Autumn Weather and a New Mangle

We had a wander round the boundaries this afternoon. There were strong winds overnight and more leaves are down, but the big oak trees are barely tinted brown yet.

By 4.00 it was already getting dusk. Stronger winds are on their way and forecast for tomorrow. I should have picked the remaining apples, but guess the gales will save me a job.
The sunset was beautiful again this evening. The clouds rough and chopped up pinky – purply gold, like cooked black currants stirred into a bowl of cream.

I’d found an ancient mangle by the skip at the market. ‘ How much do you want for this?’ I asked Les, ‘50p’ he said. I wanted it to do some monoprints and was very impressed with it because, apart from the bargain price, and the excellent mangling equipment, a sturdy tabletop folded over the mechanism when not in use.
After we’d watched the sunset the dog looked fed up so G had one of his ideas. We’d turn his office into a pub! Pubs are probably the dog’s favourite place. So we had a beer, the dog a bowl of water, and we sat around the folded down mangle, because it closely resembled a rustic pub table.
We found we had no crisps, but for a touch of authenticity, and to cheer up the dog, we dug to the back of the cupboard and found a forgotten pack of TUC biscuits. I was reminded of my Mum who always called them T.U.C biscuits. Though why the Trades Union Congress should be subtly using the medium of (slightly) tasty snacks to advertise themselves was never fully explained.

This brilliant autumn weather has provided good working conditions for clearing and renovating. Until last night’s winds, it’s been a long and gentle autumn season. Many of the trees are still in leaf and are displaying rich glorious colours. The Miscanthus clumps around, and at the end of the pond are stunning with the low evening sun glowing through the seedheads.

There are still big areas to sort out, but for the first time we’ve felt the garden is showing some semblance of structure. Not tidy, but fuzzy and semi wild in part, but there is a deliberate framework now.
Which is about as close as I want to get to order or control.