Occasional sunny spells on a clouded morning developed into bright sunshine by the time we drove into the forest this afternoon.
Jackie spent some time collecting cuttings with which to populate the
greenhouse pots.
The orange poppies that last just a day don’t normally emerge from the soil until spring. We have several clumps now. These, incongruously beside more seasonal asters, are in the Cryptomeria Bed
which also houses hot lips
still attracting bees.
The cryptomeria itself can be seen beyond the cordeline Australis lending its name to the Palm Bed;
it stands beside the laurel on the far right of the Phantom Path.
The deep red climbing rose soaring over its arch spanning the Shady Path also doesn’t know it is autumn,
although the Weeping Birch clearly has an inkling.
Elizabeth’s Bed
and the patio planting continue to flourish.
Pelargoniums still hang in baskets.
Nugget, this morning patrolled his fences. This fellow, I think, is a rival displaying discretion. I did see our own robin dive-bomb another which immediately scarpered, but he was too quick for me.
These autumn colours brighten Sway Road;
others burnished the landscape beside the A35,
and glowed beneath
an unnamed lane off Cadnam Lane,
along which clusters of mushrooms burst from the moss coating of a fallen log,
and bracket fungus clutched a living tree.
Pheasants, both cocks and hens, dared anyone actually to drive at the 40 m.p.h. limit.
On one side of Tiptoe Road a pair of ponies cropped the verge outside The Old Bakery;
several more slaked their thirst on a winterbourne pool on the opposite side.
A mare led her foal along the road
to add to the chaos caused by a broken down car.
Returning home along Roger Penny Way we were treated to a display of cervine elegance as a young stag stepped on pointe across the road in front of us.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s tasty and wholesome liver and bacon casserole (for recipe see Jackie’s comment below); roast potatoes and butternut squash; crunchy orange carrots, and bright green firm Brussels sprouts, with she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Saint-Chinian 2017.
