Is It Really Autumn?

We began early this morning watering, dead heading, clearing debris and adding to the compost bins before attending Milford on Sea GP Surgery for flu jab appointments. A large number of patients were vaccinated smoothly at one minute intervals. We queued 2 metres apart for no time at all and were directed to our colour-coded injection chamber. All was extremely efficient except for the jam of jabbed individuals swapping details of their experience and other age-related ailments causing something of a bottle-neck at the rear exit. This was a bit of a slalom with no opportunity for the correct social distancing; however, everyone wore masks, and we were back in the car after five minutes, giving us time for a brief drive in our rather Saturday-crowded environment.

Seasonal confusion was first evidenced in our own garden with windburn to Japanese maples and Summer Wine pouring down the entrance arch to the Rose Garden. More was displayed in

Sandy Down with pink roses,

rhododendrons,

and cyclamen lining the verges; and

the leaves of a silver birch beginning to display the Midas touch.

This afternoon after some more chopping and composting of refuse I wandered around the garden with my camera.

Dahlias and begonias, some sharing beds, are in no doubt that it is their season.

Nasturtiums, gauras, and diascias are still going strong.

Small White butterflies and hard working bees are not conceding that their time is over.

Clematises, like this lost label purple one and Dr Ruppel, sharing the Gothic arch with red Super Elfin and pale pink Penny Lane roses, linger on,

as does a rather ragged Shropshire Lad, swaying in the Rose Garden to

a white symphony of begonias, nicotiana sylvestris, and Hawkshead fuchsias.

The eucalyptus still suspends filled hanging baskets flanked by pelargoniums and rudbeckias. Is it really autumn?

This evening we dined on poached smoked haddock; Jackie’s piquant cauliflower cheese; creamy mashed potatoes; firm carrots; and tender runner beans, with which we both drank Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2019 – a crisp, aromatic, white wine from New Zealand.

81 comments

  1. Which flu are these shots for? I remember during science classes we learned about thousands of viruses, so many unnamed!
    But you sure know the names of your flowers! I have trouble keeping them straight.

  2. Oh I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by. But, I am excited for autumn the trees changing the festivities and holidays.
    Lovely photos Derrick
    Hope you and Jackie have a great weekend

  3. Enjoy the autumnal glory of your garden while it lasts. The flowers are beautiful and provide sustenance for the insects before winter.

  4. I got my “jab” two days ago at a pharmacy. In the past you went into a tiny closet and there you got the shot. Now, they seat you outside the door and administer the flu shot. I was glad to get it done. The flowers are absolutely lovely. I tried to figure out which were my favorites, but they are all so beautiful. Now I want a glass of wine! Temps are dropping here as well. In the morning it’s supposed to be around 52 degrees. I love it. 🙂
    Thanks for the great post, Derrick.

  5. You already have flu vaccine? We won’t have ours until the beginning of October. Good for you both getting there and getting it done. Last year for some inexplicable reason there didn’t seem to be enough and I didn’t get mine until January 2020.

    In your featured image, is that a trailing petunia? It has achieved quite long appendages!

    With our store bought roasted chicken, buttery rice, peppery and oniony broccoli, tossed salad with garlic vinaigrette my husband and I drank a Niagara VQA white called “Vintage Ink”. Very well chilled. Otherwise it would have been unpotable.

  6. PS – You heard the news about Pauline King? I hope you toasted her with your NZ white. She was truly a human lightcatcher. She will be missed by so many.

  7. A lovely line Derrick..”the leaves of a silver birch beginning to display the Midas touch”. and I think when the silver birch is at it’s colourful best…..

  8. I can’t believe how much of your garden is still in bloom! Your dalias and begonias are looking particularly enchanting. My husband and I also got our flu shots this morning. Our experience wasn’t nearly as exciting as yours.

  9. The description of the proceedings at the medical facility is astute. Today’s gallery includes exquisite photographs of the shady road, the leaves of the trees about to turn golden, the stunning dahlias and begonias, the flower laden pots on the eucalyptus tree and the question suspended in the air: Is it really Autumn?

  10. your garden is gloriously blooming still, Derrick. i love your dahlias especially the Puerto Rico! and the peach rose, so photogenic! glad you had your flu shots! 🙂

  11. Your garden still looks so full and plentiful ! I’m quite envious of the ramble of cyclamen filling up the roadside. They’re houseplants here and I’ve never had any luck with them at all. I think it’s just too dry in the house all winter with the furnace going. What a gorgeous lane to drive home on! The big round tree on the left caught my eye. Someone’s given it a perfect clip! A green thumbs dreamland is what I’d call it, ha! xK

  12. Yes, I do believe autumn is here! YAY!!! Welcome, Autumn!!! 🙂
    Your Dr. Ruppel always makes me smile! 🙂
    Always lovely to see the butterflies and bees a’busy with their work! 🙂
    Your descriptive descriptions always make me smile…your poetness always shines through. 🙂
    Glad you 2 got your flu’ shot. They are giving flu’ shots, pneumonia shots, and shingles shots…had one of the shots already and will get the others soon.
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  13. My tomato plants have suddenly bushed out and started flowering again, after a long hiatus. Evidently they don’t think it is autumn either.

    In any case, always lovely to see your flowers. Long may they last.

  14. I love Sandy Down what an attractive lane.

    Your garden is still looking beautiful too.

    I always take every vaccine offered which in the recent past also included a separate pneumonia and a shingles vaccination as well as the flu jab. My appointment is booked for first thing on the 29th. I would have preferred an earlier appointment because whenever I’ve had the flu it’s always been in September and because of my damaged airways it always hits me hard.

    No sitting in the waiting room at our surgery either, appointments are two minutes apart, we are instructed to join our queue (2 metres apart) at the rear entrance and leave via the front.

      1. Thank you, Derrick, I’ll admit I’m a little apprehensive. Our practice has three surgery sites two in Otley and one in our village, but for the flu vaccine they have decided to use just one site in Otley. In the current climate, I can understand why this is, but I’m hoping that as my appointment is before 09:00 AM, they haven’t managed to fall behind time.

  15. We seem to be having a second summer here too Derrick – some of our flowers are on their third of fourth flowering! You garden looks so beautiful – enjoy these lovely September days x

  16. Zondag 25 oktober gaat de klok één uur vooruit: van 3.00 `s-nachts naar 2.00 uur: Wintertijd. Maar, leeft met de natuur … , in Amsterdam is het nog volop zomer.
    Alle foto’s zijn geweldig mooi, maar de laatste met die hangplanten aan die kale, witte boom … , die vind ik geweldig mooi en gezellig …
    Voor Jackie maak ik een reportage van mijn Hollands ontbijtje … Ik denk niet, dat … Nee! Oké … , ik smul er van, maar rustig an met tante Friet … Zij begint ergens aan, dat weer wel … , maar zij heeft problemen met haar foto-bestand … Haar bestand is vol. Zij moet opnieuw GB’s = giga-bites kopen en ze kan niet eens internetbankieren, dat soort problemen … Ja … , we wachten het af.
    Haar rolgordijn hangt, maar de troep is nog lang niet opgeruimd. Elfriede * http://www.friedabblog.wordpress.com * Amsterdam, 20 september 2020, 12.50 uur … Hollandse Zomertijd …

  17. It has been a curious year for sure Derrick. My tomato plants are currently in overdrive – my best crop ever. Kim is busy finding new recipes for courgettes and the runner beans show no sign of dropping down to walking pace.

    Excellent galleries as ever!

  18. It is autumn, but your gardens still look wonderful! We don’t get all the colors here like we did back in our native New England, leaves mainly yellow and quietly slip away with the daylight hours. The smoke and ash have put a damper on some things here, but we are getting good tomatoes.

  19. Lovely profusion of colors, especially the pink roses.
    You are drinking Sauvignon Blanc for a change, Derrick; it is one of my favorite wines, and it complements the fish nicely, doesn’t it?

  20. aha, so it’s true – the Northern hemisphere taking Autumn on board but your garden must be sheltered as it doesn’t seem have got the message. Here in New Zealand spring is starting to blossom – I found some cute little blossoms on my walk today and it was one of the better spring days – I was broiled by the time I got back home…but spring in NZ doesn’t always mean warmth, it has a habit of whipping back to winter!

    When we had Autumn here and flu’ jabs were apparently in short supply we were in our very restrictive lockdown at Level 4 – and I strolled through a basically empty mall to a pharmacy – sat on spaced out chairs in what would have been, normally, a bustling walkway and was attended to like I was on a factory line…wait 20mins or so and then amble away back to one of the designated entrances, not a shop open and the Mall music still playing joyful but at intervals reminding me if I was “sick to stay home…get a test”

  21. Yes fall is here and I will be sorry to see the flowers I grew from seed go. We have begonias at the entrance to our development and they are three feet high – the landscapers have tended to them well! Pretty soon they will replace them with that purple winter cabbage – not my favorite but better than a blank flower bed.

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