Autumn and Our Garden November 2023

Autumn has most definitely arrived. Our garden has changed from green to orange and although there is so much work to do in it, it does look pretty startling.

Acer with a Hydrangea just close by.

The Acer is glorious and still holding its leaves. So surprising, considering the storms we've had.

The Ornamental Cherry tree is impressive too. She's an old lady, we were told many years ago that these trees do not have long lives, but she's still going strong.

The Red Dogwood is very showy.

The fruit trees, apple, pear and plum, have all lost their leaves.

I read the other day that we should allow the leaves in our gardens to settle for the insects. In the past we have mown them to break them up and feed the lawn, but apparently that's wrong. Sometimes it's difficult to know what is the right thing to do 🤔. The article I read said to blow them onto the flower beds. I don't have a leaf blower and don't intend to get one. Perhaps the article was written by a leaf blower manufacturer 😉. I do have a rake!

When the weather is dryer I will have a tidy up, but I may leave much of the garden to the wild things. I'm not a wet weather gardener. Although we do have the hedge to finish! And the greenhouse. Oh, and the shed! Really need some dry days 🫣.

It struck me last night, laying awake, thinking about a sad post I had read in the evening, that I have reached autumn of my life. Not defeated, not ending, but chilling and changing colour. Not to orange, but my hair is white 😅. There's no doubt I've slowed down from those busy years of working, raising a family and caring for an elderly parent. I don't know how I did it, and I wish I had handled much of it differently. But hey, at the time, I did my best.

So here I am, 65 years old and with a stack of autoimmune conditions. The government still expect me to work, thankfully we manage. I'm grateful to be near my pensionable age, but quite honestly feel it's overdue. I hope to claim it for sometime yet!

On my walk this morning I saw Christmas Trees being decorated in the town. No pictures yet 😅, we haven't had summer yet have we? Oh yes, I blinked! 😉

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