Suddenly, it's autumn! Underneath the Acer tree is a carpet of gold and brown leaves, and right now the rain is pouring down on the dry garden.
We've used the fire for the first time this year ... gloriously toasty!
Holidays are in full swing ... Eric's been non-stop busy with friends and cousins visiting, so it's been lovely. We even revisted the Harry Potter theme and had a "Night at Hogwarts" for all three of the little cousins ... there was plenty of craft and spellcasting (even broomstick-making and duelling!)
Fresh corn, beans, coriander, basil, parsley (and other herb)s and bok choy in the garden right now.
Plenty of flowers, too ... those candy pink dahlias just keep on blooming, and one of two fat-petalled roses appear each morning.
I'm trying to plan ahead for winter colour ... hundreds of tiny stock, Shirley poppy, pyrethrum (in pinks and white) and statice are up. The pansies aren't doing anything (perhaps the heat bed is too hot for them), and I haven't had much luck with the Iceland poppies. Nighttime temperatures are dropping, so I've stacked the greenhouse with cubes of water in an attempt to increase the thermal mass. If it works, the water will heat up during the day, then release warmth slowly into the greenhouse at night. We'll see!
All the lavender bushes from the hedge along mum's back pathway have been pulled up and replaced as they had become far too woody. I wonder how long until the hedge is full of purple blooms again?
A new light and fans for several of the rooms ... replacing horrid, 30-year-old monstrosities which had faded to tan-colour. The diagonal wall mirrors in the bathroom are gone too, as well as a hole left in the wall where a light was removed, and an ironing cupboard which we never made use of. We're planning to repaint the house in a month or so, so need to make any changes before then. We'll be busy!
