The garden in Autumn

This weekend, in between rainy and windy days, I spent the afternoon in the garden raking up the leaves, and bagging some of them to make leaf mould - brilliant for improving the texture and fertility of the soil. In a few months time I should be able to spread the crumbly mix under the hedges, and onto the veg patch. 

Under the holly hedge, cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum) has produced bright red berries - apparently, much favoured by pheasants - but since we have no pheasants, they remain a bright splash of colour when many plants have finished their flowering.

We have one apple tree, growing very close to the house, and F cut off all the branches a few years ago, but leaving the trunk.  It needed a more serious saw (a chainsaw?) than Frank has to tackle the trunk.  For  a couple of years it sent out plenty of leafy stems which we cut off promptly to encourage it to die.  I think we have been successful at last.  The tree is surrounded by mushrooms(inkcaps?) and from the base to the top of the trunk a beautiful purple and pink shelf fungus has spread.  I know the mushrooms thrive where there is dying wood and I think it will probably be the same for the trunk.  We may not need to cut it down after all.

Another identification job for iSpot

 

OU news

I've had the results of my recently completed Open University Course on Environmental Science and I'm relieved to say that I passed the course work and the exam - so that means I have now completed Level Two Studies.

This year I have started Level Three work and my first course is Geology-based.  I have decided that it is about time I started taking a more active interest in the practical side of the subject and so this weekend I travelled to Lickey Hills Country Park, south of Birmingham, where I joined other members of the OU Geological Society.

Our task for the day was to identify igneous rock specimens, using a hand lens to look at individual crystals, if they were large enough to be distinguished as separate grains.  The tutor who lead the activity was very knowledgeable and had prepared detailed notes, including a step by step method to identify important features which would lead to the identification of the rock sample. 

Most of the participants worked individually, but I worked with V and we worked through the samples, following the suggested method, and having feedback from the tutor for each sample we worked with.  We agreed on most of the details and were able to correctly identify most of the samples we worked with.

 This sample, a basalt,  had crystals of olivine, and so was aptly named Olivine Basalt.

We finished the day with a walk to a very small quarry on the Lickey Hills site, that had recently been cleared of excessive plant growth so that the rock formations could be clearly seen.  The weather was kind and we enjoyed the walk in the warm, afternoon sunshine.

A Touch of Culture

The concert season has started at Keele University.  Last week we attended the first of seven Autumn Term concerts organised by the Keele Concert Society. The programme was Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibiton followed by Mahler's 4th Symphony.  I knew the first piece, but the Mahler was new to me and not at all what I expected, but much lighter.

The players were an ensemble of players from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and the concert took place in the University Chapel, the shape of building enhancing the sounds. The musicians certainly got the season off to a good start.

The wooden benches in the chapel are hard to sit on for long periods - we've been to concerts at this venue before - but the solution to the problem was simple - I took a cushion.

The following evening friend V and I went to the cinema to see a recording of  Hamlet, which is currently being staged at the Barbican in London.  The leading role is played by Benedict Cumberbatch (he of Sherlock Holmes fame), so not surprisingly, at the Barbican, performances are sold out and only returns are available as they occur.

It is so much easier, and very much cheaper, to see live or recorded performances just a few miles from home, that V and I  are becoming regulars at these performances and before Christmas we have planned to see three more performances - another Shakespeare, a Gilbert and Sullivan Opera and a Ballet.

An Autumn Stroll

The weather has been fine for the last few days and according to the weather forecast is set to stay that way for a couple of weeks yet.
On Sunday afternoon daughter and I went for a stroll in the pleasant autumn sunshine and spent a couple of hours walking the local footpaths.  There were so many signs of autumn that I took photos to share.

At the end of the road, a shrub full of autumn colour.

The trees beginning to change colour

Elderberries - the birds haven't found this tree.

A path through the trees

Fungi

Blackberries still need to ripen

Waiting for dinner

High stripey clouds

Not quite as tall as the sweetcorn in Ohio!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An evening out

On Thursday, friend V and I , went to the pictures to see a broadcast, live from the Vaudeville Theatre, London, of 'The Importance of being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde. 
For the cost of a cinema ticket we had a really good view of the play and enjoyed being able to see close-ups of the actors - we'd have needed theatre glasses to get such close-ups if we had been at the Vaudeville Theatre.  Seeing live broadcasts means we can afford to see many more shows than if we had had to travel, usually to London, where even the cheapest theatre seats are expensive, and then probably needing hotel accommodation.
This particular production was special because the part of Lady Bracknell was played by actor David Suchet, who is very famous as the character Hercule Poirot, taking the lead in each one of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories, filmed for television, over a period of several years.
When it came to the curtain call, he curtseyed so elegantly, he could have been presented to the Queen.

A surprise feast

Yesterday we went to the Building Society in town to deposit some cheques, and yesterday was a UK charity coffee morning for Macmillan cancer research.  It's been an annual fund-raising event for several years now and the staff members of the Building Society had joined in enthusiastically providing a variety of cakes to go with the coffee.  

Chocolate Cake, Carrot Cake, Lemon Drizzle Cake,Banana Loaf, Ginger Cake, assorted cupcakes.... all homemade.

Of course, we joined in and chose the chocolate cake to go with our coffee.  We even took a plate of cakes home to share with the rest of the family. 

Today, we had a visitor

One sunny day earlier this summer I was chatting with a neighbour in her front garden when we were disturbed by the sound of cats getting ready to fight.  I walked along the road till I found the site of the battle. A large black and white cat was facing a small black cat and looked ready to establish that this was her territory.  I have often seen the small black cat, but the larger cat was new to me, and it looked like she would win if she started a fight.  So I intervened from a distance and the black cat was able to run for cover while the larger cat was distracted.
Now, when I see the small cat she stops and miaows and has taken to visiting our back garden.  Today, while I was working in the kitchen I spotted her sitting patiently close to the large bay tree where there is plenty of cover for mice and birds.  I think she was probably hoping to catch a meal, but her owners have placed a bell on her collar so I don't know how successful she is at hunting.  She certainly doesn't look hungry.

She seems to have a few grey hairs

                                                                           

Does she remind you of anyone?  

 

Signs of Autumn

Early on Saturday morning, the air felt very moist, but the sun was shining and there was a clear blue sky. When F went into the garden he found a large cobweb, glinting with moisture and barring the pathway to the garden gate. 

Not wanting to miss a good opportunity for taking a photo, I joined him in the garden and there were dozens of spiders' webs around the garden, all glinting in the early morning sun.

 











                                                                              


By Saturday lunchtime, the webs had dried out and were not as noticeable.  F and I set off for a couple of days in Wales, about a hundred and twenty miles away from home and enjoyed a pleasant journey through mainly rural areas, the trees along the route beginning to show the first signs of autumn.

Travelling back late Sunday evening we arrived at home round about midnight.  The next morning looking through the kitchen window onto the back garden I spotted masses of mushrooms(?) trailing across the grass near the stump of an apple tree. . They definitely were not there when we left home about thirty-six hours earlier and B says they weren't there on Sunday morning.  They certainly appeared as if by magic

F cut down the tree about three years ago.  It was very productive but was too close to the house so it had to go, and the tree was too large to transplant.   In the years since, the remaining stump has produced many shoots which have been removed so I think the tree has finally given up.  The fungi may well be helping to breakdown the woody roots.

I have no idea what sort of mushrooms they are so I have not picked and cooked them.  I am going to post a photo  on iSpot.org and see if any of the members can identify them.

On Monday morning they looked like glossy light brown domes but by Tuesday morning they had flattened and darkened.  Thoses with sharp eyes will note that grass is in short supply on the back 'lawn'.

An unusual sight

At the weekend F and I were in Mid Wales when we spotted this creature.

A very bright caterpillar, the size of my index finger, was crawling around in the grass on the wooded hillside.  I had no idea what sort of caterpillar it was,but I knew I had never seen anything like this before. 
When we got back home I searched on the internet but could not identify it so I tried the ISpot website.  Having put the picture on the site it didn't take long for the creature to be identified. 
It is the caterpillar of the goat moth.  The goat month lays its eggs on tree trunks and the caterpillar lives inside the tree trunk feeding on wood for five years then when it is ready to pupate it leaves the tree trunk and searches on the ground for a place to bury itself while it changes from caterpillar to moth.
The blurb on the website says that this caterpillar is quite rare and not seen very often as they leave their tree trunk nursery and find an underground home within twenty-four hours.  When it emerges next June or July as a moth, it has a very short life, not feeding but finding a mate and laying its eggs on a tree trunk, ready for the next five year cycle to start.

Mish-mash

This week was the last meeting of the reading group I belong to for a couple of months, there is always a break for the summer holidays.  Normally we meet in the local library but the group decided to hold the meeting at the local pub, and enjoy an evening meal as well as talking about the book for this month 'Still Alice'  by Lisa Genova.  .
Some members enjoyed the book more than others but all agreed the subject 'Early Onset Alzheimers' was not a comfortable read.  Perhaps being a group of 'mature ladies' some of the signs are familiar to us on a personal level - What did I want to get from upstairs?
But the company was good and the meal was enjoyable.  I felt very noble ordering grilled fish and salad when most of the group were enjoying traditional fish and chips.  When my meal arrived, the person who took my order had made a mistake and brought fish in batter as well as chips - not a lettuce leaf in sight.  They did offer to take it away and cook the meal I had ordered, but I weakened and said it would be alright.

Gardening -  this year the strawberries have done well, in spite of the very changeable weather we are experiencing, but they are coming to an end.  We've enjoyed  strawberries on breakfast cereal, as a desert with ice cream, or just dipped into the bowl of strawberries from the fridge. But B has used them to make a gorgeous fresh cream, strawberry and almond gateau.  It didn't last very long and I'm sure we've put on pounds that need to be worked off at the gym.  B also added them to a summer pudding along with redcurrants and blackcurrants -  and we gave some strawberries to our new neighbours.

The blackbirds in the garden have not been deprived - there were about five pots of strawberries (as well as the raised bed, which was protected by a mesh cage) and have helped themselves as the strawberries ripened.  They ignore the wild strawberries which have seeded themselves around the borders -  they definitely prefer the garden variety.

The peas will soon be ready to be picked - again, this year's weather has suited them and they have thrived.  I grow several different varieties and these are the earlist to produce pods and plenty of them.

But this last photo with the sun behind the plants shows that the peas have to fill out quite a lot before they will be worth picking.

A day out

Yesterday I went out for the day with a group of retired teachers from Staffordshire - they travel to different places of interest several times during the year. My neighbour, also a retired teacher, and I share the transport, so this time I did the driving.  We needed to arrive at our first destination sometime roundabout 10 o'clock for coffee in a village called Alton, very close to Alton Towers, a very popular theme park - if you like roller coasters etc.  When we were all gathered we started our walk around the village.

We had a guided tour of St Peter's Church, a simple church with very little ornament.  The internal arches were rounded, while the outside arches were pointed.  I don't know whether this points to different building peiods.

We left this church just as the rain started and walked further in the village till we came to Alton castle.  This is all that remains of the castle after it was destroyed during the Civil War, about 500 years ago.

This Victorian building, also known as Alton castle, was built next to the original castle and is almost two hundred years old.  It was designed by A.W.N. Pugin, an early Victorian architect, who was prominent in the Gothic Revival style of architecture.  The green and yellow tiles on the roof can be seen from miles away.

Time for lunch and the group travelled five miles onto Cheadle, a small country town where we enjoyed a pub lunch, before our second guided tour of the day at the Catholic Church of St Giles, designed by Pugin and considered to be his finest work.

The church is elaborately decorated (and of course I took quite a lot of photos), but they do not do justice to the building.  The west doors are guarded by these rampant lions.

A Talbot fighting dog is on guard at each side of this window.

This is the east facing window behind the high altar, again designed by Pugin.

Looking through the rood screen into the ceiling of the church, every surface intricately painted in bright colours and gold.

This side chapel  gives some idea of the amount of decoration, repeated throughout the building.

By the time we had been around this church we needed to go back to the Discovery Centre to be feasted with tea and cakes, then make our way back home.  It made a memorable day out, and worth a second visit.

A theatrical treat

Last weekend we went to an outdoor performance of Much Ado About Nothing at Stafford Castle.  This year was the 25th year that Stafford Council has sponsored a Shakespeare performance at the castle and this year is the first time we have attended a performance.  Having seen Shakespeare performances in the past at Stratford,  and London and on film and TV productions  we did not realise  just how entertaining the pro-am cast would make the performance.  The production was as good as any we have seen and we think that we will be attending annually from now on.

The play setting was in the early years of the twentieth century, at the end of the Second World War.  To warm -up the audience there was a pre-show entertainment featuring songs from the period and of course the audience were encouraged to join in - a bit like panto.  The quality of musicianship of the actors was a bonus - the fourteen actors, they all seemed to be able to play and sing - accompanying the audience participation on a wide variety on instruments.
                                                                                  

Once the play proper started, it was true to the script and many of the phrases we recognised, not realising that they were from Shakespeare.  The actors brought out the comedy, making the plot easy tó follow. 

When the interval came we had time to walk up the hill to the foot of the castle and enjoy the view from the high vantage point.

Springtime?

It's almost the end of March and though there are plenty of signs of new growth in the garden, the weather is so inconsistent that there is no hope of getting outside to plant this years veg patch - the soil is so saturated it will get compacted if I try to dig the ground.  Still I have plans! The strawberry raised beds have disintegrated beyond repair so new raised beds have been purchased and at the first good dry spell F will be required to assemble them around the old ones.  The soil and last years plants are still intact.They will just need extra compost and a few extra plants, grown from last year's runners.
There is blossom on the apricot trees for the first time ever this year, so B hopes to be able to cook with our home grown apricots.  All we require is prolonged sunny weather and a lack of pests.

House plants - just to keep in practice when outdoor gardening is not possible.  I have had two orchids for about three years now, one white and one purple.  They live on a south facing window sill and take very little work - just a weekly/fortnightly soak and some liquid plant feed.

This photograph was taken on July 22nd, 2013 and shows several stems of bee orchid blooms on one plant.  It has been in flower since then, all through last year and has now decided it has produced enough flowers - I'm hoping it is resting and will bloom again in future months.

The photo below shows the white orchid that  has come into bloom in the last few weeks.  It has several flower stems and looks as though it will give several months of flowers.  For comparison, the last few flowers on the last stem of the purple orchid.

....  and for those with imagination, the last bud which has still to open, looks like a cartoon mouse.

When the weather is cold and grey

It's the middle of winter and although we haven't had that much snow in the Midlands, it is cold and the dull sky is distinctly cheerless.
So remembering last summer and the many sunny days, here are just a few of the photographs from the second half of our visit to Ohio and Toronto.

This hydrangea bush starts of with white flowers, but as the days go by they change through pale pink to a vivid pink.  The Ohio climate obviously suits them - in the UK my hydangea has a way to go to catch up.

Lunch on the porch - we had a good many meals outside - the weather was so good.
Ada is keeping guard.












 The fire was blazing and we enjoyed the evening air -' smores' were on the menu - I think that's what they were called - toasted marshmallows.

A visit to a fruit farm and the bushes were loaded with blackberries.  It didn't take long to buy enough to make jam.  When we got back to base I learned quite a lot about jam making and got the job of stirring.

Visiting some family friends and another evening eating out of doors.  E and M made us very welcome to their home.

A visit to the Botanical Gardens in Cleveland - A shady spot and a chance to take a rest after all the walking - the camera worked overtime taking so many photographs - far too many to post.

Equally beautiful were the flowers that we gathered from the land surrounding G and B's home.

We had to move on from Ohio to visit our family in  Toronto, Canada.

A  trip around the boating  pool by pedallo - I think the water was about a foot deep, but customers were not allowed to take any chances.

A visit to a winery on the way to Niagara Falls and my first taste of iced wine.  I thought I might buy a bottle until I saw the price - but it was very special.

How to get thoroughly soaked on a bright sunny day - take a close look at Niagara Falls - another memorable experience.  The lens of the camera got thoroughly splashed but it hasn't stopped working though I think it would not take too kindly to being soaked on a regular basis.

No visit to Niagara Village is complete without 
sampling the ice cream

 Back in Toronto - and looking over the waterfront from the top of the CN Tower.

It's surpising who you meet when you visit Toronto.                                                                                                                                      

It all ended far too quickly and we were in the taxi on the way back to the airport - we left with some farewell gifts - hopefully we will visit again.