Autumn

Autumn is definitely here and it is not very Keatsian, we are having heavy downpours and strong winds. I have gathered most of the allotment crop. Poor pickings because of the drought and my imability to keep things alive when the only option is to water by hand. I'm grateful for those crops that gave me something.

The alliums were very good in the garden this year and we've enjoyed the dried seed heads as much as the flowers. I've bought some more bulbs for next year.

The rose cuttings that I took earlirt in the year seem to be doing well but there is winter to get through before I get too confident about them.

I found a small frog in the bowl that I'd put out for the robin!

The garden is very green now, withou much colour. We spent the morning clearing gutters of pine needles and putting away the rest of the outdoor furniture.

When the rain looks as though it will hold off for a while we go for a walk on the beach. The tourists have gone but the local women's swimmimg club, aptly named the bluetits, were all in the sea enjoying the surf.

I was quite happy to return to the warmth of my kitchen and a second flowering of small orchids.

Sunday ramble.

Yesterday morning we woke to thunder, lightening and rain, my plans to work in the allotment were scuppered. But by eleven o'clock things had settled down and our daughter phoned to ask had we any plans for the day. "None." Good, they would be round in twenty minutes to scoop us up and take the chain ferry to Studland to go for a walk. It is a very short crossing, just time to leap out of the car, have a quick photo and jump back in!

First stop was the pub to fortify ourselves with a pasty before setting off for our walk.

We padded the pasty down with a purchase at the cake shop!

We walked through the village and down to the coast and the abandoned quarry.

The quarry is a dangerous place because the stonework is unstable and the caves and tunnels not fenced off. We were careful not to walk too near to anything.

A climb back up to the village and then we got into the car to explore further along the coast.

I was pleased to read this information about planting a wild flower meadow in spite of the fact that there was not a flower to be seen! Wrong time of year and the wrong year, water-wise. But there is a much greater awareness of what we have lost in our wildflower landscape. I intend to return next year to se how this patch is fareing.

This area has had a very different life from the quiet rural place that we were enjoying.

The sun was out as we headed for the ferry. Everyone tired and happy. It was a lovely day.

Wensleydale Show

The Wensleydale is an agricultural show, and being in hill country, sheep figure strongly.

It is a great day out with lots to see. The vintage tractor display was interesting because it told the history of farming, with machines from Canada as well as from Yorkshire and other British companies. How dainty they look compared to the monsters of today that can't fit through the old gateways of our small, upland fields.

! like to walk with a stick on the moors, a useful aid for jumpimg over streams. (Not needed this year!) I've got a collection of sticks, a thumbstick that Himself made, my great grandfather's knobkerry and assorted others, but I'm always open to add to the collection. I saw the most beautiful duck head handle on display and asked the carver if I could buy it. Sadly, no, it wasn't for sale, but he was happy to tell me about how it was made. He is also a carver of decoy ducks which he was going to be showing somewhere downcountry.

As a child I used to help my uncle, a keen gardener, at the local flower show so the fruit and flower tent is always of interest. Flowers in a wellington boot seem to fit well with an agricultural show, and there hasn't been much need to be wearing them lately.

And the same could be said for umbrellas.

A bit of showing off in the veg department.

The competition entries that really make me smile are those for the children; a decorated biscuit, a painted stone, misshaped fruit, a sweet necklace, a garden in a box. Daughter and I are delighted, she has form in this area, as a child she was an expert at gardens on a plate!

I just love this creativity, it beats sitting hunched over a digital device any day of the week.

And in the misshaped fruit and vegetable catagory - what a cheek!