Looking Autumnal

The tulip tree leaves are turning yellow already.  It's a very Autumnal thing but it could also be lack of any decent showers of rain lately.  Leaves are also falling on the top lawn.  August is fast fading.

The garden is looking uncared for, although work has been done.

Especially on clearing the gravel path of weeds.

Heleniums and Echinaceas are doing well.

There is a small apple on the small apple tree.

Out and about on our walks there have been plenty of berries and fungi too.

There is now a slight chill in the morning air and jackets, admittedly lightweight ones, have been worn again first thing.

Can you bear another Wallaby?  I hope so.  This one is Nibbles.

He's at Rudyard Lake, near the café.  He was illustrated by Hannah Walton and Beki Kremer in collaboration with Leek and District foodbank.

The last two next time.

A Lakeside Walk and Homemade Soup

This morning even though it was quite windy we headed out for our usual walk around the lake at Trentham Gardens.  We hadn't been for a walk around the lakeside for a couple of weeks and were quite surprised at the changes and additions we found along the way.

 We were looking for signs of autumn and certainly found them.  The leaves on the Tulip Trees along the paths near the lake were far more advanced into their autumn colours than ours at home which is still quite green with just a few slightly yellow leaves.

We thought we might find some fungi but didn't expect to find these Fly Agaric toadstools.  There were loads of them across the grass, some opened others just appearing from the ground.  

As we walked around we noticed quite a few new sculptures had been installed.

 I think these are supposed to be Brown Trout which are found nearby in the River Trent.

Deer.  We don't see the wild deer herd dashing thought the undergrowth anymore, although I think can still be spotted up in the woods.

  Owl

Two horses' heads on plinths

 Below another owl

 I bet he or she stands out in the dark.

Pheasants

 Hare - this one had just been placed ready for installing - it was sitting on a black plastic bag and fenced in by red and white tape.

Frog, a lady standing nearby called him Jeremy Fisher which made me smile.

We saw lots of other seasonal fungi, leaves and plants along the way.   

There were lots of water birds on the lake.  Cormorant, Grebe,
Heron and Swans both black and white, lots of Canada geese, Coots, Mallards and Moorhens too.

After a wonderful breezy walk in both bright sunshine and the occasional bout of drizzle we returned home to warm up some homemade soup.  Leek and potato with homemade bread.  I love these bright, autumnal October mornings.  I'm also glad we went out this morning because as I type this the wind has really picked up and the rain is battering the windows.  Such a day of contrasts.

Monday Miscellany

Enjoying the sights, colours and sometimes the tastes of September

Rose hips

Elderberries

Apples

Rowan Berries

Blackberries

The plums on the tree in our garden are beginning to ripen now

Lovely to eat as they are but I've also made an apple and plum crumble for tea or dinner depending on which part of the country you come from.
 Happy Monday.
 

Autumn

An Autumn Haiku for National Poetry Day

Wind rustles through trees
Crisp leaves fall upon the ground
where green turns to gold

Butterflies and Berries

Just a few of the delights I saw in the garden today whilst we were cutting back some of the shrubs. The last flowers and butterflies of summer as well as the rich red berries and rosehips - a sure sign that autumn is on the way.

In the News

Teresa, over at Blueberries, Art and Life has mentioned my blog, along with others, in an interesting article entitled 'The Traveling Front Porch' in her monthly column for her local newspaper. Thanks Teresa! She has used my post of 18th September - A Walk at Baslow - to illustrate how she can travel the world through reading other people's blogs and how by leaving comments and communicating with each other, we have set up a social network of friends and neighbours similar to those we have who pop by to pass the time of day in our own neighbourhood. The article also describes, for those who may not know, what a blog is and what it is like to be part of the blogging commuity. So, why not pop along to Teresa's blog to have a read, I'm sure you will enjoy the article and the rest of her lovely blog too.

Meanwhile, summer really is at an end now after that last glorious day on Saturday. This morning is cold, wet and windy and more of the same forecast for the rest of the week. So I'm getting ready to say farewell to September.......

and hello to October.......

....the month, we hope, of crisp autumnal mornings and brisk walks in the cooling sun. Of warming, wholesome foods full of flavour, rich colourful hedgerows with the smell of woodsmoke in the air and fallen russet coloured leaves crunching under foot. I've sorted out my jumpers, gloves, scarves and warmer coats to be ready so I hope I will need them and not my raincoat and umbrella!

The cats have already started to seek warmth and solace within the house, and the saying that goes something like 'if you want the comfortablest seat in the house, you'll have to move the cat' is so true!

The End of August

I don't know why but a great wistfulness always overwhelmes me at the end of August; it seems like the end of something important, something special. Maybe these feelings are influenced by the fact that I've just become a year older, if not wiser and also because I chide myself for not fully appreciating and utilising all that summer has to offer. This year, as last, we haven't really had a proper summer, those long remembered summers of childhood and youth, of day after day of warm sumshine, of late light nights and warm early mornings are now just a distant memory; but surely I could have done more with the one we had? I wandered around the garden this morning and already it is completely autumnal; the air is misty and heavy with damp, little droplets of moisture soaking me through, but it wasn't rain, it was too gentle for rain. The unmown grass was wet, soaking into my shoes making my toes feel cold and damp and leaving tide marks on the soft leather. The delicate cobwebs glistened in the bushes drifting across the paths and I had to be on constant spider alert. For the last two days we have had a pair of buzzards circling overhead, thermaling in the hot air and calling to each other with their eery, mewling cry. Today they have moved on. I always know when the sedum flowers start to turn pink that it really is the end of summer and I drift unconsciously into a few days of listlessness and dissatisfied longing. Then, like the buzzards, I move on, hoping for dry autumn days, when trees are full of colour, hedgerows are full of plenty and all is safely gathered in. Then, and only then, can I fully appreciate the last, lingering beauty of it all.

In the meantime, on a more practical and cheerful note, I do have help with the laundry.