netherfield

Guinea in the fog. Singing into the gloom 🎵🎶🎵

Giant candles acquired for Advent today. 4.5kg each of pine, eucalyptus & sandalwood ('Scandanavian Forest') & mandarin, cinnamon & clove ('Winter Spice'). I shall be enjoying the scents of the forest from 1 December & the winter spice from St. Lucy's Day. 🕯🎄

All Hallows. Borage in the mist covered by tiny water droplets.

A misty still evening seems very appropriate. The smell of a bonfire in the air. Small witches & ghouls are out in the village in search of sweet treats. In the woods the owls are calling to each other. Hallowe'en - a favourite time of the year. Let us hope for a quiet night

With an hour or so of daylight left it is time to carve the pumpkins. So very much easier than the swedes of my childhood. I shall be making soup from the flesh & planting the seeds 🎃🕯

The first of this year's bare root roses arrived yesterday afternoon. I do love a Gallica & this one is mysterious. 'Mrs Dale's Pink' sent to Graham Stuart Thomas to be identified & planted at Mottisfont 1985. He could not identify it so named it after the lady who sent it in. 🌹

Twilight. Mist rising in the fields giving an ethereal feel as the light fades fast. Three groups of tawny owls in a hoot off as I shut the final groups of geese in. Redwings calling overhead in the darkness. Feeling very damp & cool. A rugby game tonight; time to head indoors 🍻

Very wet day from heavy dew & fog. The sun is trying & partly failing to burn it off. The first cohort of migrating Redwings have arrived. I heard the unmistakable 'seep, seep' overhead in the dark on Tuesday & now I can see them busy foraging in the pasture.

The last light pink fragrant blooms of Blush Noisette (Philippe Noisette, 1814). A seedling of Champneys' Pink Cluster, which is considered to be the first of the Noisette roses, raised in North Carolina. A pretty arching shrub with a long flowering season. 7ft 🌹

When the powecuts arrive I will at least have enough candles to keep me happy & illuminated. Aldi have started selling their giant 2.1kg "hurricane" candles with 138 hrs burn time (I went for the lovely 'ginger biscuit'). I also bought a 700g 'orange, cinnamon & clove' candle.🕯

Pink clouds at sunset before the stars came out. A dark still night of heavy dew. Even the owls are quiet

It is the time of year for a little maintenance. My small Echo chainsaw is around 20 years old & needs a new primer bulb. I hope a little TLC will help it last a good while longer yet. Since wood is our winter fuel it is good to be able to easily cut it to size. 🔥

Grey & murky this morning but in the hedge bright Spindle berry 'baubles' catch the eye. Such as amazing clash of colours

New wool socks for winter. The dark red ones are Somerset Marl - a mix of Bluefaced Leicester & Btitish Alpaca & the cream & grey ones are bed socks made with Merino & British Alpaca. All bought on sale at Arbon Socks. My feet will be very happy 🔥🧦

For #RoseWednesday 🌹 an old dependable favourite still flowering away this morning. Tea rose 'Archiduc Joseph' (Nabonnand, 1892) usually the first rose to bloom in April & still going into November. A lovely tea fragrance & flowers that vary in colour from orange to pink to red

Cool & clear sunset followed by a bright moonrise. A day that rather got away from me with several tasks half finished. Never mind there is always tomorrow...

Picked some Bramley apples after dark & now they are bubbling away in a beetroot & ginger chutney. Made with dark muscovado sugar, malt vinegar, juice & zest of a lemon & a lemon drop chilli. 😋

Little Red enjoying his supper before flying up into the tree at dusk. Unlike all my other chickens, for years now he has refused to go into a coop & prefers roosting high up in the branches with the guineas, irrespective of the weather. He is quite a character