Early autumn morning in the garden

I took the camera out into the garden first thing this morning, hoping to capture this trail through the wet grass:

We are fairly certain this winding path, all around the back lawn and again on the front lawn, is made by our hedgehog.  We haven't actually seen him for several months, but his night-time meanderings are much more visible in the autumn dew, and if we search, we can often find other evidence of his visits ;)  Perhaps we need to mount a nocturnal vigil to see if we can spot him.

I love the garden early in the morning while the dew is still on the ground.  And this morning, there seemed to be colours of autumn all around me.

Don't laugh; this is our best squash!

I need to make the most of these glorious autumn days.  Before long, we'll be huddled up against the wind, rain and cold.  Days like today are to be stored up and remembered with gratitude.

Autumn mists and classic cars

Misty morning

Autumn is definitely under way here.  Temperatures have fallen off in the morning and evening (and during the day, according to N!), and some parts of the garden no longer get the sunlight at all.  I often open the curtains to find a mist hanging about and the grass stays damp with dew most of the morning.  

The last of the peppers being prepped
 for the freezer

Homemade tomato soup served with homemade bread - delicious!

We're doing our best to spend some time in the garden every day, rain permitting, and it's surprising how much can be achieved in just an hour or so.  The sweetcorn, beans and some of the tomato and pepper plants have been pulled, the beds weeded and dug over.  Considering that this time last year we barely had a garden to speak of, we are very happy with how productive our little plot has been this year.  The beds that are being rested over winter will have a covering of manure to replenish nutrients, to prepare them for  the next growing season.

More time is being spent with indoor pastimes and hobbies - crafting comes to the fore in the colder months.  I seem to have more sewing-related projects on the go (or in the pipeline) than I can sensibly manage; I always like to have plenty to do but it's all got a little out-of-hand recently.  That may, of course, have something to do with a certain tiny person who has crept into my life :))  

A trailer just big enough to sleep two!

Over the weekend, we managed to get out for a walk along the front.  It was the annual classic car rally, and there was a magnificent array of cars parked all along the esplanade.  We were duly impressed; much gleaming chrome and polished paintwork, and trips down memory lane.   There were so many people there, admiring the wonderfully restored old vehicles and chatting to their owners.  Another very enjoyable day out.

While we waited

The past few days have been a bit of a rollercoaster as we have first waited for, and then delighted in, the birth of the newest member of the family.  It has been a very special time.

We tried to fill our days beforehand but to be honest, our thoughts were always elsewhere, so it is surprising that much got done at all.  However, in between the waiting and anticipating of phone calls, the vacuum cleaner has been taken to pieces, cleaned and repaired, and we have saved ourselves the considerable cost of replacing it - a definite result.  If something can be mended to extend its use then we will certainly have a go, and it is quite satisfying knowing you have saved a few pennies in the process and prevented adding to landfill.

Not much room left in the preserving pan 

Our first sweet corn

When the weather has allowed us (we have had some torrential downpours recently) we have spent some time in the garden, preparing it for winter.  With the colder temperatures, fewer tomatoes and peppers are ripening now, and we had the usual glut of green tomatoes left on the plants.  Not wanting to waste them, we made them into a spicy chutney, adding the last couple of courgettes and the remainder of the cooking apples we were given.  The smell may linger overnight but the chutney looks wonderful.  And this evening we enjoyed our first full-grown sweet corn cobs - with a dab of butter, they were delicious!

I still make bread every week but I'm keen to learn and make improvements where possible. Although the bread is very tasty, I think it's a little on the heavy side, possibly because I think I get the dough too dry so I have been experimenting with a much wetter mixture.  It's certainly very sticky to work with so I have had to find something to assist with mixing it - I found the little plastic scraper used to de-ice the freezer is ideal!  However, using more water and working with wetter dough, and baking at a higher temperature for a little longer seems to be resulting in a much better-textured loaf.  I'm glad I persevered; a bit of trial and error seems to be paying of and my bread-making skills are gradually improving.  The loaves always seem to get eaten so they can't be too bad :)

Grandmother

A very short post today.

14 September 2015, a beautiful baby boy.

Welcome, precious little grandson xxx

A walk (in the sun) down memory lane

September is spoiling us with glorious sunshine, it's been just beautiful this week.  We're doing our best to take every opportunity to get out and about and enjoy these end of summer/early autumn days.  

Another walk earlier this week, something of a nostalgic wander along half-forgotten pathways I used to know as a small child in the company of my very special Auntie S.  Happy memories came flooding back, and I recalled ice-cream blocks in wafers, and paddling in the island-shaped pool.  It was such a delightful walk, and so peaceful in the woods.  We spotted two red squirrels in the trees (always a treat), and spent what seemed like hours just looking out to sea.  In the midst of so much rushing around and general busy-ness, it was such a pleasure to be able to just sit and be still.

The good weather means we can continue the garden tidy-up in sunshine, a real bonus.  Gradually the summer crops are coming to an end - the runner beans are finished and the fine green beans are not too far behind.  N's called it a day with the squash plants, sadly they never really got going and the very few fruits that formed have failed to thrive and survive.   We had the last of the lettuce leaves yesterday - we haven't bought salad leaves at all this year, so that's been very successful.  A few days of sunshine and warmth has been very beneficial to the tomatoes and peppers, and every day a few more fruit are turning red.  More tomato sauce for the freezer.  The courgettes are almost at an end, I think there are 3 left to crop, and the sweet corn is coming along well.  We're looking forward to sampling those in the not too-distant future :)  And on a walk into town we spotted damsons for sale in someone's garden, so we bought a couple of bags to make jam.  I remembered to count the number of fruits that went into the preserving pan (124), so I could make sure I retrieved the same number of stones before bottling - it makes for a bit of fun.  Sadly we could only find 123 stones.  Oh well ...

Getting out and about

It's been a lovely early autumn day today - sunshine and blue skies - so we packed a picnic and drove a few miles to the other side of the island and had ourselves a delightful riverside walk.  We certainly weren't alone, either.  There were lots of people out and about making the most of the weather; walkers like ourselves, but also many cyclists taking part in the cycling weekend being staged on the island.  We did manage to have one or two moments of complete peace and quiet, but it was good to see so many people, all different ages, just enjoying a really great Sunday afternoon outdoors.  Signs of autumn were all around us - acorns, sloes, hips and haws, and blackberries.  We walked about 5 miles, a nice and easy stroll, and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We had a lovely get-together with old friends/colleagues a couple of days ago and it was just so good to see so many familiar faces, and a chance to catch up on everyone's news.  There was a lot to talk about, which meant a very late night (for us, at least!) but it was such a good evening.

We went to watch the illuminated carnival last night, and it was a good turn-out to support the parade.  There's something a little magical about a night-time carnival; it was colourful, loud (!) and lively, which seems like a recipe for success.

The kitchen has seen a flurry of activity over the weekend; we've processed  tomatoes into pasta sauce for the freezer, stewed apples (a very welcome gift), and made bread and cakes.  I've managed to get the lap quilts washed and dried on the line so they'll be clean and fresh to wrap ourselves in when the evenings get cooler, although we are noticing that autumnal nip in the air already.  Everyone is commenting on the change in temperature and it makes us determined to make the most of good days when they come along.  We are making plans to keep busy and productive in the winter months with various projects but hopefully autumn will provide us with plenty of days to get out and about.

When it's sunny, clean windows

There does seem to be a hint of autumn this week.  The temperatures are dropping off, and there's that nip in the air first thing in the morning.  We need lights on by 8 o'clock in the evening, and I'm reaching for long-sleeved clothing more often than not.  That's OK though, we're so much better now at working with the seasons than against them.  We've begun the tidy-up in the garden, keeping fingers crossed for just a little more sunshine, please, to finish ripening the tomatoes and peppers and sweet-corn.  We'll be having a closer look at what worked well, and what crops we won't be bothering with again.  There's quite a bit of sorting out to do outside so that we are ready and organised for next spring, and there's a few ideas for flowers and shrubs I'm hoping to implement, too.

N has finished sorting out all the screws and nails (and picture hooks - we could supply an art gallery!), and has realised that it's just the first of many similar jobs in the shed and storeroom.  I have taken advantage of some dry weather this week to clean the windows, all of them, inside and out.  It's been quite a good workout, lol, but at least the effort does appear to have been worthwhile.  It is just one more task to be ticked of the outside maintenance list, and as that particular list is quite long, every tick counts.

It's been 'back to school' week here - it doesn't seem that long ago that the kids were looking forward to the start of the holidays!   The days seem to go so quickly, I want to make sure I make the most of each and every one.