Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Sunday 21 October 2012

Autumn in the Garden







"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree"

Emily Bronte


I love the colours of Autumn and the leaves in the garden are showing their beautiful Autumn tints.













It was very misty this morning with dewdrops glistening on cobwebs





There are still several plants in flower - cosmos, fuschia, michaelmas daisies, coneflowers and sedums







Ivy flowers - popular with butterflies and late flying insects


I grew some tomatoes this year for the first time in years and whilst some are still ripening, I plan to make Green Tomato Chutney with the rest.



Toadstools are starting to appear in the lawns.


Whitebeam, rowan and pyracantha berries have already been eaten by Blackbirds and Wood Pigeons but some holly berries remain.


And the fairies watch over the trimmed wildflower meadow!!!


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A lovely post. I am enjoying the colour changes here too, I thought they were slow to start but it goes on apace now. We have had very little in the way of dampness until today when it seems to have been dark all day.

Ragged Robin said...

Toffeeapple - Many thanks :) Its amazing how quickly the colours can suddenly change. Travelled along a stretch of road one morning recently and when I came back in the evening there seemed loads more colour.

Dark and murky here too today - horrible. Looks like it might continue for several days :(

Rohrerbot said...

Your changes are nice. Looks cool and misty in your part of the world. You've got great spiderweb shots. Enjoy all the beauty while it lasts. Such a lovely time of year. We don't have this change where I live. It just goes from hot to...warm:) So it's great to visit your cooler garden. Hope you had a nice start to your week. Chris:)

Niki said...

Lovely! I love Autumn. :-)

Ragged Robin said...

Rohrerbot - Thanks Chris. Looks like fog and mist all week! A shame you don't get the colour changes but you do get hummingbirds!! Enjoy your week :)

Niki

Many thanks - after Spring Autumn is my favourite season!

ShySongbird said...

A lovely Autumnal post Caroline and lovely, colourful photos too. Autumn leaves always look so beautiful against a blue sky, it has been miserable here for the last few days so they are not being seen at their best. Your photo with the garden rake shows what hard work the fallen leaves can be too!

I love your spider's web photos also!

You still have lots of colourful flowers, I love Cosmos, they always put on such a good show and of course the insects love them too.

Have you heard they are 'postponing' the Badger cull until next Summer...yeaaaay!! I do hope they quietly drop the plan altogether. We shall have to be careful they don't manage to go about it next year without opponents realising though! Hopefully Brian May and others will be on the ball.

Ragged Robin said...

Shy Songbird - Many thanks Jan. I was lucky with the photos as it was sunny. Although some I took on a cloudy day as sun sometimes bleaches colours although I have been experimenting more with white balance!

Its the first year we've grown Cosmos and have been over the moon with how long they flower and the bees and hoverflies they've attracted. Will definitely grow again next year.

The postponement is good news :) Watched Paterson's announcement on BBC Parliament and the "debate" whilst ironing. I was getting very angry with some of his comments!!!!!I really do hope they drop it but I have a feeling they are still determined to go ahead :( Brian May, The Badger Trust and RSPCA plus others are doing a brilliant job. I joined the Badger Trust some time ago and am thinking now of joining my local Warks Badger Group just in case the pilots do go ahead and they then start on the rest of the country :( At least though, for now, the badgers are safe which in itself is wonderful news :)

Did you know they are still carrying on with the parliamentary Debate too on Thursday - the one sparked off due to the e-petition.

ShySongbird said...

No, I didn't know that was still going ahead, thanks for letting me know. I may well have it on while tackling my pile of ironing ;-)

Rohrerbot said...

Just heard about the badger delay. I am so happy that they've postponed this. I don't know what in the world they are doing over there. Ridiculous! It sounds like they're killing everything off over there instead of preserving life! And it's not just you that has been reporting this stuff. All that will be left are the Blue Tits and even those will disappear if they don't start keeping a better eye on their species. I am so angry about this badger culling idea. It has happened here A LONG time ago....but for the most part, people are learning that that particular step is not a smart one. So I'm glad there is one more year until it will happen. This species could easily go extinct if not protected.

Ragged Robin said...

ShySongbird - Hi again Jan. Not sure what time tomorrow - although 12.30 has been mentioned on Twitter. It would certainly make ironing more interesting!! Hopefully, I'll be able to watch as much of it as I can. Should be interesting and no doubt I will be shouting at Paterson again - do wish he would get his science right!!!! I've just watched a clip of him on yesterday's ITV news when he was on about living in country and lamping - totally appalling.

Ragged Robin said...

Rohrerbot - Thanks for all your support and interest Chris :)

I was going to do an update tomorrow after the parliamentary debate because I know you are interested.

The postponement is a temporary reprieve. At least it will keep badgers safe for a few more months.

Sadly, the cull will not prevent bovine TB and may even make it worse. The badger is already a protected species and if they kill too many they will contravene the EU Bern Convention. It is just a political decision by the Govt to appease farmers and offer them a "carrot" using the badger as a scapegoat.

The real way forward is badger vaccination, getting EU to approve cattle vaccination after more research on DIVA test (which can differentiate between cattle that are vaccinated and those that have bTB), improved testing, animal husbandry and biosecurity. The disease did not originate in badgers!!!

What happens when killing badgers fails to stop bTB - will they start to cull all wildlife????

A total nightmare especially as the decision is not based on science. TBH I cannot remember when I was last so angry. Totally inhumane, unethical, unscientific and uneconomic.

Your support in all of this is really appreciated Chris. I will do a quick blog update tomorrow after the parliamentary debate.

Thanks again :)

All the best Caroline

Ragged Robin said...

ShySongbird Jan - not sure if you will see this but badger debate about to start (11.50) I understand. I've got BBC Parliament on if you've got that channel but I think you can watch via internet.

I won't be able to watch it all but will catch what I can!

Rohrerbot said...

Thank you for the updates. I can only imagine the frustration. If that happened here, there would a major world. You DO NOT touch a protected species. If they do this, conservation agencies around the world will have at the government. Right now, I guess it will have to be wait and see.