Autumn colour

Every day the colours intensify and more leaves fall. Even in dull, damp weather I enjoy this time of year. If we are not taking a 'proper' walk we take a short half hour walk around the block. We kick through the fallen leaves of varying colours, sometimes red, sometimes yellow.

It is great weather for mushrooms and toadstools. This one was growing in the damp leaves in the kerb. I looked in my nature book without success to see if I could find out what it was. (a friend has just got in touch to tell me that it is a shaggy ink cap, sometimes known as a 'lawyer's wig.' She says they are supposed to be edble and tasty when young but I'm not going to try!)

These ones are in the garden and feasting on an old tree stump.

An occasional glimpse of sunshine is much appreciated!

And I'm still enjoying my beautiful bouquet!

Wet weekend

What do you do on a wet weekend? We stayed indoors, hardly putting our noses outside.

The Boy brought over a pile of things to do and we did quite a bit of making, sticking and glueing. Those little beads get everywhere! I could sit still (ah, thank you) while some (unwearable) rings were designed.

We played increasingly silly games. By Sunday some of the old toys had come down from the attic and the boys of all ages got to work!

Please note that in the background the female of the species was quietly at work preparing Sunday lunch.

Some of the outdoors could be enjoyed inside courtesy of a lovely bouquet of flowers, grasses, leaves and berries from the local florist. It is absolutely beautiful, a very skilful arrangement. Thank you Little Perth.

Autumn

We've now eaten our way through the entire crop from the small pear tree on the allotment. I am never too sure when is the right time to pick pears, they need to be gathered before they ripen on the tree If you leave it too late the texture and taste is no good. Too early and they never ripen. I thought for a while that I had done the latter as the fruits felt hard, but, no, after a while they ripened up and tasted delicious. I've top dressed the tree with a well-rotted bag of horse manure by way of a thank you.

We've had a delivery of wood and it is stacked in the garage ready for the cold months ahead. It feels quite cold today, the stove is lit!

I had a quick visit to the allotment to harvest some beetroot and the last of the tomatoes.I need to get to work and tidy the place up, it is looking shambolic. I'm not alone, there are many plots in need of attention. I think people found the long drought very discouraging. The ground is still dry. Do I plant some broad beens now in case we have a gentle winter or do I just wait until next spring? While I dither I'm waiting for a delivery of tulips to plant up in large pots, Just the thought of them makes me happy. The sun is low in the sky now and small shafts spotlight random objects in the rooms. The oak leaves are falling and I sweep them up each day to add to the compost. I like these quiet days. It is a gentle slide into the winter months.

The Alhambra room

I quite forgot to post photos of the Alhambra room at Rhinefield House. A family group were using the room when we arrived for our Sunday lunch but by the time we had finished our meal the room had been vacated and I could have a look inside. It is very characterful and was commissioned by the then owner after his honeymoon trip to the Alhambra in Spain. My daughter and I agreed that we would book that room in the future if we wanted to celebrate a special occasion.

It seats twelve people. Rather a magical space, don't you think?

Out to lunch.

There are two family birthdays in October and on Saturday we started the weekend well by eating cake! We went round to our daughter's house where The Boy and his birthday Daddy were still in their dressing gowns. It didn't stop them from blowing out the candles and having cream cake for breakfast. Of course we had to help them!

On Sunday we drove to the New Forest to have lunch at Rhinefield House. It is a rather magnificent pile that started life as a Tudor hunting lodge but is now a very popular place for celebratory events such as weddings, one of which was taking place in the beamed hall while we were there.

Here we are walking in ready for the meal, having had only a light breakfast!

After a very tasty traditional lunch we were ready to stroll about the garden.

The Boy dived into the maze and could not be seen. Grandad was sent in to find him. Comic cuts. The Boy appeared but where was Grandad?

The sun shining but the shadows long when we set off for home. We'd had a lovely day out.

Conkers

It is certainly autumnal now, damp, misty weather. The Boy has been rummaging about in the garden collecting conkers. They are very plentiful this year, he came into the kitchen with a heap of them. I don't think that they will ever be strung and played with, they are just lovely objects, especially when newly emerging from their casing. I think his pleasure is merely in finding them.

My brother used to play conkers in the '40's and ;59;s, post war Britain not being awash with too many children's toys. I was the feeble little sister who found it a rather brutal game, the conker could give you a nasty knock on the knuckles!

My illustrations of children always seem to have a '40's and '59's vibe; shorts, fall-down socks and scruffy shoes! And the girls in dresses, it was before the jeans era.