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 - Autumn arrived early

Butterflies in the garden

Combining in the village

Eddie enjoying the seaside

Our first apple

In August I was mainly:

- working in all weathers, even a thunderstorm!  You've never seen me weed so fast.

- walking the dog in clouds of dust - see combining.

- killing flies.

- making courgette soup (after washing one's hands).

- filling the freezer with beans (various).

- trying to get a bat out of the bedroom at 5am.

- spotting three barn owls, one hare and a polecat!

- reading in my steamer chair at the end of the garden under the lilac tree and then falling asleep.

I had a self indulgent trip to London on the train to meet up with Maisie one Saturday.  We had our favourite vegetarian fish and chips in the Chelsea Potter pub on the King's Road.  Apparently the pub was built in 1842 and Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones were once visitors.

Chelsea Potter pub.

Nice pint.

We strolled up Bywater Street

We then went on to Notting Hill

Love this shop!

It was very busy

By the end of the day we were exhausted.

Back in Salisbury for a very grey, cold picnic outside the Cathedral whilst listening to big band music.

Swing Unlimited Big Band with dancers dressed in 1940's gear

The weather has been so changeable that we haven't sat outside as much as earlier in the summer. 

Summer colour

Echinacea

Oi!  Get off!

Cosmos - Pied Piper Red

Achillea brightening up a grey day

I was determined not to waste a single home grown courgette, no matter how many we had!  The freezer is full of soup for the winter.

Courgette and lemon soup

Courgette and Parmesan soup

Courgette and ginger soup (favourite)

I made a (stiff!) batch of marmalade.

We took Eddie to Hengistbury Head again

It was freezing, windy and raining but it didn't dampen Eddie's enthusiasm

I picked a few things to identify once back home in the dry.

Pink Sea Aster - common on salt mashes, cliffs and rocks

White flower is some kind of mustard, cress or cabbage plant.  Forgot to bring a leaf home so couldn't identify it!

Rock Samphire - not very common plant of rocks and cliffs by the sea.  You can use the thick, fleshy leaves for making pickles and the carroty taste makes it good in salads.  The leaves really smell of lemon oil.

I've also been in the hedgerows at home.  This is Old Man - before the beard

Basil brought over delicious chocolate brownies and had a cuddle with Frank

We have been inundated with house martins.  One morning there were hundreds in our tulip tree, on all the telegraph wires, even on our washing line!  The next day they were all gone, back to Africa. They've got the right idea.

House martins getting ready for the off

The roses seem to have survived being moved when we had the front garden re-done.

Gertrude Jekyll

Alderley Park rose

We have been arty farty whilst listening to tunes.

Esme helped with the 'cuttin and stickin'

Oliver came over for a gossip over a massive dish of maccy cheese

A typical August sky!

Autumn has arrived early - I don't mind in a way as there's more to spot on my walks.

Rosehips

I would love to try making rosehip syrup.  Add to long list of things to do!

The strange Bedeguar Gall or Robin's Pincushion on a Dog Rose

I'm now on the lookout for fungi and looking forward to woolly cardy and scarf wearing - yes!

Looking down in to the valley and I've lost the dog.....

'A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.'  

- Isabelle Eberhardt (from Tristan Gooley's 'How to read water')