A SCRUFFY TIME OF YEAR

Clearing up, clearing away, digging up the last of the carrots well infested with carrot root fly, and the builder is here. Leaves everywhere - got out the blower, blew them to one side and the wind blew them all back again - give up! So bagged up some to rot down to leaf mould. Then dug up the parsnips and made soup for the freezer, if there is room. If not will have to have it for lunch for a whole week.

Last apples in a trug outside the kitchen door - these are my daughter's.

 As are these crab apples. Our crab apple tree had a very poor crop this year. You can make jelly with them if you do not mind the after effects (a moving experience) but better tasting then rowanberry jelly. (Which you eat with venison.) (First catch you deer.)

We are getting into  the "Aren't the ornamental grasses attractive in the frost" season. The teasels are ok but R is not into grasses. Anyway the step gigantic has not "flowered" this year so . . .

So the quince flowers more and more- all topsy-turvy. 

 I have moved the bird feeders from outside my window as the builders will be there. Now I have only three outside the kitchen, all squirrel proof - the grey tree rats have gone but one feeder full only lasts about three hours before the tits have emptied it. The pheasants still wander about hoping in vain for dropped seed.

Down by the veg beds, just a few parsnips, some chard and the purple sprouting broccoli left compost has been spread and the bottomless pots with the copper slug tape on are slotted on a post.

Damson suckers pulled out to tidy things up (more will come). 

The sweet peas are now six feet high up the poles on which they were trained but not a flower. Should I dig them up and give up or see if we have a very mild winter. There seems to be no harm in leaving them for now.

The nights are closing in, 5 weeks or so to the shortest day and Christmas to get through - not a fan of all this stuff - like Halloween which is just and excuse for companies to sell tons of tat   and make a tidy profit. Commercialism!! It is almost as bad as Grandfather's day - why not second cousin twice removed Day? How long before we, in this country, are celebrating Trump Day? In the past the US elections got a short mention on the radio, now it is endless.   

To finish, builders here, paving up, autumns last blast over who here are a load of colourful autumn images -

Beech

Birch

 Leaves and bark of the red currant

 Cotoneaster

 Cherry

And finally finally I have dug out the streams, removed the dead leaves and walking up the back field I saw these berries in the hedge - not planted by me but a wild introduction - Berberis vulgaris - not common here in the wild.