In Raiment Bright She Comes Again ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ do you feel it? Do you see it? Autumn is slowly seeping into the world once more.  For the last four years, she seems to be sweeping in, wearing her golden cloak with highlights of orange, red, and rust, earlier and earlier. For weeks now, I have sensed her magical presence.  Having been deprived {thankfully} of the searing heat of Summer, I welcome her with open arms {although some small vestige of Summer would have been both useful and welcomed}

Across the Shire, farmers are bringing in the crops; ancient farmsteads stand with full fields of baled hay awaiting Winter storage ~~~

Across the Fields to Farmsteads and Baled Hay

The sun is noticeably lower in the sky, and although Autumn is not officially meant to arrive for a few more weeks, we are now eight weeks past the Summer Solstice and the changes are felt. The nights are drawing in and the days are shorter, the evenings longer. Curtains are drawn across the west facing window of my cottage earlier than a few short weeks ago, closing out the darkening skies and sealing in the cosiness.  More books are being read and already I feel the need to eat more hearty soups and stews than the lighter salads of Summer. The clouds that scatter and scud occasionally give glorious sunsets at which I marvel in their diversity ~~~

how quickly they shift and change in colour ~~~

Red Sky At Night ~~~ Shepherd's Delight

and in a moment, the blaze is quenched as the sun sinks into the wide Atlantic deep.

The bounty of the garden and the hedgerows is shifting up a gear ~~~

Ruby Red Apples Ripen in the Warm Sunshine of Late Summer Days

and we are all out foraging and feeding from the bounty we are given ~~~

My Fierce Competition!

Soon there will be blackberries, for the brambles are sprawling and bursting forth ~ the flowers nearly spent and green berries waiting to turn to those juicy, deep purple berries of deliciousness ~~~

Tight buds taken a few weeks ago

How delicate the petals and the colours.

Each sprig of blooms promises of many berries to come.

I'm ready for my close up now.

Gorgeous colours!

The "Arty" Shot!

A lone berry ripens, but soon many more will follow.

Earlier, I forgot to share the Angel's Fishing Rod Dierama pulcherrimum
photographs, so here is one now ~~~ gently bobbing in the breeze and all dripping with early morning dew ~~~

One of my favourite flowers in the garden are the Japanese Wind Anemones. This is the time of year they begin to fill the borders where the Summer flowers are faded past their best and the ruby red hips of roses have not yet reached their glory ~~~ Here are some of the early flowers {this year I have observed that there are, sadly, not as many blooms as normal, but the plants are nearly six feet in height. They have never been so tall, so I wonder what is going on?} ~~~

The Whirling Dervish

So, Dear Friends, I sign off this lovely, gently sunny Sunday morning, for there are things to be done today that I must not put off ~~~ and it is such a lovely day it will be hard to put my mind to tasks at hand ~~~ oh! fiddle~dee~dee! ~~~ the weather is too fine to spend indoors, so the garden wins today ~~~

Until next time ~~~
Sincerely yours
Deborah