17 November 2011
Autumn colours
I love the rich colours of this time of year. The beech
topiary at Allt-y-bela is looking stunning at the moment.
Following the unusually mild October, autumn colours have arrived
late and suddenly, looking all the more spectacular against the
green foliage of the woodland that is just turning yellow.
It was lovely to be able to enjoy the autumn glow this weekend and
with my spring bulbs safely in the ground our attentions focused on
chopping logs, raking leaves and making crab apple and medlar jelly
and sloe gin. We now have a log shed ready full of logs
to stoke the fires inside the house throughout the winter.
I also got on with raking leaves for leaf mulch, which is one of
my favourite jobs at this time of year -such a wonderful
smell. I emptied out my compost from last year onto the
step-over apples in the kitchen garden and now there is plenty of
space for the leaves.
Just before darkness and the frost arrived I gathered the last big
armful of Dahlias from the cutting garden, which look so vibrant in
the house. Having collected those blooms I now feel
like the garden can enter its winter sleep.
