Today’s guest picture comes from my brother who walked though five villages the other day and looked at one of them across a valley. This is Holbrook seen from Horsley.
I was expecting a wet day today but after some heavy rain overnight, it was quite dry and calm in the morning and Dropscone was able to cycle round with treacle scones at coffee time.
I had a quick look round the garden before he came.
A couple of frosty mornings while I was away have done for a lot of the flowers but the nasturtiums under the protection of the front wall of the house are still looking excellent.
Sadly, only a very few fuchsias are left standing…or more accurately, hanging.
Dropscone has been checking on the well being of his tin knees which are now ten and twelve years old. He got them put in at different hospitals and as a result, he had to go to two different places to get them x-rayed as one hospital couldn’t possibly x-ray another hospital’s knee. This was rather annoying but he is pleased that the check has been completed.
I put the camera on its tripod at the kitchen window and took a variety of shots during the morning, while the weather was still dry.
A small flock of goldfinches were keeping the usual chaffinches at bay today…
…although one chaffinch at least made it to the feeder.
The birds have been complaining to their agents that I do not do them justice with my obsession with grainy shots of them in flight so I took some grainy head and shoulder shots today instead.
They are all very handsome.
It was still dry when Dropscone left after coffee so I had another look round the garden…
…and then I took a chance and went for a short ‘three bridges’ walk to seek out autumn colour.
As I approached my first bridge, the pedestrian suspension bridge across the Esk, I couldn’t fail to be struck by the poplars beside the church.
And as I walked along towards my second bridge, this colourful garden hit me in the eye.
I didn’t cross the town bridge today but I did look back at it from the Kilngreen…
…and I looked up the Esk from the same point.
I was pleased to see that for once I had all my ducks in a row.
The Sawmill Brig over the Ewes Water was my second crossing.
And once across, I could admire the Langholm Castle ruins on the Castleholm…
..and the glow of the trees at the start of the Lodge walks.
Across the playing fields, the trees on the far bank of the Esk were well worth a glance…
…or two.
Although not as brilliant as the maples that draw the tourists to New England in the fall, they give me a lot of quiet pleasure.
As the rain was threatening to come, I crossed the Duchess Bridge as my third bridge…
…and scuttled home as quickly as I could, propelled onward by a short but sharp little shower that encouraged me not to linger and look for fungi.
I did see this little specimen as I went through a gate on the Castleholm…
…but mostly I had eyes only for yew deciduous trees on my walk today.
I got home in good time for lunch and shortly afterwards, the rain started in earnest….
…and kept going for several hours.
It has stopped as I write this but if the forecast is to be believed, it will start again in the early hours of the morning and rain until tea time tomorrow.
I will have a quiet day in.
Mike Tinker braved the rain and dropped in for a cup of tea and he told me that there has been an invasion of chaffinches from the continent. I should recognise them if they arrive in the garden as they are more colourful than the natives.
Mrs Tootlepedal is doing well in the south but is looking forward to coming home next week and getting to work on preparing the garden for the winter.
I tried to catch a flying goldfinch but only managed another chaffinch today to be the flying bird of the day. They hover very obligingly.
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Thanks for sharing all those colourful pictures you took on your walk, they were a great pleasure to look at. Thanks also for squeezing in one last photograph of the fuchsia.
Love your autumn colors and the “grainy” mug shots of your birds – I don’t know what they’re complaining about.
Too many chaffinches hogging the limelight.
So much to comment on, but I will stick with two: First, I was very impressed that Dropscone cycled over with his scones. Second, there is no finer place to be in autumn than New England. Actually, make that Maine. 😉
He didn’t have to cycle far. 🙂
Nevertheless…hats off.
I think we’re lucky to have any flowers at all in October.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that fungus but it looks like some type of jelly fungus.
I’ve always thought you had good color there and the photo of the lodge walks shows why. The difference between your color and ours is more quantity than quality, I think.
I sometimes thank that when the really stunning autumn colours pass, it must make winter feel even greyer so I am grateful for our gentle transition even if I am envious of the reds.
It can do that.
Lovely, lovely Autumn foliage. We’re experiencing beautiful local color and our drive to Montreal for this weekend was stunning. I’m looking forward to exploring and perhaps riding my bike throughout the city and enjoying the outdoors . Your walk looked wonderful!
I would like to cross the Atlantis and see that stunning colour but the bus fare is too expensive.
Excellent compositions! The Sawmill Brig is my favorite. 🙂
You have excellent taste, HJ
Splendid autumn colours during your walk.
I very much liked the head and shoulders images of the birds today. I wish that photographers had agents that could do something about the poor weather that results in grainy photos. 😉 Grainy or not, I’m always amazed at your images of the small birds in flight, it’s hard enough for me to catch large birds in flight.
And, I always enjoy seeing your landscape images of the area surrounding you, especially in the fall when there’s the added bonus of the colors of the leaves.
I would like a weather agent, I admit but they are hard to find. Thank you for your kind words.
Great atmospheric shots again. The nasturtiums are lasting well.
They don’t look so good now after a lot more rain.
That’s a shame – I use them as my guide to the end of summer.
Great scenery!
Beautiful photos today but my favourite was the indisputable evidence of all your ducks in a row. I envy you 😊
A very rare occurrence for me, I can assure you.
Ahhh… I do like your grainy head and shoulder shots. Good to see you expanding your horizons.
I like the head and shoulder photos of the birds, especially the sparrow! I also enjoyed your ‘yew’ pun.
Thank you for enjoying the joke. It made me smile to myself and it always good when a thing like that is shared.
Very true.
As I probably say every year, your autumn color Is so much better than ours because we have mostly spruce and pines and alders.