October already and days are still drifting by. October the month of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness', the month when mornings get cooler and evenings darker. Lamps are switched on earlier in the evening and the heating kicks in occasionally. It's the month of crisp, brown falling leaves, pumpkins and squashes, warming bowls of soup after long walks through fields and woodlands. Scents of damp earth and woodsmoke in the air.
This time last year we had our 'flu jabs but nothing so far this year from our surgery, other than a note on their website saying do not call, you will be contacted.
There has been lots of rainfall the last few days. Walking has been sporadic and the car has stayed in the garage as we hold on to the petrol we have in case we need to drive for 'flu jabs or opticians appointments which we both have at this time of year.
Life has revolved around the kitchen and garden the last few days. The larder cupboard has been emptied and checked for things nearing, on, or sometimes past their sell by date. Nut roasts have been made and frozen, almond slices with some just out of date ground almonds and hummus made with an old carton of chick peas.
Things are changing around the garden. The seat has been moved to where the old shed used to be and an arch placed over a new brick path which will lead, hopefully, to the wild flower meadow we hope to create in the top corner of the garden. The arch will have honeysuckle growing over it eventually.
Life is a bit mad at the moment. Hope you get your flu jab soon. Lovely photo of the squirrel. Have a good weekend. B x
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara, it does sometimes feels as the world has turned upside down, I just can't keep up with it all. The squirrels are so funny to watch at the moment. Hope you have a lovely weekend too:)
DeleteYou have a beautiful garden with lots of structural elements in the trees and bushes. I like the idea of creating a wild flower meadow and the honeysuckle will be a pretty addition. We've been trying to plan car use so that shopping is done in one go. We also need to get to medical appointments in the city this month. Take care and have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, whoever planned the garden did give it structure. When we came here there were many more trees but we have had to remove some of them as they were getting too big for where they were placed with some of them growing into each other. I love honeysuckle so am looking forward to having the arch covered in it. Hope your appointments go well. Take care:)
DeleteA lovely set of photos Rosie and a beautiful description of October. I have the same calendar as you this year :)
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks really great and I look forward to seeing your wildflower area eventually.
We had our flu jabs last Monday - unusually for my GP they seem ahead of themselves this year! So I am sure you will hear soon.
I know the feeling about conserving petrol! Still have half a tank but that will soon go if we go out too much.
Great minds think alike - I made an inventory of my baking stocks yesterday! To see what I need for Christmas.
Take care and have a good weekend.
Thank you RR. I love Angela Harding's calendars, having said that we have a Jo Grundy one for next year. It will be lovely to sit on the seat amongst the wildflowers - if all works out. Our surgery seems to have gone dormant at the moment, dentist too. Haven't seen a dentist in two years now. I have a little Christmas box I'm popping bits into, getting one thing each time we shop, Chestnut puree was one of them. Take care:)
DeleteYour garden looks lovely, but mostly I'm jealous of all the wildlife you seem to attract. I have a flu jab booked for tomorrow - at 11:22 sharp, please do not arrive too early! My brother's neighbour who delivers parcels for Amazon reckons there's no real fuel shortage around here; there are queues at every garage but that of course means that they have petrol for sale. Some of the supermarket pumps have run out briefly but they are still getting regular deliveries. For all this talk of shortage of drivers there don't seem to be less lorries on the roads!
ReplyDeleteThank you John. We are lucky to have the wildlife visit our garden. Plenty of trees and hedges for the birds and we back onto a small green area that belongs to the school which is where the foxes and badgers come from, Squirrels too. Lots of the house holders feed them, foxes have dog food and dog biscuits, the badgers like the the biscuits and peanuts too. I'm sure there isn't a shortage of fuel just a shortage of drivers to get it to the pumps. I'm glad we have some petrol which we bought a coule of days before the panic began as I wouldn't want to be part of those queues. Hope you managed to get your jab at 11.22 sharp:)
DeleteThe garden is lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you William:)
DeleteYour garden looks so different, so beautiful and spacious, won't it be great to see the wildflower meadow next year. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, it is quite a large garden, both us and next door have larger gardens than the rest as there should have been another house between us but there wasn't room for a drive and front garden from the road - the designer got the measurements wrong. I'm looking forward to having a flower meadow just where the other house should have been:)
DeleteYour garden is still looking good Rosie! I cut back the long grass a couple of weeks back and the 'grass' is now like yellow straw. I've lay some cardboard and earth down onto it to plant through so I can grow green veg throughout the winter. It's cold and wet here today but we are keeping the heating off for as long as we possibly can! Have a lovely weekend. x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone. Yes, ours too looked like straw and then when we finally cut it back it left the yellow where it had been. I'm hoping it will gradually green over. I think we will do it again next year as there was so many small creatures enjoying it. We keep the heating at 19 degrees but occasionally if it is a colder morning it starts to heat the radiators. In the summer it gets turned right down so it doesn't work at all, just heats the water. Take care:)
DeleteHope you get the flu shot soon.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, still waiting to hear anything at the moment:)
DeleteThe flu jabs are coming, my husband has had his and my parents are booked in so fingers crossed :) I've been doing the same thing with my cupboards, you forget whats in there sometimes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam, it's mostly cooking ingredients like herbs, spices, pulses and dried fruit that get left longer than they should. Honey, custard and baking powder too. We've been told by our surgery that the flu jabs will be later this year and that if we haven't heard by the end of October to ring them again. Apparently they are in short supply. It must be just our surgery if others are getting their jabs now. Perhaps they underestimated what they needed:)
Delete