OCTOBER IS WITH US AND CROATIA IS GONE

And the fall of the daylight hours, dull days and the whole garden is sighing with imminent decay. The marrow grows on apace, eased off the wet turf to try and postpone rot.

The apple and the pear are still with fruit through the pear is now depositing much windfall. The asparagus bed is heavy with feathery fronds and I hope this bodes well for next spring's harvest. I have never seen such a dense leafage before.

The thornless hawthorns (makes no sense?) are loaded with berries bending the branches low. I thought the fruit from the golden raspberries would be well done, the canes cut and tied in for next year, but they have decided to give us an extra taste, albeit not as flavoursome as earlier in the year.


The variegated apple mint is sprouting several totally white leaved stems - not something I would expect to be viable as a stand alone plant. The big hydrangea has developed a pink tinge though this is preferable to the brown sepals of Annabelle by the door.

The Michaelmas daisies are six feet tall and leaning over the paving and paths, the flowers lighting up dark corners, in fact they have only been in flower for about a week or two. Odd plants - oriental poppies, yellow day lilies and such are giving us a bonus late in the year - cutting them back after flowering has worked.

So now it is confession time - we have been pootling through the Croatian Islands stuffing our faces, drinking free booze and having what I would describe as a G and L holiday - they know what I mean - touristing in a big way. Were are home and semi-comatose. The only good thing is that I have put on but two pounds in lard.