Silent Sunday

Seeing double

Six on Saturday

We have had a couple of frosts the last two night, and there is a noticeable drop in temperatures even during the day.

1. With Halloween just around the corner it was time to harvest the pumpkins and squash and do some carving. The big one took up half the wheelbarrow!

Pumpkin harvest

Pumpkin

Pumpkin

Pumpkin harvest

 

2. Despite the fact that most of the flowers are gone I saw a common carder bumblebee today and it was still collecting pollen, suggesting it was still feeding young – maybe it was just an optimistic bee.

Common carder

Common carder

3. In the vegetable garden we are getting a couple of romanesco maturing.

Romanesco

4. A poor frosted cosmos.

Frosted cosmos

5. I love these big leaves of the mulberry tree.

Mulberry leaf

6. So few apples this year but there are a few bramblys on a potted tree that will have to be planted out in the next couple of months.

Brambly apple

 

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting – six on Saturday

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tenby, Wales

Inspired by Lens-artist photo challenge – layers

A photo from our summer trip to Wales and a lovely warm summer ‘s day spent on the beach in Tenby.

Tenby

 

Silent Sunday

Snail

Six on Saturday

We had a lovely bright October morning this morning and I got time to do a few gardening jobs, though I am well behind.

1. My asters are both flowering. One is in a pot and the other hidden by some other plants but they are lovely shades of purple and pink. I had bought them as a late pollinator plants but the few bees that are still about are ignoring them, and using the comfrey instead.

Aster

Aster

2. Aronia is at its best colour now, the only pity is that these beautiful red leaves fall quickly. We have no fruit on these this year – the first year they have failed to fruit. So the blackbirds are probably disappointed as they usually consume most of them!

Aronia

3. Despite my earlier pessimism the squash and pumpkin have got to a good size. The biggest pumpkin is huge, but there are four others which are the perfect size for carving. The squash of which there are three and about football size, so quite happy with that, though no where near my best squash year, it is better than last year.

Pumpkins

Squash

Pumpkin

4. Ragged Jack kale is one of those plants that seem to thrive in our climate. I allow them to self seed and we have plenty. The chicks are enjoying them too.

Ragged Jack kale

5. This lupin self seeded itself on the patio, and it is flowering now!!

Lupin

6. Oxalis – this hasn’t flowered for a couple of years, but the leaves still come up and are very pretty.

oxalis

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

Filling the frame with flowers

Summer is becoming a distance memory as autumn takes hold, so I decided to fill some frames with flowers for this week’s lens-artist photo challenge.

Waterlily

poppy

opppy

Lily

Cosmos

Clematis

Geranium

Silent Sunday

Autumn medley

Six on Saturday

We are well into autumn here now, so no flowers this week with the exception of my daughter’s sunflower which is bending over a bit now after Storm Lorenzo.

Sunflower

We have one cheeky little robin. He likes admiring himself in the wing mirrors of the car and lets us get quite close – hence the photograph below.

Robin

The shieldbugs were still about too – here now in it’s final adult stage.

Hawthorn Shieldbug

Also the very last of the butterflies. This small tortoiseshell hung about for an afternoon before the storm came.

Small tortoiseshell

And real signs of autumn. The ivy in the hedge in full flower. This is a valuable food source for late pollinators.

Ivy

Cobnuts. We have a good enough crop this year but are still losing quite a few to nut weevils. The nuts are very tasty though the ones we do get!

Cobnuts

 

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

 

 

Lens artist photo challenge – pick a place

This week’s lens artist photo challenge is to pick a place that holds special memories. We spent a number of years living in East Anglia in the UK. It is very different to Ireland. Large open fields, big skies, marshes and wetlands. We lived near Thetford forest, a large expanse of  pine forest, heathland and broadleaf trees. It was a lovely place to explore and go for walks.

 

One year it snowed rather heavily.

It is a place that holds many memories and from where I have still some amazing friends. You know who you are ladies. This one is for you:)