WINDING DOWN

To start here is an example of negative phototropism! The orchid roots are growing away from the light - not important just a curiosity?

The swallows and martins are gone.

I have trimmed various shrubs like sarcococcus and rosemary into neat balls. And a box in a pot. I was surprised to see how much box balls were in the garden centres - perhaps a little earner there for someone?

It seems to rain every night and sometimes every day, pools on paths and it is imperative to stay off the grass. Two new areas have appeared where there is standing water and I wonder if old underground pipes or sumps have blocked. More digging ahead.

Some of the sycamores have grey rather than black spots on the leaves. I think this is due to Cristulariella depraedans, a fungal growth.


We are into our first autumn sunsets and the light is definitely less bright. I heard today that the last five years have been some of the wettest on record - I can well believe that - global whatting?

 The stream is full and we have new springs all over the place.

There is still colour in the garden, here the blue salvia Sue gave us before she died and the white cosmos that has turned out to be pink!
The orange oriental poppy is also flowering again.

 We have Bramley apples to our eyeballs - well you know what I mean - a bumper crop. People keep asking me if I want some apples and I have to keep politely declining their offer. However S did take me up on two rhubarb crowns, now delivered.

I have underplanted the big magnolia with crocus shown here. (The little house was made for us by my late brother-in-law Roy.)
I am hoping that they will spread naturally and form a colourful swathe in the spring.

As you can see we are losing the leaves off the ash trees - and we are losing dead twigs and branches in recent gales - it is stick picking up time again.

Flowers are not the only colour in the garden as some of the shrubs are beginning to turn.

R has suggested I get in the pond and trim the water lily back as it is getting too large, however, as I do not have waders and the water will be very COLD I am hesitating!

I have begun to clear and dig over the veg bed, just removing weeds and forking the top surface before a dressing of compost. Then it will be ready for the plants I have to move from by the house for the new extension - whenever that happens. I have not yet worked out where I am going to put all these plants - a new flowerbed - there might be some opposition to that!

And finally we went to Ford Park Apple Day in Ulverston today and took our remaining apples - shown here after washing. They juiced them and now we have some juice in the freezer and some in jars with the lids loose to ferment to cider. 
The tops were not screwed on tightly - I remember as a boy my brother making marigold champagne and the bottles exploding.

STAIR RODS, GNASHERS AND PLUMS

Fancy having wire cutters in your mouth!

Well, that is what our squirrels have. 

I have just thrown away a bird feeder for the wee grey beasties have chewed through the wires to get at the peanuts.

Here are the stair rods, wet ones courtesy of an Auntie Cycling in the Atlantic and depression here. We are fed to our teeth as another autumn AND WINTER loom.

The Vicky Plums have been great and we have sticky chins - they are so sweet and juicy. I went down the garden yesterday and had to robble ( a cross between run and hobble (those with knadgered knees know what I mean)( 3 ks - is that alliteration?)) back to the house through a downpour.

We are Sweet Pead, if you know what I mean - inundated this year, wonderful - I think I have dealt with this before but they are so fantastic I am mentioning them again.
Some fruit is abundant - blackberries, plums, some is a wash out - apples and pears. I can only assume that it was the cold spring that got to the blossom and the bees.

Last blog I rabbited on about yellow and orange flowers at this time of year so, just to show you what a load of rubbish a prattle here are some pinkies.

Cosmos, clematis and Japanese anemones top to bottom.

R is in her shed and all is well with Cawthwaite.com, hang on - we are being assaulted by felines and canines (not teeth) again - and the sun is out - cannot see a rainbow though.

Does one prune buddleia or not? Well, one could but not this one as we have so many around the garden that it would be a horrendous job. (an horrendous?)
What is needed now is thinning and dividing and replanting and stuff. I hate to throw plants away but sometimes there is no choice. I will stick them on the banking and in corners but there are still barrows full of them even after that.
A note on our willow that would not weep, had two stems, got the dreaded lurgi and all the leaves fell off. Thought it was dead - well, one stem was but the other has sprouted and the new growth is bending over a bit - perhaps a weeper after all! (Good writers do not use exclamation marks)(so now you know about me.)

And Syria - Putin is still puttin' it around but more deviously, Obama's cavalry are humming and ha-ing, fidgeting with their stirrups and looking uncomfortable, Cameron is less Churchillian and more Blairite, Assad is just sitting and waiting for the hoo-ha to subside so he can get on with eradicating anyone who disagrees with him (I wonder if Assad has some spare weed killer?) and the sweet peas need picking again. And the plums. And the carrots. And the weeds definitely need eradicating.

So I just suck on a juicy plum, stare at the garden, realise that I cannot do it all and ring the man. The man, however, is giving up doing his gardening job so I shall have to find another man.

Shall I go gardening?
No just Skype the hyper grandchildren.
Much better idea.
But not for the garden, alas.

COUCHES AND COLOURS

The phone is dead, the mobile reception is poor and anyway I was out in the garden mowing uphill. I am a bit wary of slopes with the sit on mower, especially side on, but straight up and down seems ok and the more I can do sitting down the better my couch potatoes will grow.

Speaking of potatoes - they have flower typical of the Solanums -

Colourful and beautiful?

Yesterday, with the rain coming, I mowed the lawns and then cleared out, cleaned and reorganised the shed. The day before I had been ditch digging, and stream digging and back aching and belly-aching.

I have been growing some oriental poppies from seed so these have been potted on and I went around the garden collecting trees from 6 inches to four feet tall to take to Orcop Hill for my daughter and her husband. They are pruned and potted.
Having attacked the blackcurrant bushes I made ten bundles of ten cuttings for R's coffee morning, and made another load of blackcurrant jam.

We are eating Victoria plums - so juicy straight off the tree - yum! They are so sweet (a bit like me!)(and sickly?)

Have you ever truly looked into the heart of a flower - this is a rose backlit by the sun.

Many flowers at this time of year are, like in the spring, yellow like this helianthemum. They can get out of hand though - eight feet tall and spreading by underground runners.

And then there is orange like this day lily, also out of hand.

So much to do and so many potatoes in my couch!
My cousin J sent me copies of family silhouettes today and I was glad to see that the older ancestors fed themselves well, some too well. Few were shadows of themselves - Oh! Ha Ha!
In fact the one of Great Great Great Grandfather Robert's double chin just looks too familiar.

Enough - back to the couch and a can o' lager and salted cashews.

Now it is another day and I am still couched - the heavens have opened and water is cascading over the gutters. Do not think I will dig the stream at the moment.

Did you see fantasy land in Russia with the 20 G strings? Putin posing and puttin' himself about, Cameron Churchilling and Obama trying to bring up the cavalry.
Look lads, come up to The Nook, I'll put on the kettle and we can have a chat in the scent of sweet peas and a juicy Victoria plum off the tree.
As for Assad - as said - sad.