I have a few photographs of things I’ve seen this autumn dating from the beginning of September until mid October. I thought I’d make a post of them all.
A sunset seen from our back garden – again in September.
This photograph of the harvest moon at the beginning of October was taken in Norwich by Richard.
A Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) nest in our Greengage tree.
Once some of the leaves had fallen from the tree it was easier to see the nest which, when it was occupied, prevented us from harvesting our greengages until it was almost too late. Moss, grasses, feathers and cobwebs have been used as well as green plastic garden twine. The nest has been anchored to the branches of the tree by stouter grasses.
A Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) sunning itself.
Our church at Rumburgh, decorated for Harvest Festival
Richard and I collected all the fruit and vegetables the next day and delivered them to a local nursing home where they were very gratefully received.
Another sunset
I love the dark purples and greys with the slash of bright yellow cutting through
Autumn colour in October
These Elder ( Sambucus nigra) leaves have lost nearly all their colour and have become almost luminous
Cherry tree leaves in our garden
Yet another sunset!
A late and rather battered oriental poppy
The almond-scented flowers of Viburnum bodnantense
Mahonia flowers smell like lily-of-the-valley.
I like to have late autumn, winter and early spring flowering plants. On milder days when the wind isn’t too strong, their scent can be so welcome. The insects, especially the bumble-bees, enjoy the flowers too!
Winter-flowering Honeysuckle
This ‘Canary Bird’ rose is one of the first to flower in early summer. It decided to flower again in October.
The Cotinus leaves were very attractive
I’m sorry but here is one more sunset! This was the colourful one caused by storm Ophelia and the smoke pollution from the forest fires in Portugal.
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My music choice today is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing ‘Herbst’ (Autumn) by Franz Schubert. Here is a link to a translation into English of the lyrics.
Richard asked me if I’d like to accompany him to the post-box down the lane. He had a birthday card to post to his brother and also a notice to put on the village notice-board. The weather was fine, though cloudy and we hadn’t walked anywhere together for a few weeks. I quickly put on my coat and walking shoes and we set off.
The hedge on the opposite side of the lane was pale green and orange.
The hedges still had a few leaves left on them. This is a Field Maple (Acer campestre) hedge. Not in focus, but I liked the colours.
A gap in the hedge further along the lane gave us a sight of the tower belonging to All Saints church. It is surrounded by trees, most of which have lost their leaves now. The field has been sown with barley or wheat which has germinated and will continue to grow on milder days all through the winter.
All Saints church in the distance
Some of the more sheltered Field Maple trees still had leaves.
This fine-looking old house near us has been empty for some time.
Richard proudly demonstrates his posting technique!
We met a neighbour and chatted with her for some time. I admired the fine cherry tree in her front garden.
Our neighbour’s beautiful cherry tree.
We walked on to the notice-board and then decided to continue down the lane.
A row of Italian Alders (Alnus cordata) were planted some years ago as a wind-break along the edge of a field. The cones are much larger than our native Alder cones.
Italian Alder cones
Our local stream, The Beck, has been dry for months. We have not had enough rainfall this year.
The Beck
Another pretty hedge
The Guelder-rose trees (Viburnum opulus) have been beautiful this autumn! I have never seen so much viburnum fruit before!
Here is another Guelder-rose.
This is a Spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus) in the hedgerow
Here is the pretty pink and orange spindle fruit
This is a picture of the lane along which we walked
There were a few sloes left on the Blackthorns (Prunus spinosa)
A few Common Hawthorn berries (haws) too (Crataegus monogyna)
A view over the hedge to the fields beyond. The skies were clearing.
This tree-trunk was covered with Ivy stems (Hedera helix). It attaches itself to trees, fences and walls by short roots and can completely cover tall trees. A Dog Rose (Rosa canina) stem hung in front of the tree.
Rosehip
Bird’s nests are easier to see now that the leaves are falling from the trees
Puddles were full of leaves and reflections
We walked through St Margaret South Elmham churchyard and Richard sat for a while to rest his back.
A late rose was blooming
The Holly (Ilex aquifolium) had a few berries on it
Our Blackberries (Bramble) (Rubus fruticosus agg.) were very poor this year because of the low rainfall. Even the mice and birds didn’t chose to eat these ones which have been left to shrivel on the vine.
I am not sure whether these fruits are Blackthorn or Bullace (a type of wild plum).
Autumn leaves
Sheep were being grazed on the common at the end of our lane
This sheep was happy to stop and stare
We soon arrived back home, having been away a lot longer than we had originally intended.
This was a walk we took a fortnight ago and after a couple of frosts and some strong wind last night most of the remaining leaves have fallen from the trees. The countryside looks ready for winter now.
My music choice today is ‘Somewhere in my Heart’ by Aztec Camera. There is no special reason for my choice except I like it and am amazed it is thirty years old!
As most of you will have noticed, I haven’t posted anything here for nearly two months. I have been quite busy and have had to limit the time I spend on-line. I decided that I would use that time answering e-mails and just reading other people’s posts and commenting on them instead of writing my own posts. I also realised recently that I haven’t been reading as many books as I used to and I missed that pleasure, so my on-line time has been reduced further.
An extra problem I have had for the past couple of days is an inability to post comments on your WordPress blogs. My words disappear immediately I click on the send button. Some of my comments have arrived in your in-boxes but most have completely disappeared. Some have been discovered in spam folders so may I ask you to have a look to see if a comment of mine is there, please? I haven’t commented at all on your more recent posts as I knew it would be a waste of my time. I have read them all and have ‘liked’ them. As soon as everything is back to normal I will be commenting again. I have contacted the WordPress help team and they have re-directed me to Akismet. I am waiting to hear from them to see if there is anything they are able to do.
Now that the nights are drawing in I will probably have a little more free time and might manage a post or two to let you know what I have been doing. I enjoy blogging and have missed it! Meanwhile I have included a couple of photographs I took late this afternoon. Autumn has well and truly arrived here!
Spindle with berries (Euonymus europaeus ). The leaves turn a delicate shade of pink in the autumn.
Spindle berries are bright pink and when ripe, split open to reveal orange-coloured seeds!
Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna ) with its berries, which are known as Haws.
Pyracantha covered with scarlet berries. I have just finished pruning our pyracantha and have got it neat and tidy for winter.
This evening’s gentle sunset.
Sunset
My music choice for this post is ‘Dream of Me’ by Kristina Train.
I saw these holly berries (Ilex aquifolium) in one of the carparks in Halesworth at the beginning of the month.
We have had a fair amount of cloud and rain this month and there was a week when the rest of the country was getting very pleasant weather while we in eastern East Anglia and also those in eastern Kent were having gloomy, wet weather with north-easterly winds. We have had a few slight frosts and some sunshine too – but not as much as we would have liked! For anyone who is interested in our weather here in the east of Britain – and why wouldn’t you be! – here is a link to the local BBC weather forecast.
Spindle berries (Euonymous europaeus) seen in our garden at the beginning of October
The leaf-colour has been very beautiful but I haven’t been able to get out often to take photos. The leaves are falling fast now and the recent heavy rain and windy weather have stripped many trees of their leaves altogether.
A beautiful Maple tree I saw on the way to my mother’s house on the 14th October.
As I stood admiring it it began to rain heavily, as you can see!
The rainbow that appeared at the same time.
I took a photo of the tree again on the way home later that day.
I was surprised to see some Hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) in flower in the ditch next to the maple tree. It usually flowers during late summer and all other Hemp-agrimony plants had already gone to seed.
Richard and I have been sharing driving Elinor to and from college and I have been feeling much less tired than I did when I was doing all the driving. The month has had its fair share of hospital, doctors’ surgery, optician and dentist visits. Every week this month one of us (at least!) has had an appointment or has had to take someone (my mother) to an appointment.
I mentioned to Richard that I had seen a beautiful Guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus) on my way to my mother’s house (yet again!) so he kindly photographed it for me with his phone when he walked past it on a breezy morning later in the week.
He photographed it from the other side too
He also photographed a Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
Elinor has had her half-term holiday this week. She has worked very hard during her first half-term and has had quite a lot of homework to do during this week. She has enjoyed the course so far and her tutors are very pleased with her and the standard of her work. This bodes very well. She is also working hard to overcome her anxiety and also the sleep-phobia that has returned to plague her nights.
Raindrops caught in a spider’s web
A Witch-hazel leaf. All the rest of the tree’s leaves were a buttery yellow but the leaves on the new shoots went red.
This Cricket, a female Speckled Bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima) I believe, was sun-bathing while sitting on a yellow Witch-hazel leaf.
Alice seems well and is enjoying her new job but wishes she was able to work longer hours. She has to have her PhD thesis printed before she can take part in her graduation ceremony so is trying to save up enough money to get it done. She is coming home for the weekend in a fortnight and I am looking forward to it very much. To see her in action discussing horror films please watch the video on the following link.
Fine trees on a fine day. The churchyard of St Mary’s church in Halesworth. Whenever I see this wall I remember the times I have held one or other of my daughters’ hands when they were little as they balanced all the way along it. It used to take ages! Alice was especially keen.
Richard and I are starting to compile the list of improvements and repairs we need to do to the house and garden. One of the first jobs will be to replace most of the windows and we hope to get this done before Christmas. We are also getting a gardener/landscaper to clear and dig out the front ditch which has become overgrown and blocked. We have asked him to cut the hedges too. This will be done in a fortnight’s time.
I found these ladybirds sheltering in my Rosemary bush next to the front door. I think they were hoping to hibernate there. We have since had some very wet weather and they are no longer there.
Last winter we had no ladybirds hibernating in the corner of the window in our bedroom. This year, when we hope to replace the windows in a few weeks time, the ladybirds are back! I will have to think of a way of gently moving them before the windows are removed. I don’t know if they will be as interested in the new poly-carbonate windows we are to have, as they are in the old wooden ones with ladybird pheromones on!
Last Sunday we went out for lunch to The Sir Alfred Munnings in Mendham. (I don’t know what the black shadows are top right and bottom left of the photo).
The artist Sir Alfred Munnings was born in Mendham in 1878 and this restaurant and bar was re-named after him.
Mendham is a very pretty village just a few miles from where we live.
Mendham church is quite large and well looked after. I couldn’t get far enough away from it to get the whole of the church in one photo.
Mendham church
Sunset
And another!
Here is one of my favourite songs – ‘Ola Ta Diskola’ (All the Difficulties) by Anastasia Moutsatsou.
We took advantage of a dry but cloudy afternoon earlier this week to walk through the woods at Minsmere. To those of you who don’t know, Minsmere is an RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) wildlife reserve situated on the coast in Suffolk. We didn’t see many birds, though as the afternoon wore on and the crowds of visitors began to leave we began to hear more birdsong.
The cliff behind the visitor centre with Sand Martin (Delichon urbica) burrows. I’m not sure what the larger holes are – probably rabbit burrows.
We went first to the ponds behind the visitor centre to see if there was any sign of the Bird’s-nest fungus that was discovered there last year. I looked but didn’t see any though that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there! I did see some lichen on the decking.
One of the Cladonia lichens
More lichen was growing on the ground amongst the sparse grass and moss.
We saw lots of fungi on our walk but because of the low light many of my photographs didn’t come out very well and had to be erased.
Fungus
Reeds in the pond near the visitor centre – mainly Great Reedmace/ Bulrush (Typha latifolia)
A bright Sweet Chestnut tree (Castanea sativa)
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A little pale sunshine filtered down through the trees
I believe the section they have roped off here is where the Adders (Vipera berus) live.
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We saw plenty of Bramble flowers (Rubus fruticosus agg.)
There was dead wood everywhere
Richard and Elinor watching the rabbits on Warren Hill
Lots of rabbits live here. The birds of prey appreciate this!
We saw more of the sun as we neared sunset
Sun on the reeds and rushes
Minsmere at sunset
Edge of the wood
Sunset
I think this may be Lesser Water-parsnip (Berula erecta) but I am probably wrong.
We visited yet another of our local beaches on a very windy, cool afternoon recently. We only stayed on the beach for a short while because the wind was so biting; Elinor and I both got earache.
The mist in the distance is sea-spray.
The waves were quite rough but the tide was going out.
Foam was left on the sand and was blowing about.
This little fish must have come too close to the shore.
This Grove Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) attached to its bit of bracken was swinging about in the wind.
My ID guide suggests that the Grove Snail “is used to demonstrate the survival of the fittest in evolution, because Thrushes eat the snails which are least well camouflaged against their environment.”
The Heather (Calluna vulgaris) was past its best but the Dwarf Gorse (Ulex minor) was looking wonderful
Another sunset.
In a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the bright yellow of the Perennial Sow-thistle was not common at this time of year. I will have to eat my words because most of the flowers I have seen since then have been yellow!
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) seen on the roadside between Linstead Magna and the village of Linstead Parva *(see below)
The Tansy has very aromatic leaves and the little button flowerheads are made up of disc florets only.
The genus name ‘Tanecetum’ and the name Tansy are both derived from the Greek word for immortality. The plant was believed to give eternal life to the drinker of an infusion made from it.
Tansy used to be used as a flavouring in food until fairly recently. Egg dishes especially, were enhanced by the use of finely chopped tansy leaves. Tansy was also used as an alternative to expensive imported spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon and Tansy Cake at Easter was very popular. Because of the strength of its scent, Tansy was also used as a repellent, keeping mice from corn and flies from meat.
Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)
Close to where I photographed the Tansy I found this hedge of Dogwood. It was covered in large black berries – the largest I have ever seen on a Dogwood – and most of the leaves had turned a beautiful red. Dogwood leaves are usually a much darker, duller maroon in Autumn.
What also surprised me about these Dogwood bushes was seeing flowers in bloom at the same time as the berries and the red leaves.
It isn’t easy to see them in this photo so I cropped it.
One of the flower-heads is in the centre of this picture. The couple of weeks of warm and sunny weather we have had recently had fooled the bush into thinking it was spring again.
Richard and I have been working in the garden, getting it ready for winter. I only seem able to get out there a couple of days a week but I have managed to get quite a lot done. One of my jobs has been tidying behind the garden shed and round the back of the greenhouse. Behind the shed was rank with weeds, mainly stinging nettles, which I was able to pull out fairly easily as the soil is quite damp there. I had stored lots of pots and tubs full of spring bulbs behind the greenhouse so these have come back out to be smartened up and got ready for next spring. I discovered other flowerpots that should have been emptied and cleaned ages ago.
This pot was covered with liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. It has little green cups on the leaf-like structures (thallus). Do you see the baby snail?
We have a lot of fungus all over the grass in our garden. Nothing exciting or colourful, just brown and cream-coloured toadstools. These had been nibbled by something.
Two other unidentified types of fungi.
I have had this Hibiscus for about 26 years. It was a gift from my ex-mother-in-law who brought this with her when she came to see us when Alice was a tiny girl.
I love these double flowers – the peach petals have dark crimson bases.
Richard has a new Chrysanthemum flower
My Geraniums are still flowering
I like this pretty Viola
Three different Michaelmas Daisies
Salvia
The three ages of Astrantia
Elderberries from the bush at the end of the drive.
Acorn This is the first time in years that these acorns aren’t affected by Knopper galls.
This is a photo I took last year of Knopper gall damage on acorns
‘Conker’
Ash ‘keys’
The trees in our lane
Our Silver Birch is changing colour
Birch leaves
I pruned our Pyracantha recently
We not only had a lot of aphid damage to our apple trees in the spring and early summer but the apples on this tree are now being eaten by Moorhens! It is odd seeing water birds wobbling about in the trees gulping down our apples as fast as they can.
We are getting a little tired of next-door’s free-range chickens in our garden all day. They kick about in the flower beds and damage seedlings; they peck off flowers and generally make a mess of the paths, beds and compost heaps in the garden. We have spoken to our neighbours about it a few times but they don’t appear to have any intention of keeping their chickens on their own land. They have a constant supply of chicks too.
Linstead Magna (large/greater Linstead) is now a small collection of houses and farm buildings. The church no longer exists but I spoke to someone some years ago who remembered the church and used to attend it. For more information about this church see here.
Linstead Parva (small/lesser Linstead) is a pleasant little village with a pretty church. In spring the churchyard is covered in snowdrops and other spring flowers.
We have had some very cool nights already and lots of rain. Autumn has arrived! The nights are drawing in and when I get up just after six o’clock in the morning on Mondays and Fridays I have to wait for well over half an hour before the sun rises.
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
I have no news to give you about Alice – I haven’t spoken to her for about a fortnight so I assume she is busy and coping alright.
Morning Glory
Dahlia
Dahlia
To our surprise, the day after I mentioned in this blog that it would take weeks for probate to be granted, it was granted! Richard has spent two days in Manchester with his brother sorting out all their mother’s finances. They also went to a place that Joyce was fond of and scattered her ashes. Richard was hoping to spend three days with Chris and wanted to travel up in his new car but unfortunately his windscreen was hit by a stone chipping last week which left a four inch crack and it needs replacing! The insurance company is sending someone to our house to carry out the replacement today (which is when Richard had hoped to return home). He came home yesterday instead (Thursday). He will have to go back to Manchester in a couple of weeks to finish going through all Joyce’s belongings and deciding what to do with them – a very difficult business.
Dog-rose-hips (Rosa canina)
Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus agg.)
Pyracantha berries
Cotoneaster berries
Black Bryony (Tamus communis) growing through Cotoneaster horizontalis
Cotoneaster horizontalis
Elinor has almost completed two weeks at college, is working hard and her tutors are very pleased with her. She is enjoying the course but finds the social side of college life very tricky. She is very insecure and worries all the time that she is saying or doing the wrong thing. She has also been badly affected by her grandmother’s death and funeral. She is afraid of going to sleep in case she doesn’t wake up again and she is frightened of being left alone both now and in the future.
Eating apples ‘Saturne’
Pears ‘Concorde’
Figs ‘Brown Turkey’
Crabapple ‘Evereste’
Crabapple ‘Harry Baker’
Crabapple
I have been busy in the house and with my mother; Richard has had a lot to do in the garden and has also been arranging our finances now that he has retired. We have had no time for a walk recently and in fact have done very few walks together during the whole year. We hope that in the next week or so things will have calmed down and we will be able to find time to go out together.
Chinese Lanterns (Physalis alkekengi)
Japanese Ornamental Cherry ‘Fragrant Cloud’
Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’
Spindle (Euonymous europaeus)
Hazel new catkins (Corylus avellana)
Elder (Sambucus nigra)
Fungus
Fungus
Fungus
The photographs in this post were mainly done during one afternoon this week.
This is the entrance to one of the three wasp nests we have in our garden. They took over an old mouse or vole hole.
Crane fly (Tipula paludosa)
Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus)
I saw this plant just inside the stone wall that surrounds St Mary’s church in Bungay.
Greater Celandine
This plant is no relation to the Lesser Celandine we see in the springtime. It is a type of poppy, similar to the Yellow Horned-poppy I found on Dunwich beach a few weeks ago. Its orange-coloured sap has been used in Asia for burning away warts and corns since the beginning of Chinese civilisation. This caustic liquid was also used to remove soreness and cloudiness from the eyes! It uses an oil gland on its seeds to ensure they are taken a distance away. Ants feed on the oil and then carry the seed off.
Juvenile Common Lizard
For the second week running, I discovered something hiding under our wheelie-bin. Obviously, rubbish bins are the go-to shelter for small creatures.
Elinor and I admired these clouds as we neared home the other day.
Moments from a Norfolk Country Cottage. The furred & feathered & the worn and weathered. A Druid Herbalist with a Passion for Cats, Vintage, Dogs, Interiors, Nature, Hens, Organic Veggie Food, Plants & Trees & a Kinship with The Earth.
