Thpooky October

Pumpkin soup

Spooky Cathedral Close at night

My toady friend trying to get away from my over zealous speedy weeding

The ritual carving of the pumpkin 

In October I mostly:

- was bitten by midges on the head whilst gardening

- started wearing my attractive boiler suit to work

- did lots of charity shopping

- listened to Radio 4, especially like Desert Island Discs and Woman's Hour

- started knitting a scarf

- raked leaves, planted bulbs, cut back shrubs and acquired rock hard biceps

- spotted a cattle egret next to the cows in the field behind the bungalow!

- made curried carrot soup and pumpkin soup

I loved the Helianthus in our front garden

Lots of colour still around

Sunny dog walks,

admiring nature

and trying to find Eddie's ball in the leaves

I made coffee muffins with Esme.  

I even dragged her on a walk!

Frank has been good

and bad!

A new venture for us was a trip to the Bournemouth 'Arts by the Sea Festival'.  

The 'Cockatoo Art Bar' 

- a 1965 Morris ambulance with a revolving birdcage on top for spontaneous shows

A solar powered cinema!

The 'Umbrella Tree'.  A moving installation set to slightly eerie music.

'Kitsch & Sync' were a quirky dance, theatre and performance company

They were hilarious

A member of the audience got roped in to the show!

This installation was made out of drinking straws

and the 8 metre long 'Message in a bottle' by Lulu Quinn was made from recycled bottles that had been washed up on the beach

After having a dance to one of the live bands and a go on the fruit machines we strolled down to the beach to watch the sun set

Such fun!

Lots of people were admiring the extra gorgeous sunset caused by sand from the Sahara in the atmosphere 

Bit overcast but still love the view of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury

where we had great fun with our friend Basil snurging around the charity shops

Ooh, sun has come out!

This was a charity shop haul from Wilton - I adore my new tartan waistcoat and don't care if it makes me look like someone from 'Monarch of the Glen'

We have had the usual autumn fog - Eddie?

But on the whole it was very mild

I'm off in to the sunset for a blog break now to knit my scarf, read my many books, light the fire and batten down the hatches for winter.......

Ta ra for now!

'Soon there will be three souls in the house: himself, his dog, his hawk.  The thought thrills him.  He loves this house.  He calls it his workman's cottage, his badger's sett, his refuge.  Outside, light and leaf shadows move on the high grey gables.....'

                                                                                  - 'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald

August - flower power

Crunchy Courgette Pickle 

Flowers at Kew 

Sunny walks in my lunch hour across Old Sarum airfield 

and the dulcet tones of the combine harvester - they're still at it now, even in the dark

Last month I mostly:-

- Stood over a steaming preserve pan in a very hot kitchen.

- Took advantage of the £16 train offer and spent 3 Saturdays on the trot in London.  Naughty.

- Found out that those little red levers really do stop trains!  Long story.

- Watched the Red Devils jump out of a plane on a lunch time stroll with my colleague across Old Sarum Airfield.

- Went to a beer festival and drove home - I am the master of self control.....

- Watched shooting stars.

- Finished watching all 6 series of Downton Abbey - back to back.  It has taken us 9 months since it finished last Christmas.  I am now bereft.....

- Bought a third standard lamp for the house.  I think I may be obsessed.

We bought the said standard lamp from a massive charity shop in Shaftesbury, one sunny Saturday.  

Love Shaftesbury - quiet, quaint.  Just nice.

We enjoyed our usual warm apple cake and clotted cream at the King Alfred Tearooms with our friend Emma

The view from near the Abbey

Shaftesbury Abbey

When we haven't been enjoying the peace at home -

we have been up the Big Smoke.

Waterloo

I was defeated you won the war....  

Waterloo, promise to love you for evermore, da dum da dum da dum

We shuffled around the Georgia O'Keefe exhibition at the Tate Modern.  It is 100 years since the first showing of her work in New York.  Lots of chin scratching, deep conversations and strange outfits to be seen and heard!  Just as interesting as the paintings.

The turbine hall

'Tree' made from parts of trees gathered from Al Weiwei's native China

We visited Kew Gardens.  I haven't been since I was a small child and lived in Richmond.  We had a most sumptuous lunch in the enormous and jaw dropping Orangery.  Sarah nabbed a table inside and texted me as I sat outside keeping a table!  She's learning.  There are over 300 acres at Kew and we only saw a tiny amount - my legs at the end of the day!!!  

The iconic Palm House at the UNESCO World Heritage site

Very hot and steamy

Banana anyone?

I felt I should be wearing a long Victorian gown as I swept up the staircase

Oh good, a bench

Henry Moore bronze sculpture - 'Reclining Mother & Child' 1975-1976

The treetop walkway - 18 metres above the ground.

'A Maximus Ad Minima' (From the greatest to the least) by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi 1998

I am sure Kew started my fascination and love for all things cacti.

I remember standing in this display when I was small.  Although my Mother has since said that she would never have let me do that!

You could make very large quiches in those lily pads

Nelumbo 'Charles Thomas'

The Great Broadwalk - the longest double herbaceous border in the country

And I didn't realise that we would get to look around a house too - very exciting.  Kew Palace, home of George III.  Some rooms were untouched and as they would have been 200 years ago.

Kew Palace

The Georgian Royal Kitchens (with staff in costume - nice touch I always think.....)

They dye the water with a harmless black substance in the Lily House, partly to cut down on algae and also to show off the plants.

The Lily House with black water

Esme and I had a lovely picnic in the New Forest one Friday.  Look at that cloudless blue sky!  That almost never happens.

Hale Purlieu

It's definitely feeling autumnal already.

Found this on the farm - no idea what it is

Very sadly, we lost Big Dog this month.  She has left a very big hole in our lives and walks are just not the same.  Luckily, there are lots of dogs in the village that we have been borrowing - much to their owner's delight.

This is Basil.  We have also walked Lottie and Twiggs

I love the echinacea in our garden

I'm off to find my soup book and get my winter clothes out.  Oh, how I've missed layering....