Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Last shout

It's the last shout of colour in the garden now, once the maple leaves have dropped we shall be sunk into deep shadow until next year. All the leaves have fallen from the beauty berry but the berries remain and are a striking shot of purple. I had never seen this plant before moving here but now I see them advertised all over the place.
The sun, when it chooses to shine, is low in the sky and hidden behind the neighbouring trees. It lights up odd patches in the rooms but I have to accept that the joy of living amongst mature trees is tempered by the fact that the house is dark!
I've been up in the attic tidying my planchest, trying to put work done and projects to do in to some sort of order. It is slow work because I keep discovering things that I'd forgotten about. There are some grainy old photos from my student days and they prompt me to wonder what my fellow students have done in the many years since then. A bit of googling ahead!
Where are they now?!
(Although I know all about one of them, because, Reader, I married him!)

10 comments:

  1. The autumn colors in the garden pictures are so incredibly beautiful.

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    1. They light up the dreariest weather - but are fast disappearing!

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  2. It always fascinates me in such photographs how individual characters shine through, and how some are much more aware of the camera than others.

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    1. I have very few photos from my time at Leeds. When I went to London I bought a camera and have been photographing ever since!

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  3. Love the colour of the purple berries and the maple. Sorting through old papers and photos can be a real trap timewise.

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    1. You've said it, Susan, I've been completely side-tracked and still haven't put everything back in the planchest!

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  4. Odd that you had never seen a beauty berry shrub before you moved to your new place. They are relatively common here, but no matter how often I see them, they do not cease to amaze me - they look so different from everything else with their bright purple shine.
    Going through your things in the attic is fun! I hope you'll find out what became of some of your fellow students, maybe even get in touch with them. Nice to know you married one of those in the picture :-)

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    1. I'm an enthusiastic gardener but not a knowledgable one! I've got the happiest of memories from my years at Leeds College of Art and have already been in touch with one of those in the photo, Cliff, in the centre, who appears to be poking a finger towards my future husband's ear!

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  5. The berries on that beauty berry are striking! Do the birds eat them up? You have an attic you can walk around in? I would love that! Also, love that you went to art school with your husband! How wonderful!

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    1. We've had flurries of snow today and it has prompted small birds to come and eat the berries. Until now they hadn't touched them. When I put out bird food the magpies swoop down and eat the lot.
      Yes, several years in the same studio, he knew what he was dealing with by the time we got married!

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