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?