Tag: autumn

#1061 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn YardeningLeave a comment

Here we go October. The Solar festoon lights have been taken down from the yard. Poor attendance by daylight,recently, has powered them up only enough to limply glow for about an hour.

Here they are having their last glow on the floor, while they dry out, before they are boxed up until May. Taking  them down was a much more difficult task than putting them up. The climbing plants had made good use of their wires as supports,

So I had a couple of hours of plant wrangling and weaving shoots into new support networks, while removing the festoon lights.

Many solar powered lights have been replaced by less mains operated bulbs. Just enough to light up the way to our garage.

The other set of lights will permit tomato harvesting in the dark evenings. Our outdoor tomato plants often keep fruiting until December. Careful storage means we can often eat a home grown tomato on C#ris##@s Day.  Apologies for mentioning the C word.

In other news here is a photo that has all the components of a prize winning candid shot and is not a prize winning shot.

Moments before this shot the seagull slid down the small childrens slide. Here he is composing himself after his ‘thrill’ ride. He teased me by returning to the steps a few times but never quite plucked up the courage to give me a photo opportunity.

Leaves however have no choice. Nature imitating  drive-through coffee.

Welcome October, play nicely and I will write good things.

#697 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ponderingLeave a comment

A year ago my October morning dog walks were spent on Wimbledon Common. I was in London giving Nana support to my freshly delivered granddaughter. As is the nature of such a visit the weeks passed into rather a blur but walking on the common daily was a great way to experience nature starting the shutdown for winter.

I am not a winter person. Short days are not my thing. Now I am no longer constrained by working impossibly long days in a hospital I find October to be my most prolific walking month. Any excuse and the dogs are put on a lead and we go out for additional day time walks.

The photos that pop up in my image archive reflect this.

This spider web is from a Cornish October walk and a fresh one from this week is below.

I’m really not certain what compels me to be out and about quite so much. My need for daylight almost feels like a thirst. It helps that as long as there is no rain, October walks can still be taken in sandals and without a coat.

Autumn in its purest form is a fabulous season. I just feel conflicted by it.

I love the idea of Firework Night on the 5th of November, a strange celebration of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. A British autumnal tradition that eases us towards winter . Just a few days earlier I dislike and avoid Halloween, with all its tacky plastic spookiness and begging children. But without Halloween I would not get to experience the beauty of pumpkins, and the adult I have become knows that Fireworks are really a very hard thing to defend for many reasons

So where am I with October and Autumn. There is an element of grieving for the summer past and anticipation for the festive season to come. Acceptance that there will no longer be warm days and the first inklings of planning for the festive season, something I love.

I think my need to be out and about , feeling nature in autumn turn towards winter is complex and only a recent discovery. Only obvious once I had given up full-time work in artificial light. Now I think I need to harvest daylight while I can. Something I would never have considered in my working life.

October. It makes you think.

#358 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

This may be a meandering blog. I know what I want to express but the path may meander a bit. This calm picture was my start point. There is a strength from a three generation female line. I’m sure four or even five generations would be even better but that is a luxury denied to our little family. Following our morning cuddles I did the most enjoyable autumnal walk which seemed also to be full of glorious natural strength. Oak trees gave me the most lovely example of the circle of life. Three colours of Oak leaves on one twig.

Then serendipity gave me the circle of life illustration. Three English Oak Memorial Benches were being delivered to their new locations on Wimbledon Common.

So familial strength and the circle of life all wrapped up in Oak on an autumn morning.

Pandemic Pondering #567

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Yesterday was a strange one, Autumn has certainly arrived. The sea temperature and air temperature were equal, both at 14 degrees. The evening bob felt completely fine but we may have stayed in the water too long as we felt the effects of afterdrop for the first time in about 5 months. Afterdrop is the effect of body temperature continuing to drop after leaving the water. Hot drinks, brisk changing and lots of layers help to minimise the effects but we’ve got used to leisurely chats after swimming and not being too fussed about layers or bringing hot drinks. Time to take sensible precautions again. The word Christmas was mentioned!

A Christmas day morning bob is looking likely for this year.

On our walk to the beach we passed this glorious Virginia Creeper and Hop combination on a wall. A sure sign Autumn has arrived and is settling in for a few months.

Another crochet painting emerged from my new painting space in the garage. The paintings are stacking up in the studio ready to have their fine details and finishing done in the warmth of the indoor studio. Such luxury!

Pandemic Pondering#503

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Pandemic ponderingsLeave a comment

Yesterday was all about doing essential tasks but taking the odd moment off to take in the signs of summer. Rolls of straw disappearing into infinity were a good reminder that the summer, which has barely got started weather wise is already on the home run towards autumn. I spent a good part of yesterday harvesting wisdom. Sometimes when I spend too long cogitating on things alone it can be like drinking champagne to share those thoughts with a friend. A moment of someone elses perspective or experience brings light and clarity to a situation that I was making murky by over-thinking. I visited a friend with a new Shepherds Hut yesterday, and in its tiny space and in a few minutes of nattering she quickly gave me a precious nugget of wisdom that solved a situation I had been mulling over for some time.

Even the Shepherds Hut made me think of autumn. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but so far in the summer of 2021 my stand out piece of summer clothing is a lightweight but very effective raincoat. We may have been over excited in buying a big garden parasol for our new back yard, an essential item for safe outdoor socialising in these Covid times. We’ve only needed it twice in a little over 6 weeks of prime-time summer. Earlier in the week we managed a whole morning of yardening untroubled by over zealous sun or blistering heat. Our yard is essentially a bright white box of enclosing stone walls facing west. A perfect sun trap if there was any of it about! The yardening was an exercise in potting and repotting container plants that we had moved from the old house. Just to show off the sun and a little heat made a late appearance yesterday in the yard and warmed the newly potted plants.Which makes all my moaning about a lack of summer sun seem like nonsense.

But stuck in England as I am I would like to have some consistency of sunshine and some sweltering heat so that when autumn does arrive I can fully appreciate the cooler days with occasional showers. Which perversely, of course, is exactly what the whole summer of 2021 has been like here!

Pandemic Pondering #216

On By theoldmortuary.designIn dog walks, Serendipity1 Comment

The weather has been a little wetter this week than at any time during Ponderings. It means that daily dog walks require a little more planning, or in fact less, if the serendipity of a dry spell is to be utilised . Two dogs with a good proportion of poodle in them equates to eight little paws that act as sponges in wet and muddy conditions. Any walk is best finished with a bit of pavement walking to stamp off the worst of the weather before entering the house. Our walk yesterday produced these three lovely pictures of autumn leaves all within a few yards of each other.

I took these three pictures and then promptly forgot about looking for the beauty that was laying at my feet. I realised that I have already missed the glossy perfection that is conkers emerging from their velvety beds within spiky shells. Also cobnuts and hazelnuts have been and gone. Just a little research in the picture archive gave me this painting of cobnuts, figs and blackberries from two years ago.

I need to start paying a bit more attention to things before the colours of autumn are lost for another year.

Pandemic Pondering #210

On By theoldmortuary.designIn artLeave a comment

Home

Goodness me, pondering is never predictable. Today was about a bit of outdoor sketching and some social nattering with other artists. The location was always going to be spectacular at The Garden House perched, as it is, on the edge of Dartmoor. The weather was very kind , a brilliant sort of day, bright with sunshine and dark with marvelous shadows.

10 acres of arboreal beauty makes it very easy to lose your fellow artists, not that that was the plan. I was lucky enough to find the heart of the garden.

There were so many pictures to capture and many stories to tell in future blogs but this lovely heart image deserves a blog of its own. It was really comforting to be able to gently natter to people I haven’t seen in reality for 8 months but it was also comforting to be alone but amongst friends in a beautiful place. Our conversations were blissfully honest, when they happened, so many shared stories of Coronovirus hardships and disappointments, but also the sharing of creativity and optimism in a beautiful place.

Pandemic Pondering #194

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home Towns, SerendipityLeave a comment

Yesterday was a day for basking in afternoon sunshine. Autumn may have arrived but the sunshine had forgotten and we sat, like lizards on hot rocks, taking in the late September sun. The wind however was very much in Autumn mode and swirled and nipped at us whenever we turned a corner between buildings. In truth the basking was accidental , we were only on one of our regular dog walks but we had stopped for a coffee and some people watching. Neither were exciting enough to be pondered about but the sunshine was lovely. For reasons which I don’t fully understand the water which accompanied our coffee arrived iced and with a straw. Leave two women with a straw in strong sunshine and this is what you get!