Indian Summer

A heron sat on the neighbour's roof this morning, drying it's wings.

Aren't those telephone wires intrusive!

The lovely weather is tempting the balloonists into the sky. They come floating along in the still of early morning and again in early evening. The woods to the east of our house seem to give them a bit of a dip and I'm usually made aware of their presence when I'm in the garden by the noise of propane gas being pumped into the balloon in order to keep it afloat. It's sometimes a near do thing! Yesterday evening this balloon came very close to landing in the field.

 There was quite a crowd of people in the wicker basket.

As they passed over the house one of them called out,

"Put the kettle on!"

Skywatch Friday

It's a delight to look at the sky this morning for 

Skywatch Friday because it's a bright, clear blue!

The apples are ripe and falling and now that the squirrels have had a good go at my neighbours' hazelnut trees they are turning their attention to my ripening walnuts!

At ground level I can check out the squash crop as the leaves die away.

Because of the wet summer I've had quite a battle with slugs eating the young growth.

 It's nature tooth and claw at our house!

But these gentle, sunny days are a joy.

It's an 'Indian Summer.'

I hope that life is also proving good for you.

Autumn

We wake to still days and morning mist, 

autumn has definitely arrived.

Once the mist has cleared I wander out into the garden. Everything is looking rather dishevelled and although it is still a pleasant temperature in the daytime cool temperatures at night mean that the growing season is over for my vegetables. It's been a mixed year, great for traditional English veg such as carrots, leeks and parsnips that have enjoyed a cool, wet August but a miserable failure for some other crops that needed a great deal more warmth and sunshine.
On the bright side there is still plenty of colour to bring into the house.

It's a lovely time of year.

The American Museum garden, Bath.

Yesterday we went to the American Museum in Bath where our friend Janet Haigh was holding her book launch. It is a handsome house

in a beautiful setting, looking out over a very English valley of green fields and hedges,

rather a strange setting in which to find an Indian tipi!

George Washington's 'Mount Vernon Garden' is also here,

 recreated as a gift from the Colonial Dames of America.

It's a lovely space in which to wander.

I wonder if there is a Colonial Dame of America Blogger who can tell me how accurate this 'Mount Vernon' is?

Late summer sun

shining on the apple trees.