The Winter Ahead

The hedgerows at the moment are full of colour. There are a variety of rose hips.

And other red berries.

When we were out for our walk yesterday we passed about 4 holly trees completely covered in holly berries. 

Folklore has it that holly trees laden in berries are a sign of  a hard winter to come. We will have to wait and see!

Me on Monday: Autumnal Weekend

This Monday morning finds us thrown into half term for Emma. Is two weeks really necessary so soon into the Academic year? Anyway we are more relaxed without the normal morning rush. I am waving today at Sian the creator of Me on Monday.

It's been an at home weekend enjoying the autumnal changes.

Saturday morning I took a friend who has just moved from town to village life to a local coffee morning and gave me a chance to start a bit of Christmas shopping....

Sunday was a roast dinner day. A basket of garden produce from our vegetable garden appeared miraculously in my utility room.

I saved the marrow for another day but was pleased to see a romanessco cauliflower. They are intriguing to look at as well as tasty to eat.

Monty meanwhile seemed happy to sleep the morning away.

Emma made the most of a little more spare time trying out her Great British Bake Off skills. She made some delicious biscotti with continual guidance from Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry following the instructions on Iplayer as she went. 

                 

There was time for a bit of a walk after lunch.

I'm not sure what this horse thought of us.

Sky wasn't sure about him either.

Well sending a wave to everyone and wishing you a happy week and there will be more about this next photo later in the week.

 

A Sobering Sight

A story on the local news felt more real when I was in Bristol last week. It had been broadcasted that there had been a fire in one of the Bristol University student residences. It was in accommodation for first year students and had been started by a chip pan. Fortunately nobody was hurt. The building is close to the centre in Colston St. I crossed the centre on the way to my bus. The remains of the top of the roof was clearly visible.

A sober reminder of how easily these accidents can happen.

A Surprise Delivery

Farmer husband is not what you would call a romantic. He has occasionally given me flowers but he has certainly never had them sent from a florist. The most memorable flowers he has given me were some on offer at the market the day after Valentines Day! So when a delivery arrived at the door I was pretty sure they were not for me.

I was right! They were addressed to "The Superhero Tractor Driver". My daughter had towed out a lorry that was stuck in a neighbour's field and had been sent the bouquet as a thank you!

It's Here Again!

Anyone who was reading my blog at this time last year may recall that I featured a local scarecrow trail. Well it's here again and as last year is in aid of a little local boy called Harvey Hext who has a childhood cancer. This year the theme is "Let the Music Play".

                      

   

I haven't had much time to search many of them out although I have seen quite a few when driving around. I did today stop to look at The Young Farmers contribution that my daughter helped construct.

The Hydrangea Flower

You all guessed correctly that the photo on Tuesday is indeed a close up of a Hydrangea. It is in fact a lovely bloom from my mum's garden.

It is one of several that she has in bloom at the moment.

On our visit to Stourhead there were a lot of hydrangeas in the garden near the house which I thought gave a welcome flush of colour.

Opinion on these shrubs was definitely divided. One of my friends with us that day said that her mother had considered them to be town flowers!  My other friend agreed that she not like them at all! There is such a variety in flower heads that I think it is a little harsh to dismiss them outright. Take this one for instance at Stourhead that I think is almost sparkly.

Or this one.

Personally I think they look superb in the right setting even in the rain as we discovered back in August at Abbotsbury Tropical Gardens.

I have planted one in our garden although my mother in law tells me they don't grow around here. I shall have to wait to to find out.

Do you like them?

Pairs: Heads and Tails

I feel it is a while since I did a post featuring the farm. This pair of pictures I have been saving for a while. Today is Wednesday and that means it's time to join in with Helena's Pairs meme again. Many of you will know that we have a large number of free range hens. They do of course have free running water in their house but they do like to cluster around any collections of water.

Heads

Tails

I am sure you can imagine that every other animal has to take it's turn.