End of season

I think it's safe to say that our Indian summer is over. This morning we woke to dull, damp weather and there is now a steady down pouring of rain. It had been forecast a few days ago and I spent the weekend gathering crops and seeds while they were dry. It's a satisfying job which gives me the feeling of being well-organised and in control of the gardening cycle. (I'm delusional.)

Coriander seed.

I tidied up the strawberry bed while I was about it and was annoyed to have a squirrel sitting above me in the walnut tree sending a shower of shell casings down on my head!

Our walnut tree is large, seen in the centre of the photo.

It's very productive. You might think it hard for squirrels to eat the entire contents of such a large tree but, believe me, they can. As soon as the nuts are ripe the squirrels arrive, in threes! Don't tell me they look cute, I'm not listening. I WANT MY NUTS! We banged a few down with a long stick and now they are drying off in the greenhouse along with the squash.

The summer crops are coming to an end, the last of the courgettes and tomatoes.

And the citrus are now under cover and rewarding us with lovely perfume,

There are still flowers to pick from the garden

but it's a soggy, drippy old space out there.

I tiptoe along the stepping stones when I move from the garage to the house so that my feet don't get too wet. 

The steamer chair looks rather forlorn, it will be put under cover with the other garden furniture as soon as the rain stops!

The traditional winter veg are thriving in this weather, with sprouts netted against the pigeons

and rows of leeks.

Just look at the cosmos,

 so much pleasure to have from just one packet of seeds!

Log pile

As the nights draw in the temperature is dropping sharply. As soon as the sun is down it's too chilly to be outside.

How those telegraph wire ruin a good sunset!  

For Friday Skywatch.

 Himself called the log man this week to order a load of wood to take us through the winter. He had to shout into the phone because Wilson was at a ploughing match and couldn't hear above the noise. We were reminded to stock up because there was a feature on wood in the newspaper. The article stated that in the 19th century in the heavily forested state of Maine young women were advised to look at the condition of a man's wood pile when considering if they were suitable marriage material. If the wood pile was an unusual shape then he was a free thinking, open spirited man although a point to watch out for was that the construction may be weak! I went and had a look at our wood pile to see what it said about Himself.

What to make of it? The front is properly stacked and loose wood thrown in behind. Well, we've plenty of it and that's good, it means the man is loyal. It's not a 'pedantic pile' which could mean that he's a pedantic perfectionist - heaven forfend! Is ours a flamboyant pile? If so then he's flamboyant but possibly also a bluffer. All in all I think my man's a keeper and our wood is all decent dry hardwood so cosy nights are ahead. It's stacked in one of the old dog pens.

The position of the former dog runs can be clearly seen on the ground. We have kept the concrete because we like to see the history of the place, the house where the estate gamekeepers always lived. Future owners will no doubt think it a mess and dig it up.

A smaller stack of older wood is heaped behind a couple of water butts. No prizes for careful stacking.

But look next door. What does this say about our neighbour? A flamboyant pedantic perfectionist maybe? How would you describe the owner of such a wood pile? (I'll tell him what you think!)

If you've got a wood pile I hope it's saying all the right things about you!

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.