Sunday 7 November 2010

Mostly trees.

This hawthorn grows right outside our front garden beside the footpath. It is a bit more fancy than a native hawthorn as the flowers are a deep pinky red instead of the usual creamy white, and the haws are much larger than the wild ones. They last for months as, for some reason, the birds don't like them. It has to be really cold before even the fieldfares will tuck in. I have often been tempted to cut a few sprays to bring inside but I know they would only last a day or two in a warm atmosphere and I can enjoy them every day for weeks through the window.
This year it is laden with fruit and the branches hang right down over the path to shoulder height. This morning, after overnight rain they are weighed down even lower. This was right in front of me as I went for a walk. We were dog-sitting last night as daughter and son-in-law went out and didn't want to leave Poppy alone while fireworks were going off in all directions. Poor little thing - she trembled and panted for about three hours before finally relaxing in sheer exhaustion. There were the usual pops, fizzes and swooshes until about 8 o'clock when we got to the 'heavy bombardment'. Thankfully that didn't last too long and by 9 o'clock things quietened down. It is odd how some animals don't seem to be affected by the noise. Our old cat takes no notice of it, and he's not deaf so can hear it all.

The recent strong winds have blown down many of the leaves. None up there .............


.................... they're all down here. A bit further north from where I live the trees seem to be more colourful. So many round here are still very green. This year it is an odd autumn, quite unlike others I can remember.

These are tiny yellow crab apples not much bigger than cherries - I'm surprised the birds don't eat them. Many of them are rotting after all the rain we have had lately but they still look good from a distance.

I couldn't resist a shot of this colourful carpet. These leaves were on the footpath and just blown into a drift on one side of it.

Moss and lichen growing on a smooth barked tree. I just love mosses and lichens.


At a glance this bark looks silvery grey, but close inspection reveals many more tints and tones, and the textures are amazing.
Another section of the same tree.

And here it is - my favourite tree - a willow which I must have photographed dozens of times and will probably do so again.

The light was wrong for this shot but I wanted one of the moss growing in the angles of the branches. Many of the trees round here have moss growing in their 'elbows', and the larger the tree, the more moss seems to grow forming almost another woodland floor but on a higher level. We got home in double-quick time as someone was shooting rabbits or pigeons over beyond the houses, and Poppy thought it was more fireworks. Her 'Mum' came to collect her soon after we got home so she could really relax again.
I'm off to my two-day workshop tomorrow and Tuesday and will try to remember to take my camera incase I produce anything interesting to show you. There won't be any finished pieces of work as it is more of a design and ways-of-generating-inspiration type workshop. You may not get a post until Wednesday as I will probably be too tired to post earlier.

Batten down the hatches and get your wellies out, the forecast looks grim.








9 comments:

jill said...

Thanks for sharing your wildlife photos I also love photographing trees and the changing seasons, just looking at the bark you photographed, it could quite easily have been inspired by your knitting in the previous post,they are great.

Julie said...

Your workshop sound interesting. I hope you enjoy it :) The photos are beautiful.

sharon young said...

Lovely photos, Heather, a real Autumn snapshot!
I love your knitted samples in your previous post too, the top one's such a gorgeous colour.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Marvellous textures there for embroidery Heather.

You are quite right about grim weather - awful here today. All the more reason to say thank you for your lovely, cheery letter. At the rate we are going we shall become pen friends in an age when the art of letter writing is dying out.

Made a tentative start today but with several irritating interruptions.

Keep warm and dry.

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

I will never get bored loooking at trees, your photo's are beautiful.x

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Love the mossy trees! And those textures on the trunks are wonderful - one can almost see figures and faces in them!

Digitalgran said...

What a lovely set of photos Heather. I also love those embellished knitted pieces. Great way of using the yarns.

Downunderdale said...

so beautiful Heather - we may be hot and dry but we are also a bit dull - wildflowers have nearly finished and while the climate here does mean very bright clours against the starkness of the land, i miss thee real earthy things - thanks for posting them - love the carpet! Dale

WendyK said...

fantastic set of photos