Early Signs Of Autumn

This morning Jackie and I visited Shelly and Ron with presents for my sister-in-law. Jane and Ivy were also present. The little girl was looking bonny and cheerful.

Afterwards we took a short forest drive before returning home for lunch.

The grey pony habitually risking its throat on barbed wire while checking whether the grass is greener on the other side was at it again today on the Holmsley Camp Site end of Forest Road;

and a good number were gathered on the banks of Whitemoor Pond.

Early signs of autumn abound in the turning leaves joining their predecessors on banks striated by long shadows during the sun’s brief appearances.

These mossy sawn trunks outside Burley, originally seen a year or so ago, are now carrying out their contribution to the forest ecology by supporting tree fungus and new growth of parasitic holly and other plants.

Still silhouetted are trees on the nearby ancient hedgerow banks.

I am very grateful to SueW for her help in enabling me to feature the last five pictures here from today, and to recover three rejected pictures from my post of 24th.

Elizabeth visited later with a beautiful dress for Flo and a most thoughtful crafted wood bowl for Dillon’s birthday tomorrow. She stayed for dinner, part of which consisted of her portion of the power cut interrupted meal; also on offer were some Chinese prawn toasts etc.; spicy pork spare ribs; and Jackie’s savoury rice. My wife and sister drank Kingfisher; Dillon and Flo, fruit juice cordial; and I, more of the Côtes du Rhône.

67 comments

  1. In the previous post, the photos show puddles of water along the road side. It appears you got some well deserved rain.
    Lovely pictures. yes, Autumn is around the corner here also.

  2. Sue is THE bestest helper when it comes to WP and WP issues! 🙂
    Welcome, Autumn!
    Beautiful photos today! The first one made me laugh. “They” say “the grass is always greener on the other side…”…but, we often find out it’s not. 😉
    Love the tree wearing it’s moss coat…the blanket of leaves on the ground…the light and shadows playing a game of tag…the equine…and the beautiful trees in various poses.
    Happy Early Birthday to Dillon! 🙂
    (((HUGS)))
    ??❤️ ??

  3. Glorious photos. I love the ponies, especially the one with his head through the fence. Looking very autumnal in my garden at the moment too. The garden is surrounded by a bank of mature beech trees and these seem to have dropped a lot of leaves in the past few weeks. Thanks for sharing your super photos. Karen

  4. The photos are stunning, Derrick! Perhaps the grass really is greener. ? Can you share Sue’s advice? I particularly like the first “mossy sawn trunk.”
    It sounds like you had a particularly lovely day with nature, family, and good food.

    1. Thanks very much, Merril. I send the images to Sue. She resizes them and sends them back as a link. I put the link on the post and the picture appears. 🙂

      1. Now you know what I’m up to. All of my images were inserted as links in the past. Now, I’m in the process of eliminating the links and adding those photos to the WordPress media library. It’s as though we’re passing one another on the cyber-highway, going different directions. The thought made me laugh.

  5. I’m delighted the plan worked. Thank you, derrick for your kind thank you.
    I love the tree trucks, at first glance they reminded me of giant mushrooms!

  6. Those horses are looking particularly strong and healthy. I have noticed a few fallen leaves around here in the past few days. It seems to me the mosquitoes and flies should start easing off before we see signs of fall & winter.

  7. Autumn is beginning to show up in your beautiful corner of Earth! The horses certainly look to be in fine health as they head into the winter months. The summer open range foraging has served them well, it seems. (And Happy B’day tomorrow to Dillon from this side of the pond.)

  8. Thank you for sharing these earthy images, Derrick. I especially like the moss and leaf combinations. Looking forward to autumn!

  9. Your mention of autumn created a shock for me as I had totally lost track of what time of the year this was. My mind is still fully in summer.

  10. WP won’t accept my comments unless I turn to the Reader … Grr … what are they up to! I am glad you have solved your current problem and absolutely love your header photograph!

  11. Today’s photos bear a charming look. The story of the pony that keeps risking its neck impulsively to check if the grass is greener on the other side is interesting — there is a moral in the frame. The ponies gathered on the banks of the pond make for a pretty canvas. The moss quoted trunk pops out of the frame to introduce itself. I am delighted you are back in business, even if partially.

  12. So glad you were able to enjoy the ever changing forest and we were able to see some of those scenes. Glad you got the picture issue resolved, Derrick. Have a lovely Sunday!

  13. Soon the flies and really hot weather will be over. Equinox is only a little more than 3 weeks from now. The forest scenes are beautiful, and of course, the ponies are always a treat.

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