AUTUMN

SHADES OF AUTUMN

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The colours of the autumn season, in all their different browns have all got beautiful and inspiring names I think, as inspiring as their shades  differ in hues and in the energy they emanate. I guess we associate browns very much with the mellow and misty autumn season, the shades of amber, ochre, sepia, chestnut, burnt sienna, russet, bronze, copper, and tawny to name only a few can usually be found in a variety of autumn leaves, a beautiful pallet.  Many painters have used browns to good advantage, among them Caravaggio of whom I recently admired two original works in the cathedral in Valetta. He very effectively used browns to create his wonderful shadows.  Anton Van Dyke used browns also, he used a brown called Cassel Earth, it was made up mainly of decayed vegetable matter. Iron oxide though is the most common ingredient in brown pigments, but also manganese oxide.

I read a fascinating book last year about colours, about the origins, their historical uses and much more. The book is called “Colours: Travels through the paintbox” and is written by Finli Viktoriya. It sure takes one travelling, and also back into history, a great read.
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AUTUMN MIRTH

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“To-day I think
Only with scents, – scents dead leaves yield,
And bracken, and wild carrot’s seed,
And the square mustard field;

Odours that rise
When the spade wounds the root of tree,
Rose, currant, raspberry, or goutweed,
Rhubarb or celery;

The smoke’s smell, too,
Flowing from where a bonfire burns
The dead, the waste, the dangerous,
And all to sweetness turns.

It is enough
To smell, to crumble the dark earth,
While the robin sings over again
Sad songs of Autumn mirth.”

From a poem called DIGGING.”
Edward Thomas, Collected Poems

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GRANDPA SCRATCHY

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What a mellow, mild, and wind still autumn day it was, so nice to spend time outside in the garden today. And Ruben came, and Ian felt like splitting some of the larger logs, so a lot of activity was happening in the garden. At first Ruben and I were pruning soft fruits, Ruben was collecting the leaves and twigs, then we went and dug out a forgotten potato plant, Ruben got one big potato and some babies which he was very happy about, then there were broad beans to pick and gather. After that I lost my little helper to Ian who came out to split his logs. Ruben takes such an interest and is learning all the time, he gathered up the logs as they fell, with the biggest of smiles on his face, he just loves helping Ian. He even had a little go at letting the hammer fall on the axe, under the eagle eyed supervision from amma (that’s me) of course, and grandpa scratchy too. Grandpa scratchy got his name from his little grandson, (because of his beard), and now he’s grandpa scratchy for my grandson too. We are both very fond of Ruben and love to see him grow and do so well with everything he learns about.
To end the day we all sat down for the usual cup of tea, a worker deserves their break isn’t it, it is a ‘thing’ between Ruben and us, the cup of tea while having a rest from working in the garden. A good feeling.

These beautiful mild autumn days are just what we need here in West Cork after a wet and cool summer. How blessed we really are.

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Sorting the garlic for planting,    And playing with his block, trucks, and grandpa scratchy!

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THE LONG STRAND AND SEAWEED

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A very refreshing walk on the beach at Long Strand this Sunday held a pleasant surprise for us, apart from being just wonderful as it was a mild, wind still day. The beach had just a few people and dogs walking on it, and there were some surfers playing on the waves, it was relaxing and very tranquil. And to our surprise we found a lot of loose seaweed lying around, the tide was coming in so we took some of it over to the car, to use in the garden, when it is well rotted and the salt is removed. So I have now got it soaking in the bath. I am really happy about finding the seaweed as it is priceless for use as compost. Nature is so bountiful, everywhere you turn it gives us rich pickings for use to improve our soil. The other day I gathered the brown leaves from the front garden to make it into leaf mould which is extraordinary stuff to use.

This new week is going to be a busy one in the garden, planting garlic, dealing with the seaweed, some pruning (got a book out from the library), taking down the last of the bean plants, taking out old strawberry plants, and much more… hopefully the weather stays calm and dry. This is a most beautiful time of the year, full of beautiful and vibrant colours and earthy scents, I love it so much.
A time to celebrate harvests of all sorts, and to be thankful for so many blessings.

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AUTUMN GARDEN

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The Indian summer looks as if it has come to an end for the time being, that does not mean that October cannot be a great month though. We have had showers which are really welcome in the garden. There is more wind and the leaves, now in browns and yellows are flying all over the place, yes it is autumn – big time – and I love it, though not so much the dark days without any sun at all.

The garden birds have come back, plenty of sparrows this year, but I am delighted to say that we have a variety of tits, including blue tits, coal tits and the great tit, and this morning I saw a gold crest, these are the little birds in the pine and the birch tree that I had difficulty identifying, that is because I could only hear them, not see them properly, but this morning one was feeding at the bird table, what a lovely sight, I hope to catch them on camera one of these days. I’ve also seen gold finches, and we are planning to plant some thistles next year especially to see these lovely creatures feeding. It was the garden next door where it was full of thistles that attracted the gold finches into the area last year, this year though our neighbour cut all his grass, and also the thistles, a pity that is for the birds. Our robin is still around too, and the collared doves have returned, of course we always have the rooks and jackdaws, and so far I have noticed quite a few starlings too. Finches always abound in our garden, they are great users of the bird table. Other than that there is the resident wren, some blackbirds and the occasional song thrush. So delighted all over as we both enjoy these birds very much.

And this morning I planted out some round black radish among the leeks, looking forward to cooking with them later in the winter. I picked another generous bunch of sweet peas, they are still flowering profusely, and beautifully scented. The roses too are in full bloom. I was surprised to find an evening primrose plant flowering among other herbs this week, I sowed these during spring and then forgot about them, a lovely yellow flower and medicinal herb.  Some of the other produce still in the garden is the broccoli and some of that is for dinner tonight, lovely freshly picked.

Still seedlings are coming up and these plants will go into the cold frames later on, it are winter salad leaves mostly. Though I was out of action for a whole week, it is always great to spend time in the garden no matter what the weather.
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BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE GARDEN

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Today, a most beautiful, sunny, and warm autumn day, generously watered by a few heavy showers saw me getting a lot done, and also saw me discovering yet again the abundance and beauty of nature. To my delight I was able to capture some of this once again on camera in order to share. So enjoy and take delight.  Tomorrow more on what is happening garden work wise, and on the propagation that I was doing today.
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A house fly on the dandelion

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A hoover fly on a poppy

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Lady’s mantel, lavender and rain drops and the sun playing with it all.

AUTUMN LEAVES

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“A moral character is attached to autumnal scenes; the leaves falling like our years, the flowers fading like our hours, the clouds fleeting like our illusions, the light diminishing like our intelligence, the sun growing colder like our affections, the rivers becoming frozen like our lives–all bear secret relations to our destinies.”
François-René de Chateaubriand

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AUTUMN JOBS IN THE GARDEN

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Today was tidy up day in the garden, among other things. I finished planting out the salad leaves, and beetroot. Then I sowed, also in the cold frame, curled parsley, and some winter lettuce, seeds that I had over from last year, we shall see what comes up. I followed this with tidying the garden, putting away a lot of summer things into the potting shed, also took measurements as need to get a light tar paper to attach to some of the outside of the shed. It is one of the jobs that I have had on the list for over a year but did not get around to. I finished outside with putting some stray pots of herbs like basil into the cold frame to overwinter. The table and chairs which we only used once or twice during the bad summer remain on the patio for the moment, not that I expect to use them to eat outside, but because there is a container of sweet peas on top and some other plants.
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I am reading this brilliant memoir by Joy Larkcom, it’s a large work, so interesting.  She fills the pages with so much information about the history of vegetable growing in Europe.  She also talks about the year she and her young family spent travelling around Europe in the seventies, exploring what vegetables were being grown and used and writing about this, also collecting seeds and much more.  I have now nearly read half of the book and am still enthralled and learning some bits.  It is also interesting to see how the author discovered growing organically.  At the moment, every night I go to sleep with my head full of these stories, it is a great ‘down to earth’ sort of thing to read after the long discussions with my partner about the current state of the world.

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Soup being cooked, vegetables copped and heaped up with dandelion, nettles, garlic, cumin and other herbs and spices.  Next the resulting goodness, very tasty, this is food I really like.

DSCF9958   A calm moment after work outside.  The poppies have almost all finished flowering and the seed heads are very decorative inside the house.

TREES SO MAJESTIC

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Trees are among the more beautiful, majestic and interesting wonders of nature. I have always had a good relationship with trees. My first memory ever was of walking or being pushed in a pram along a wall, and what I could see were trees, it was winter so the branches were stark, and I heard the bark of a dog. It is a good memory. While going to kindergarten I remember running across a yard lined with trees, it was a little scary at that time. After that our family moved into a street that was lined with wild chestnut and poplar trees, this was wonderful, we kids would use the leaves in our daily play, not only leaves were used but any pine cones or conkers we would find too, these were lovely natural items to use for play, I’m happy we had those. Another scare happened when a huge branch of a poplar tree fell through the roof of our bungalow during one winter’s storm, I was shaking with fright. Quite a few years later my sister and I went to school in Antwerp city, again a strong connection with trees was made in the inner yard of the convent school, beautiful trees. And it is in autumn that trees seem to come into their own, the scents of the leaves, the colours, the wind blowing through the branches and the leaves falling and falling. After coming to Ireland eventually, I got to know the awesome ancient oak trees in Glengarriff forest. I would not walk in that forest on my own then as I felt such a strong presence of the trees, too powerful.

During my life so far, trees have enthralled me, scared me, fascinated me, given me much joy, and I have loved them always.

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