In my garden in October

Between the showers today, I popped outside to take a few quick photos.  The one above is of my 'Beauty Bush', I've had this shrub for about 15 years and although it has occasionally decided to flower, I have never had berries on it.  Aren't they an amazing colour?  I'm sure it's in the wrong place but I don't think I'll be moving it now.

The leaves are falling from the trees now, particularly as it has been really windy today.  Here in the south west of Scotland we are missing the worst of the storms predicted for the south of England, however we did have 50mph gusts and lots of leaves had gathered between the path and the grass.

 

Lovely Gentian, still blooming despite the weather.

 This Polyanthus also provides a splash of colour.

The glorious blue skies make this look like a summer day but the brief spells of sunshine were interspersed with very heavy showers and sometimes the sky in front of the house was blue and the behind the house it was very, very dark!  You can see that our field is full of water, the usual 'pond' is about a third of the size of this, fortunately it is far enough away from the house not to cause any alarm.

Stay safe everyone.

The View - October 2013

I can't believe how close we are to the end of this challenge, only two more views to go!  As you can see the patio furniture has been stored away for the winter although the flowers in the tubs are still providing some bloom.  This was taken in the morning and the mists of autumn are definitely swirling.  The week started well with some cold misty mornings followed by pleasant warm days, but soon deteriorated into rain and wind.

When we got up yesterday morning the field had filled with water and when I returned from work last night, the cows were having a lovely time paddling about in their pond.  As it's been such a good summer, this batch haven't had much flooding in the field so I think it was a bit of a novelty for them.

They won't be with us much longer, they will be going off to market next week, heading to another farm to be fattened up, so it was nice to get some good shots of them before they go.

Rebecca surveys the flood - 365+1

Snap - Maya de Groot

Yesterday it rained and it rained and it rained.  The field next to our house has a swampy bit that fills up with water when there is heavy rain and it is particularly full today.  My phone is in there, Rececca is just sending a text to her friend to tell her about the rain and the flooded field (can't believe I'm writing this!), it has been drier today, but still cold and dull.

Worst Flood in memory!

We have had one of the worst floods in memory, not just my memory or my DH's, but also the worst my MIL can remember and she is 85! I didn't see all the rain, apparently 4 inches in 24 hours, because I was in London at a conference. I did suffer from it though as my train north from Euston station was going to be halted at Preston, so I had to go to Kings Cross and get the Newcastle train. Yes, I was back in Newcastle last night! I got a connection to Carlisle from there and DH collected me from the station.
This morning we are pretty much cut off. DH went to work in the tractor and it took him an hour and half, because of all the detours and back roads he had to take to do what would normally be a 10 minute journey. The college where I work had it's boiler room flooded yesterday so it is closed and I am working from home, I couldn't have got in to work anyway. Only so much I can do as I don't have my files here.

Here is the Cheese Factory where DH works, looks like it is marooned in the middle of an ocean!


This last picture is taken from beside the house, that pond only appears when there is a flood and this time it stretches nearly to the fence of the next field. Fortunately, the house sits a bit higher than the water level. We have heard that some people in the village have had their houses flooded.

Found some photos I forgot to blog

I took these just after New Year, when I went looking for the wild ducks in our flooded bit of swamp. The ducks flew off as soon as I went near, so I had to make do with some rather wet looking pictures. The one above is my tree and this one will be going in the digi journal I am going to make of the tree over the year.

This is the back of the willow patch that grows along with the reeds in the field next to the house known as 'the side o' the hoose' field - we are nothing if not literal!

This is the side we see from the house, another lovely tree in the background, it's a Scots Pine and we have had buzzards nesting in it in the past. As well as the ducks we have a pair of herons which frequent this flooded bit of land and one year there was a baby. It's like living in your own wildlife sanctuary.