October - so far

Goodness time flies unless you are a yew tree.

So far my prediction for a wet & gloomy October has been totally WRONG. To date it has been beautiful & there is the autumn colour to prove it. I have witnessed some spectacular sunsets - masterpieces in pink & blue. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning as it may well be the first real frost of the season.

I've gathered in the tomatoes - a both happy & sad event. Happy, as it provides a moment to revel in the abundance that a small number of seedlings have provided. Happy as the green tomatoes sit & ripen. Happy as I eat the red fruits remembering that trapped inside them is summer sunshine. Sad as each individual plant's life comes to an end. I'm not as good at endings as startings!

The late turnips & carrots are growing really well & the hens are thoroughly enjoying the thinnings & luscious leaves. I've started to develop a taste for turnips - provided that they are grated raw. I've always found the idea of turnip soup totally hilarious - probably something to do with the childhood tale about the giant turnip!

Much work has been accomplished on our "little piece of paradise" & it is almost ready to receive the tree surgeon's team. Again I am faced with endings. A number of saplings have established themselves in the stone work of the church ruins so have to be removed. One substantial ash is knocking against the tower & causing significant damage. One poor tree is a lightening strike & unsafe. All these, and a few others, are scheduled for felling or canopy reduction. I'll probably stay at home while the felling takes place - it will be upsetting to see them fall. The church site will be a totally different place with them gone. It is hoped that we'll use at least some of the timber in the church's restoration so their lives will be remembered in the building.

The next phase is the relocation of the damaged grave-markers. This is a delicate process & we are awaiting direction from relevant organisations on how best to achieve this. Cutting back the nettles & brambles we've uncovered a grave-marker for a man who died in action during WW1 - I wonder if this needs reporting to the War Graves Commission?

I'm looking forward to designing & creating for real gardens for the graveyard area - it's a bit intimidating to- a responsibility to remember with dignity those who have ended their days there.

Finally there is a large yew tree on the site, by no means ancient, but a beautiful specimen. The tree is now on the data-base of the Ancient Yew Society - trees of 500 years old plus are featured in their gazetteer. Mr PoppyM & myself visited the oldest one in the county -1000 years old - how amazing is that- and it was still a beautiful, vibrant tree wearing the years lightly. (Stanford Bishop, picture from Ancient Yew Group http://www.ancient-yew.org/home.shtml ).

It's well & truly AUTUMN.

Generally I love this season but this year I feel that it will not be one of the most colourful or abundant ones. I am anticipating a lovely sunny spell followed by wet & cold weather with fog & penetrating dampness right up until Christmas. Gloomy but I'd rather be prepared.

A review of the veggie garden has lead me to declare it a success. Admittedly the brassicas have been hammered by the slugs & caterpillars but most are still growing well & I've harvested some greyhound cabbages & a cauliflower - the 1st I've ever grown. The brussel sprouts are coming along well. The purple sprouting has been left to seed - the hens can have those greens. The pak choi were brilliant but the lesson for next year is grow early & start of in pots - they are such a delicious plant every free-roaming creature in the universe seems to love them. The tomatoes are still ripening - the trusses are not very abundant but the toms on them are a good size & taste great. I expect the abundance has more to do with my less than diligent feeding than any vagaries of the weather.

I still find it amazing putting a seed in the ground & hey prestso a whole plant with flowers/fruit - a miracle indeed. I've been collecting seeds for a while now & I still get a thrill from it - today I collected my first sunflowers seeds from plants I've grown this year. When I first looked I thought there were no seeds but I poked a bout a bit & they started to fall out - I was expecting the striped ones available in pet food but these are tiny little black ones. Only one way to find out if they are fertile - plant them!

Today (10th sept) has been glorious - clear-blue sky, bright sunshine & a bit of breeze. I took the small dog with me as I did my jobs - collected windfall apples & took them down to the horse-yard, walked through the fields on the way to the chickens looking for interesting things. Found lots of sloes but didn't pick them as haven't planned out a use for them & don't want to waste them. Spent a while under the huge coppiced hazel tree looking for nuts - as usual the squirrels had beaten me to it - the ground was littered with opened & discarded shells. I've brought a few home & started to open them - so far only 2 have a kernel suitable for planting.

Next to the chicken pen is the veggie patch - optimistically, a few days a ago I planted some rows of turnips & radishes with a few other odds & ends - they are sprouting - hurrah. It's so dry (nice to say that in September) so I've just watered them. I have high hope of a good crop now they've germinated well - I just hope the hens will enjoy the turnips/tops as I'm not a great fan!

Blackberries don't seem to be very abundant this year but on this outing I've managed to find enough for tonight - a real autumn treat.

Recently I've added some newsletters to my in basket & I'm really enjoying them so in case anyone out there in blog land hasn't found these - here they are:

Barefoot Doctor (welcome@barefootdoctorworld.com)

semi-dailyquote@aweber.com on behalf of Susan Gregg (susan@susangregg.com)

Horse Hero (noreply@horsehero.com) - great videos on horse matters

Umhh - I can smell the brioche so it must be nearly baked - that will go really well with the blackberry & apples & yoghurt - cant wait til tea-time!

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boots

One of my favourite poems is about socks. Inspired by this poem (by Pablo Neruda) I have written my own version about a pair of boots . I mention is now as a week or so ago I ceremoniously burnt the boots - a moment of sadness & great gratitude.

Ode to a Pair of Boots

A friend gave me
A pair of boots
That she had brought for herself
But were not hers.
Two comfortable boots.
I slipped my feet into them
As if they were two cases
Made with pieces of adventure & fortitude.
Audacious boots,
My feet were two birds made of hide,
Two giant eagles
Cliff brown, shot through
With golden laces.
Two immense turtles,
Two wolves.
My feet were honoured in this way
By these heavenly boots.
They were so handsome,
For the first time
My feet seemed to me as unacceptable
Like two decrepit toads
Not worthy of the magical hide
Of those peerless boots.
Nevertheless, I resisted the temptation
To save them somewhere as schoolboys
Keep fireflies,
As learned men collect
Sacred texts,

I resisted the mad impulse to put them
In a gilded cage & each day give them
Finest nuggets & armfuls of fresh greens.
Like explorers in the forest
Who hand over the impossible unicorn
To scientists who coldly sacrifice it,
I stretched out my feet & pulled on
Thick socks & then the magnificent boots.

A shameless modification of Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Pair of Socks”.

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My news boots (pictured above - Shires Stroud riding boot) are wonderfully comfortable & water-proof but they are new & it will take a while for them to become part of me like the old pair!

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A mellow moment

I'm having one of those lovely mellow pauses in the day:

I've just taken both dogs for their main walk - short ones today because of the horrible weather. On route checked the hens & feed them great armfuls of goose grass & veggie. The dogs have been feed & are now lying in their beds washing their paws getting ready for along snooze. (This is a tip I got from a Cesar Milan book - feed directly after a good walk & the dogs fall into a deep sleep - yes it works every time). http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

I'm listening to some chilling snippets of music sent to my in-box via dailyom.com - today it is Guitar Meditations, Volume IISoulfood, featuring Billy McLaughlin 2005.

Sat here with sleeping dogs & Mr Poppy M out drilling a hole in some thing, I'm reflecting on the fascinating things that have occurred over the last few days..

* While I was hacking my way to the brook to get some water for the horse I saw a kingfisher - a piece of brilliant blue travelling at an incredible speed along the water's surface. My first siting at this location. (picture from Flickr Rosa Gambóias)

* Mr PoppyM came back from tending the hens with a great tale. He drew-up to the pen & noticed 3 rooks in the veggie patch adjacent to the hen pen. He watched them for a bit to see what they were doing - they are normally trying to steal grain from the hens. They were picking caterpillars from the cabbages!! Those crows can stay as long a they like if they'll keep on doing that!

* As I walked along the margin's of an un-cut hay field I disturbed lots of butterflies - dusky brown ones. I stood still to see if I could identify what they were feeding on - it was the grasses. Now that sight will remind me that grasses have flowers to - it's odd how I'd forgotten that as I'm a hay-fever suffer (tho tree-pollen & moulds are my big problems)!

* Buddleia- the butterfly bush - I don't think I've ever seen so many or such large flower heads as I've seen this year. Their very strong, sweet honey-scent has made my evening walks to the horse a real pleasure. And during the day, the bushes have been covered with butterflies - including Red Admirals - one of my favourites. And outside my home - the little cuttings I planted out this year are looking really healthy & the ailing bushes from last year are just about to flower - success!! (picture from Flickr doc.holiday41's photostream).

* The pumpkin & courgette plants have outgrown their bed are are now making their way across the grass! I knew they'd get big - but I didn't expect them to be this monstrous & it's only mid-July -opps.

Right - that's the mellow moment over. It's wet & windy out there, still, so time to think of something nice & warm for tea - yes it is the middle of an English summer!

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A coffee morning

Earlier this week I had a morning out with a friend. Nothing odd in that you may think - I didn't think so either until I realized that this is something I have not done for nearly 2 years! I've had plenty of "outings" & plenty of cake & coffee but not WITHOUT Mr PoppyM.

We visited Hereford Museum & the Cathedral. The Museum is well worth a visit - right in the centre of the shopping area & free. It's a wonderful old "black & white" building that was moved to it's present location on rollers - a process Mr PoppyM had a hand-in. One of the exhibits was of particular interest - a huge iron-banded box that used to reside in the ruined church that we have just brought.When the church was closed one of it's medieval bells was sent to a church in London - it's name is Gabriel. According to "The Bell"by Iris Murdock this is a traditional name for a bell, as a bell is the voice of God!

And onto another series of links - we also visited the Cathedral (of St Mary the Virgin & Ethelbert the King) - what a magnificent building. For me the high-light of the visit was the Audley chapel housing the new stained glass windows by Tom Denny. It is a series of 4 windows dedicated to the 17th century poet Thomas Traherne. (Picture above from RJE Foster - Flickr). It's a while since I have looked at a piece of art & just known that the creator was truly inspired & totally at one with his subject. I was speechless for quite a while - go see them for yourself. The link is ...when my grandmother died my aunt, who is a Deacon, had commissioned a stained glass window. And of course, our ruined church had one - how wonderful it would be to replace it.... And for the next visit - there's the Mappa Mundi & the chained library, and the secret gardens.
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This week seems to have been about change. What you take for granted now as normal, fixed or even boring may be rare, fleeting & exceptional in the future. So live very much " in the now" & appreciate as much as possible! I must be getting old & mellow!

Our normal English summer is back!

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Good news - for a number of years a solitary Pyramidal Orchid has grown on a grassy verge - this year there are three! According to a local, the original plant has been growing there for about 7 years. From a bit of research, I gather that 7 years is not a particularly long maturing time, the Common Twaybane can take 15 years to set seed! The Pyramidal Orchid is such a pleasing plant - an elegant over-all shape, a rich even pink colour & intriguing individual flowers. What a beauty!

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The Pyramidal Orchid is pollinated by moths & butterflies & I was thinking that this year I have seen lots of butterflies - brown ones in particular. I've checked a few web-sites & I think that they are Ringlets, Meadow Browns , Tortoiseshells & Gatekeepers. In lesser numbers I've seen Orange Tips, Peacocks, Painted Ladies & Brimstones. A few days ago Mr PoppyM saw a Red Admiral. I've noticed that a nearby allotment has been visited by the Cabbage Whites - lovely big plants full of holes. I'm on "butterfly alert" - they are not getting my plants this year! (Visit this web-site for some great photos & info http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/index.asp ).

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Moles - until this year I've not really given them much thought. I've seen the occasional dead one & read Duncton Wood - but that's it. Well that's all going to change! My garden & vegetable plot have become a home to a mole or moles - new hills every morning, hills everywhere. As I walk across the grass between the beds my feet sink - the other day I planted out some brassicas & hit a tunnel a few inches below the surface, & I've had to prop-up a big container as it is about to subside. Little blighters. The beautiful straight rows of seeds now have great empty patches where moles have thrown-up hills & we have smoothed them out. I've re=planted those with radishes. There must be some humane way of encouraging them to move elsewhere!! More in this in a later post.

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It's pouring with rain on & off with thunder threatening & the plants are so happy - some of the leaves on my pumpkins have reached 2' across. I have high hopes for bumpers crops!!

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Gosh isn't it hot!!

Yesterday I took the small dog out for a short walk (too hot for a long one) - down to a little pond. It was beautiful:

*pristine white lilies & glossy deep-green lily pads,

* a small "flock" of the tiniest blue damselflies - "flying sewing needles"

* & in stark contrast, a whopper of a dragonfly - I can see why the big ones are called hawkers - just like a Hawker Sidley plane!

At home the leeks I have let go to seed are looking magnificent - one of them has burst open & the pom-pom is getting ready to come into full flower. I helped it along a little by removing the papery cap - it is the 1st time I've seen a leek do this & I am struck by how like a pixie cap the covering is! Is this where the pixie & fairy artists artists got there inspiration from? (picture from the flower fairy website http://www.flowerfairiesprints.com/)

Onto more prosaic matters - the time has come to "deep-clean" the kitchen & give it a lick of paint. Groan - it has to be done & I know we'll all feel much better walking into a sparking clean the kitchen. The "comfortable chair" & sofa need to go to - it must be the "solstice effect" - that or the fact that bright sunshine shows up all that's lain hidden in the relative-gloom of the rest of the year!