Cannot believe that I have managed to get to the last third of the year taking a different shot each day, that means I have got to find another 112 photos to complete the year. Sounds a daunting task, just want America to open up for us to visit our son in New York and I will get a couple of weeks of photos to ease the burden of finding new shots around here.
!st of September.
I thought my supply of Parsley that I have grown from seed looked just like a forest that would adorn any model railway in place of trees . As you can see by the yellow leaves it also looks like it is representing Autumn and I think we are not far off of that season up here. Even though the weather has been superb during the last couple of weeks, the night temperature is really dropping checked the min/max thermometer today and we actually went down to 3C during the night, which is virtually a frost, so no wonder the parsley is turning yellow.
2nd.
3rd.
There is something about seed heads that has always fascinated me, the transformation from attractive flowers like the Lupin into these funny pea like seed heads. Also why the hairy outside? Is it to try and make birds think they are untouchable? I do not know but I am sure if I investigated I would find the reason, even when they dry out and are ready to drop I have never seen birds eating them and for seed eaters why not?
So many questions about nature that I do not know the answer to but my old friend Google might and I am sure somebody would have done a PhD on it.
This is the village manned signal box, like the rest of this countries rail network it is a bit neglected and is in need of a good coat of paint, but at least it it is still functional and not an automatic unmanned box. It is a dull day and I only took the one shot of it, which on reflection was wrong as the idea was to include a lighter shot of the ironwork in the foreground. This in fact are what remains of the old buffers from the sidings that used to be parallel to the main line, at present I am trying to get permission to go a couple of hundred yards back from this shot to where there is still the old railway sheds in fairly good condition but surrounded by shrubs and undergrowth that make it impossible to take a photo of, so watch this space.
4th.
The birds have finished their nesting season, the House martins are even gathering to fly South, therefore it must be time for me to cut the evergreens back. This particular one is very popular with Dunnocks (or Hedge Sparrows is their other name) and each year we find at least one pair nesting in the thickness of it. The sequence of shots show before, half way and completion, with the last one taken in the field looking back at the house, just to show that I do not treat the bit that isn’t seen from the garden any different than from the rest of it.
It takes me just over a morning to complete this task, it used to take me a lot longer as I would just cut it then pick up the cuttings. Now (older and wiser) I place plastic sheeting down to collect most of the cuttings and that means I only have a few cuttings that go a stray for us to pick up. As the Meerkat says “simple”.
I only have one more almost identical bush to go and this side of the job is finished, I then have to transport the cuttings to the council tip in Pitlochry, which for the last 4 or so weeks has been a twice weekly trip as all the summer planting is removed. Must admit the council are brilliant with this side of recycling as they take all garden rubbish to a central place, compost it and then send a skip full of compost back to our tip for all to collect for free. Not with my composting system that I need it, but others do.
5th.
A dull day today but brightened up by the few remaining colours in the garden, a quick walk round and I selected these few.
We still have some flower on the Geraniums , not a great lover of them but they do add some colour, we have two in pots that are not hardy and they will come into the house soon to survive whatever the winter throws at us this year.
Autumn Crocus are a reminder that that season is nearly upon us, they do last a good length of time in the garden so their show is appreciated.
We are never very good at growing Buddleia, but this year our one plant has done us well, though nothing to compare with how well we saw them growing on waste ground on our recent trip to Sheffield.
Finally, our ever faithful late flowering Clematis, for a few years this has given us an excellent show of blooms and this year is no exception.
6th.
On the outskirts of the village the other side of the A9 is this huge quarry, know some people say it is an eyesore I disagree. This quarry employs local workers in an area where it is either the service industry for the visitors (which is mostly seasonal) or agricultural work. There fore a steady place of employment is great. I consider this site an essential industry providing stone for the dualing of the A9 and other projects near and far but also being of use to locals, my front drive is covered in chipping from there. But take a look at how organised and tidy the site looks, the ground to the left has received planning permission to expand and the soil has been neatly cleared from there and I say okay it looks like half the hillside is disappearing, but if it is a needed commodity then let it be in our back yard to benefit our area.
7th.
I last showed a picture of this rhodendrum on the 18th May, but do not panic I am not doing a repeat shot, that particular day I showed a Wasp feeding on it so technically I never wrote or photographed it as a plant. We inherited this plant when we moved in , outside our kitchen door, it has grown considerably since then but we have kept it trimmed back. The reason I took this shot today is because it is on it’s fourth set of flowers and provides blooms from early spring right up until a frost (which I don’t suppose is far off). Though we are not great fans of the species, but when a plant performs like this, in this climate you have to keep it.
8th.
I know what you are thinking “He showed us Autumn Crocus on the 5th, is he not repeating a shot?” Well technically I am showing you them open , not closed like the last shot so that is different, but also (apart from the dirt in two of them) look closely and in the one on the right and the left there are a Bumble Bee in both. We have had a good year for bees, apart from the cold start to the year we have seen and heard more bees than normal this summer. We haven’t increased our bee loving plants by much but the Rattle and Daisies seem to have attracted them in and now when the main flower crops in our garden have gone over the crocus seem to have filled the gap.
9th.
Looked this one up I believe it is Dryad’s Saddle also known as Scaly Polypore. Have two different sites with this in the garden both growing on rotting tree stumps, fairly attractive, hence the nibbles on the larger ones edges (not by me but mice I think.
10th.
Went to the House of Bruar today and after a drink and scone left the wife to wander around while I walked up the Bruar Falls. An outdoor adventure company come here for the thrill seekers and this is one of their jumps into the pools. This first group jumps from the right side while you can see another group making their way along the wet rocks on the left where they just lay back and slide into the water from that smooth rock on the left. Twenty years ago I may have tried it, not so sure now.
11th.
Within our village is this lovely little shop, when we moved here it was a second hand book shop that was very dingy little place as most second hand book shops are. But now it is a unique and beautiful little gift shop with a lovely village lady running and owning it. You are always made welcome even if you do not buy anything and just have a natter, though with so many different types of gifts it is hard to walk out empty handed. It is places like this that make small villages so unique we have lost so many of them though throughout Britain that it is such a shame, in this village we have lost our own bank, kilt shop and a hotel that has been closed for years, but slowly being restored.
12th.
I love this time of the year when you walk around your garden and suddenly you come across in the middle of the small wild flower garden a mushroom has suddenly appeared. Not sure this particular type has ever appeared in this area before but it was a good find to photograph. Looked it up apparently it is Leccinum Roseofractum said to be edible but the book says “not worth eating”, so wont bother trying it. Though by the look of it something has had a nibble, not sure if that is from a mouse or a slug, may put my trail camera on it tonight to see what is eating it.
13th.
So I was busy taking a shot of this late flowering Heather for today’s shot and was totally unaware until I put the shot on the computer that I had managed to capture this Buff Tailed Bumble Bee in amongst the blooms, so well hidden that I honestly did not see it. The Heathers are, within our garden anyway, the last real food source for Bees and we have a few late flowering ones that just fill that gap from the summer flowers into Autumn. When you see gardens like on Gardeners World it has made us aware that next year we must look out for Autumnal plants , not only to make the garden more cheery but also for nectar feeding insects.
14th.
We never have to plant Sunflowers, mainly because I feed them to our wild birds and the Coal Tits have a habit of taking them and burying them all over the garden. This year has been a lean year for random Sunflowers turning up in weird places in the garden, not sure why but normally we would have five or six appear, but this year I have only found a couple and this weedy little thing has suddenly come up amongst some rocks. Maybe that is why it is so small (maybe 2″ across ) or it might be the variety, though thinking about it, it would not pay a farmer to commercial grow such a small plant for harvesting. Maybe it is just “Weed” from the Flower Pot Men.
15th.
I have shown you the small river that runs down to the River Tilt that is below our house (The River Fender), with the hydro scheme and fish rearing plant being fed off of it. But I have never really shown you the beauty of it. The first shot is looking up the pool that one day I will have a wee swim in, when I am brave enough, I often go down to this pool and test new fly fishing equipment on it and have successfully caught a few wild (small) Brown Trout in there, just a real bit of fun.
In the second and third shot is the rock formations that form the far bank the first showing the layered formation of the rock and the third showing the wide variety of plants that grow on and in the fissures of the rock, from moss, ferns and even small Rowan trees.