Last week we returned to Herefordshire for a few days.
There have been changes in some of the Herefordshire Trees in the fortnight we have been away.
A definite hint of autumn colour in the leaves of the Herefordshire Oak.
The Octopus Tree seems to have lost most of its leaves! The "octopus" shape is becoming more apparent now - well to me at least!
Meanwhile the Constable Tree looks more or less unchanged.
We arrived on the Tuesday lunchtime. We didn't do the usual click and collect at Morrisons in Leominster in the afternoon as we are trying to use up food in the freezer and tins, pasta and rice in the cupboard in preparation for when we close the caravan down for a few months. We did stop at a small Morrisons in Bromyard for just a few items and also Legges - a farmshop to buy cheese and some Peter Cook bread. Peter Cook is a Herefordshire baker who has won many awards and I really wanted to try one of his loaves - it was delicious!
After lunch we went a walk through the site to the Hen House to buy some eggs. The autumn colours on trees are really starting to come out now.
Mint seems to be taking over this herb pot by the office! D has suggested when we finally get round to re-doing our own herb pot we should plant mint separately.
"Plants in Walls"
Oontitoomps!
D carved a pumpkin
Timothy glad to be back on his shelf and a rose we picked from the garden. There are still a few plants in flower - hollyhock, periwinkle, heather, fox and cubs and an ice plant.
A few photos taken by D in the "golden hour". View from the side of the caravan.
Views to the rear of the caravan - you can see the Herefordshire Oak.
Pumpkins in Hatfield Village
We saw and picked up bats on the bat detector on one of evenings and walking back from the Hen House saw an unusual bird of prey. I am not sure what species it was although it did look very like a harrier - another possibility is an Osprey as they have fish in the pool at the site and Docklow Pools fishery is nearby. Although it is probably a bit late for an Osprey on passage. It definitely wasn't a Red Kite or Buzzard, Kestrel or Sparrowhawk which are the species we have seen there. Sadly we only got a silhouetted view of it in flight and the very record shot doesn't really show any details of plumage.
Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. Photos marked *D taken by my son with the Canon SX50 HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).
Planting mint separately is a good idea but do use a sturdy pot as the roots in mine decimated the pot it was in in a vain effort to escape the pot.
ReplyDeleteThe trees there seem to be barely moving and are well behind others up and down the county waiting to turn.
Hello Timothy, says Treasure
Thanks Debbie - I will remember that about a sturdy pot!
DeleteI hope we can go back and see more autumn colours as long as the gales don't come along.
Timothy says hello to Treasure :)
Hatfield looks a wonderful, peaceful retreat. The trees are interesting in the way they change seasons, so different from each other. Yes, a good idea to keep the mint in a separate pot as it does take over. I wonder what the bird of prey was? We have fox and cubs flowering again in the garden. Have a lovely weekend:)
ReplyDeleteRosie - Thank you. It is only a very small caravan site with the caravans well separated and in "compartments" as it were. It is not commercialised at all - thank goodness!! Thanks re the mint! I would love to know what the bird of prey was as well! Frustrating not knowing! OH is keeping an eye on Fox and Cubs as it does seem to spread! Have a lovely weekend too.
ReplyDeleteGlad your caravan site is still open but I think it stays open until December, doesn't it? Your trees are looking good and I can see your octopus, although it only has six legs! :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish my mint would look all fresh and lovely like that, but mine just bolts and flowers (I like it flowering as it attracts pollinators) but then the leaves are very tough by this stage.
The middle photo of the plants in walls has a leggy sedum on the right - I have that in my 'gravel garden' (basically the patch where the fruit trees are) and it started off with just one plant, then three, then next thing I knew there were about fifteen of the blooming things! I'm going to get rid of some as it's making walking around more difficult. They grow wild up the road on the bank so it probably came from there.
Thanks Mandy. The site stays open until the end of December and is just closed in January and February. We went twice in December last year but on the one odd occasion temperature went down to minus 8 one night and two of the outside pipes froze! It was a complete nightmare tbh although OH got pipes defrosted with a hair dryer in the end without any burst pipes! So sadly I think we will close it down in November this year - depends on the weather!
Deletelol re: the octopus- two must have been chopped off :)
We grow mint and last year had a real problem with mint moth caterpillars decimating one plant!! We use it in cooking but as you say the flowers do attract pollinators too :) Yes it does tend to bolt I agree.
I quite like sedums - I used to have a lovely pot with them in with gravel on! but one by one they died :( But I can see why you have problems with them in your "gravel garden".
I might see still do a pot of them at the caravan as they may survive dry periods when we are not there to water them!