Herefordshire 2023 - November Visit - Part 1: Hatfield and a Nursery

 

As the weather forecast was good for a few days last week we visited Herefordshire.  When we set out we had discovered the car had a slow puncture - so once we had arrived it was a visit to KwikFit in Leominster before the click and collect.  The service there was very good - they saw to the car straightaway and it only took about 25 minutes although sadly as there was a screw in the tyre we had to have a new one :(  

While the tyre was being fitted we had a look around a small nursery next door.

The roses seemed quite a reasonable price - well certainly compared to the one's at David Austen nursery a few years ago! so I asked B to buy me one as an early birthday present to plant in the small garden at the caravan.

As with so many places Christmas has started early!  Apart from buying presents when I see them I try not to think of Christmas until December!

Back at Hatfield the Herefordshire Oak now has autumn colour in its leaves :)

The Octopus Tree in the space of a few weeks has lost all its leaves and

the Constable Tree looks pretty bare too!

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone ever wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

A Wander Round Coleshill

 

D and I went a wander round our nearest market town, Coleshill, at the weekend mainly to visit our favourite second hand bookshop - "Books Revisited".

I usually manage to park by the church in Church Hill.

There are some lovely independent shops in Coleshill.

I usually buy the Christmas wreath for the front door from this florists but that won't be until next month!

I just bought a few Christmas decorations for the tree from the bookshop although there were a couple of new books I was quite keen on which if they are still there I might buy another time.  

Lychgate leading to the church decorated with poppies for Remembrance Sunday.

I've done several blog posts on St Peter and St Paul Coleshill Parish Church in the past - this is the West Door.

Crocheted poppies have been used to create a display at the church.

War Memorial

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.  (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Recent Reading

 The Miss Read books are a calming easy read. I can't believe I got rid of all the Thrush Green and Fairacre books when I had a fiction paperback clear out and now I'm having to buy them all again for the Kindle!

Another good Mitchell and Markby book.

Another Miss Read book - I shall soon be through the series. To be honest for some unknown reason perhaps because it was a 99p offer on Amazon I bought a pyschological thriller.  Its good but somewhat unsettling and chilling and not the thing to read at bedtime especially when you have  trouble sleeping anyway!

I've been reading this book at the caravan.  Alfred Watkins who is perhaps best known as the author of "The Straight Track" about his discovery of Ley Lines was a man of many talents including photograpy.  This book contains many of his photos and also an unpublished manuscript called "The Masefield Country" with reflections on the poets John Masefield, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Langland who all had connections with Ledbury.

I always enjoy Wesley Peterson Novels and this one was particularly good.

This shortish book published by Little Toller is a collection of prose and poems on the fell walls of Cumbria.

Another Miss Read!   I fear there are not many left in the series.  I will re-read the Lark Rise to Candleford books next.

This is the pyschological thriller book I mentioned above. I finished it in a couple of afternoons. I have discovered this genre is not really for me - too chilling but the book was very very good. The end is full of suspense and there is a twist  although the author does give a clue so I had sort of worked it out.  

I realised recently I hadn't read the next in this series which has been on the kindle for ages.  Not my favourite series but nevertheless a good read.

I do like Shire Books - they give a good introduction to a subject. I would have preferred the "real" book version but book shelf room has now completely run out on the bookcases and I can't double stack any more!

The pumpkin carved for Halloween at home.  We had pumpkin pasties for tea and I also made some Spider muffins.