Congratulations to Knittingdancer (Rav ID), your lucky number must be 4, the number picked by the random number generator, and yours was the fourth comment.
Woodland Knits will be winging its way to you just as soon as you send me your snail mail address to send off to the publisher. Well done, I'm sure you'll love the book, jam packed with magical knitting! So sorry that all who entered couldn't win one :(
Talking of magic, we arrived in Wales last night in the dark, so straight inside trying to warm up the house and get some food in the oven. What a surprise when I looked out the window this morning and saw the dazzling display of autumn colour - rust, red, burgundy, golden and lime green leaves, and all shades in between, rose hips, grasses, fuchsias, hydrangeas, asters - a veritable rainbow of vibrant hues, all vying for my attention in the wet autumn light... enchanting!
I was so excited that I dashed outside in the rain with my camera, still in my pyjams to capture the colour of the euonymous alata from the terrace.
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| View from bedroom window |
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| Euonymous alata close-up |
I just love, love, love autumn. People say you always prefer the season you're born in and that's certainly true for me, though I couldn't imagine not loving it even if I was born in spring. A time for tucking in in preparation for the winter, lighting the woodstoves and candles indoors and sitting around bonfires and chimoneas outside. And best of all, for using the bounty from garden and hedgerow to fill the larder with pies, chutneys, pickles and jam.
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Pity some rotten apple (greedy magpies are suspect number one)
had stripped all the Bramleys from our tree |
And what an amazingly satisfying feeling to stand back and admire all the bottles of home produce on the counter when you're done. Homemade preserves make perfect gifts too. Don't know anyone who'd refuse a jar of apple chutney!
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| Capers from nasturtium seeds are a fave for spicing up spaghetti sauce |
When the kids were little I used to make syrup from rosehips (great source of vitamin C), now they're grown I just enjoy looking at them.
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| The birds love the berries on this prickly pyracanthus |
Mid Wales is big on hydrangeas and whilst I do like the hortensia mopheads...
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| Especially this one with its delicious multi-coloured blooms |
I just can't resist the lacecaps with their more delicate flowers...
All hydrangeas are supposed to be deep blue on acidic soil, but I can never get ours to be blue enough -working on it though :)
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| Little asters add a touch of blue to the deepening reds |
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| Cotinus Grace with dogwoods and ferns |
So bring it on autumn, more colour will certainly do the trick.
Before I finish I just want to tell you all what a wonderful, if painful, physio session I had yesterday. Five weeks after the cast came off there's still swelling, pain and stiffness in my wrist. I've been feeling pretty down about it and in a nutshell, I was beginning to think it would never heal. So imagine my delight when the physio managed to get 10% more movement back, and best of all he said it'll all be working normally eventually. Had to stop myself from jumping up and kissing him :)
Talking of magic, we arrived in Wales last night in the dark, so straight inside trying to warm up the house and get some food in the oven. What a surprise when I looked out the window this morning and saw the dazzling display of autumn colour - rust, red, burgundy, golden and lime green leaves, and all shades in between, rose hips, grasses, fuchsias, hydrangeas, asters - a veritable rainbow of vibrant hues, all vying for my attention in the wet autumn light... enchanting!
I was so excited that I dashed outside in the rain with my camera, still in my pyjams to capture the colour of the euonymous alata from the terrace.
And what an amazingly satisfying feeling to stand back and admire all the bottles of home produce on the counter when you're done. Homemade preserves make perfect gifts too. Don't know anyone who'd refuse a jar of apple chutney!
When the kids were little I used to make syrup from rosehips (great source of vitamin C), now they're grown I just enjoy looking at them.
All hydrangeas are supposed to be deep blue on acidic soil, but I can never get ours to be blue enough -working on it though :)
Before I finish I just want to tell you all what a wonderful, if painful, physio session I had yesterday. Five weeks after the cast came off there's still swelling, pain and stiffness in my wrist. I've been feeling pretty down about it and in a nutshell, I was beginning to think it would never heal. So imagine my delight when the physio managed to get 10% more movement back, and best of all he said it'll all be working normally eventually. Had to stop myself from jumping up and kissing him :)
Congratulations to the lucky winner with that magical number 4.
ReplyDeleteYour beautiful autumn views from Wales are all filled with rich colors. Isn't nature amazing?
And, best wishes to you on your continuing recovery of full wrist power. Sounds as if you have gotten good treatment and encouraging news.
Cheers! xo
Thanks Frances. Very different here today - a misty moisty morning with the mist rolling down the hillside and swirling over the fields as it approaches our garden x
DeleteYou have some incredible color in your garden! Helen
ReplyDelete