and gloriously golden days.  Rich in warmth and colour.

Above October's calendar picture by textile artist Kate Findlay.  Below a photo of the Amelanchier tree in the garden taken from our bedroom window.  The window sticker is to stop birds flying into the glass, which they have been known to do from the trees beyond our hedge.

On Tuesday we took our usual weekly walk around Trentham Gardens,  The skies were blue, the weather was calm and warm and Autumnal colours were everywhere.

It was an almost perfect day.  I say almost because I have been struggling health wise over the last couple of weeks.  I'll be back soon as hopefully I will have a couple of future visits to share with you.

Take care.

Autumn in the Air

As we drove out along the lanes yesterday the maize was high in the fields and swaying slightly in the light breeze.  The hedges were covered in Bindweed, I've never seen so many flowers as this year.  It's a flower I always associate with the turn of the seasons and the loss of summer.  Hips and haws  turn other hedges a deep shade of red.  Blackberries and Elderberries are a rich and attractive colour and again there seems to be an abundance of them this season.  Leaves are dropping from the trees and scattering across the lawn, just a few each day for now.

White Echinaceas at Bridgemere

 

I'm still here although I've been quiet for a few weeks.  I'm still trying to visit your blogs even if I'm not writing much on mine.   Inspiration will hopefully soon be restored as we are off on a little adventure in a few days time.  Not too far and not for too long but it will be good to see new things and lift the spirits.  I'm also meeting up with a cousin I hadn't heard from for a few years, it's good to know she is still around at ninety two years old.

All for now.

Blogtober - Day Thirteen

It's that time of year when things become a bit of a seasonal jumble.  Where in shops, window displays and other places various celebrations become entangled.  Today as we shopped little felt pumpkins, bats and ghouls vied for attention with felted santas, robins and reindeer.  Around the corner mince pies and stollen could be found next to batty cupcakes and ghostly biscuits.  Treats also for Halloween and bonfires including 'trick or treat' bags of sweets, toffee and marshmallows.  

Pumpkins at Trentham where this year they will have a 'pick your own' pumpkin patch.  When we were children we used to carve swedes or beet from the farmer's fields and on bonfire night we would cook jacket potatoes in foil in the embers of the bonfire.

All these things together seems to lessen their impact especially if they start too early.  I like to deal with one event at a time. Having said that I have on the larder cupbord shelves two sachets of chestnut puree, one sachet of bread sauce and a very small Christmas pudding left over from last year all still with good dates on them.  I also have two packs of cards in the stationery drawer and a calendar for next year bought recently.  Do you start early or take each event as it comes along?

Talking of recently I saw on Ragged Robin's blog a week or so ago a reference to Dorset Apple cake.  We had apples that needed using and I remembered I always used a recipe from our old Cranks recipe book for Devon Apple cake which I thought must be similar so it was made.  Very tasty served with thick greek yoghurt as a pudding.

Yesterday Paul made bread but it was packed away into the freezer before I thought of taking photos so below is a photo of some he made a couple of weeks ago.

All for now.  Take care.

The Time of Year

It's a strange time of year. This time when Autumn merges into Winter, when trees fling their newly russet coats to the ground, just a few determined  leaves clinging on before giving up and allowing their branches to take on that bare, dark, skeletal outline that looks so glorious against the golden sunsets of early evening. 

 I feel like one of those leaves clinging firmly on to one season before allowing myself to enter the next.   I don't even think about the festive season ahead, except perhaps buying a few cards, until Halloween, Bonfire Night and Armistice Day are all behind us. 

I like the gentle calmness of the lingering days, the onset of misty or frosty mornings, the tramping through fallen leaves, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, the geese and starlings flying overhead, the early closing of the day when you can draw the blinds against the gathering gloom outside.  

It's like the calm before the storm but when the time comes I will enjoy the inevitable rush and clamour of it all.

Already festive lights have been lit, Christmas Markets have appeared and the shops are full of attractive goods. After the first day of December I will look for presents, buy postage stamps, dig out the address book, write letters, admire the Christmas lights and treat myself to the first mince pie of the festive season, always welcome with a mug of hot chocolate after a winter's walk through the woods, along the canal or by the lake.  I hope to seek out a Christmas tree festival in a local church, visit Little Moreton Hall for Piva's Christmas Music concert and certainly visit friends and family and welcome them here too.  So many little things to look forward to.

But for now I'm biding my time, taking stock, raking leaves, watching the garden birds, taking gentle walks and in the evenings reading and relaxing. 

How do you approach the festive season?

A Welcome and a Farewell

Time to Welcome Spring

Daffodils blowing in the breeze at the side of the road, a warmer temperature in the air after our second bout of snow, bird song in the mornings, birds flying overhead with twigs in their beaks.  Buds on the shrubs and trees in the garden, also in the garden the first signs of wild garlic but no frog spawn in the pond as yet where only newts have been spotted so far.  I saw some wood anemones on our walk last week too.  Today we hit the heady heights of 7.5°C outdoors and we've turned the heating down a degree or two indoors.

I saw my first Comma butterfly of the year on Monday but probably not where you would expect.  We had travelled, part of the way in snow, to Spalding in Lincolnshire to attend the funeral and thanksgiving service of a dear friend, a friend of over thirty years.  Her funeral was held on what would have been her ninety third birthday.  She loved her town of Spalding and was proud of her Huguenot ancestry, she was a well known and loved figure in the town and the numbers in church reflected that.  As we sat awaiting the start of the service a bright orange butterfly flew up into the air, dancing above the heads of all of us, her friends, gathered there to say farewell.  It soared up into the dust motes highlighted by the sun which suddenly came streaming through the windows, its rays slanting down onto the stone slabbed floor. What a strange yet beautiful thing to see.

Above scenes from around Spalding the town our friend loved so much.

When we got home the snow we'd had all weekend had disappeared and today we were able to get out into the garden and start the clearing up needed after winter.  So farewell Winter, farewell dear friend and welcome Spring.  This weekend we must 'spring' forward into British Summer Time, the clocks will go forward an hour,  Spring is on the way!

Saturday Morning Walk

This morning we had a lovely sunlit walk around the lake at Trentham Gardens.  It was cool but not cold.

In the shopping area the flowery hanging baskets were still looking bright and fresh and almost late summer in appearance.

In the gardens and around the lake Autumn had definitely taken hold.

The leaves were changing colour and dropping to the ground in little breeze lifted whirlpools.

Such wonderful colours at this time of year.

As we walked skein after skein of geese were arriving, flying low over the lake,  honking loudly to announce their presence then landing on the still water, almost as if they were arriving for a predetermined goosey conference or weekend away.

 We found loads of fungi, in the damp grass and under the shelter of the trees.

As we appreciated the wonderful colours of the season there were indications of the next season with the holly covered in bright red berries....

....and robins singing their melodious song as if they were saying our time is coming very soon.

The One Where.........

........the content of the post bears no relation to the photograph accompanying it! 

Swan on the lake at Trentham Estate taken last Sunday morning

 In a week where everything has been about the glorious weather, (except yesterday but we did need the rain!), woodsmoke in the air,  Halloween pumpkins and pomegranates in the market, ghostly and macabre apparitions in shop windows, children off school on bikes and scooters down the road, Diwali fireworks and a 'penny for the guy' collector we have received our first Christmas card.   I wasn't in the least surprised to receive it so early, knowing from whom it came, but what did surprise me was to receive one for 2012 as well.  Let me explain!

We have a dear elderly friend who, each year sends or gives us a package containing an Easter card, a wedding anniversary card and two birthday cards and I keep them safe and open them as each event comes along.  Our friend is now 86 and is concerned about losing her memory - I have to say when I speak to her each Sunday morning she is as bright as a button and when I can't remember something like a name or place she is quick to fill in the blanks. She also tells me that non of her family have ever lived over the age of 87 and so she has sent us a card for 2012  just in case she  a. loses her memory or b. doesn't get to the end of next year.  Half of me is amused by this but the other half feels quite sad, disturbed, uneasy - what other words can I use to describe the whirligig of emotions?   I expect I will put the card somewhere safe (not too safe or I'll never find it!) and open it  when the time is right and hope I can still 'phone her to say thank you.  

On a brighter note don't forget it is 'Feed the Birds' day tomorrow.  Here is a link to the - RSPB - site.  I shall just carry on as normal as I feed the birds every morning - I love to sit and watch them through the window as I eat my lunch.  Also tomorrow is the end of British Summer Time so the clocks go back an hour.  Remember Spring forward and Fall (Autumn) back. This of course means the evenings getting darker earlier which I don't like very much.

We've got a busy weekend ahead with a first for me of a Saturday funeral - I've never come across that before - so I'm going to schedule my post of photos for the October Scavenger Hunt and hope that blogger works as it should.

Well, whatever you have planned or not as the case maybe,  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend:)

Seasonal Pleasures

Strawberries, lettuce from the greenhouse, asparagus and Jersey Royal potatoes - just a few of the delicious delights in season now; so what will we be eating this evening? Asparagus quiche with new potatoes and salad followed by strawberries with a dollop of Yeo Valley fat free strawberry yoghurt.

Mushroom and Asparagus Flan from a recipe in 'Vegetarian Meals' my other cook book by Rosamond Richardson.

In the garden, of course.