Three Foxes

We put the fox food out as usual, but as often happens now we were busy and  only looked occasionally, interestingly we saw more of the foxes tonight than we have for a long time.

Several times I glanced out and saw nothing then suddenly the young female was there, she is very nervous and we don't see her as often as her brother. She timidly comes from behind a bush and looking about her slowly approaches the food and delicately takes a piece before backing off to stand and eat it. This is very different from her brother who boldly marches in lays down by the food and steadily eats it all.

Tonight the young female had barely started eating, just three mouthfuls, when she suddenly started looked up and tore away. It was her brother, his fur is much darker, his tread  much more certain and in build already larger and stronger looking than his sister, who is paler, smaller and timid. Unfortunately she has good reason to rush away as he sets about her making her whimper and yelp.

 Once her brother shows up she rushes away and we don't see her again, tonight she must have been extra hungry because after a  few minutes she crept back very slowly and low, her belly almost brushing the lawn. She managed to sneak a piece and slowly moved back into the bushes with it, but the second time the young male chased her off and we didn't see her again.

After the young male had finished feeding and left, I still kept an eye on the lawn wondering if his young sister would return. She didn't, but I was surprised about ten minutes later to see the older vixen ---their mother sniffing around the area where the food had been. She must have been hungry because she spent a long time going over the lawn and although there was nothing visible she was clearly finding something.

Taking our son to the airport and on to Reading

This morning we drove John to Heathrow for his return flight to Seattle. I shall miss him, I wish he wasn't going, he has been such a support to me through the last several months, not least of all during my chemo and radiotherapy, but perhaps it is right he goes, he needs to pick up his life, but my heart is heavy to see him go. My falling silver tears were mirrored by autumn's falling golden leaves as I hugged my dear son goodbye, not knowing when I shall see him again.

It was a bright autumn morning, blue skies, endless sunshine which highlighted the golds oranges and reds on some trees. It is still a little early for most trees but together with the bright red hips, pillar box red haws, and the wonderful fruit of the rowan trees, whose berries are white, orange or vermilion ,from the car, the passing countryside is colouring up well and the next few weeks promise to be eye catching.

Warm coats, scarves and wellington boots will soon be the order of the day for tramping in the woods and rustling feet through drifts of golden, crispy leaves.

We continued our journey to Reading along the M4, the verges are now almost bereft of flowers, although one stretch was filled with tall yellow evening primroses. I have noticed in my own garden how the bees and moths love these flowers. I too love them their perfect flowers held high above other plants and every day more opening until they reach above my head, I also love the randomness of these plants, they suddenly appear, sometimes near to the parent plant other times quite a distance away. Wherever they show up I am pleased to see them and regard it as a bonus.

Through the car window everywhere is calm and serene, some fields are awaiting harvesting, others already harvested and yet more already ploughed, seeded and showing fresh green shoots.

Just before the A33 turning, we always look out on the right hand side for the fields of white horses, they are sturdy creatures and as I write I realise they may not be horses but ponies. We always wonder about them and their reason for being there, are they for breeding or just for someones pleasure? Seeing them always gives us pleasure, occasionally they escape onto the M4 and cause traffic delays.

Shortly afterwards on our left we pass large lakes devoid of wildlife and next to them fields of scattered sheep, and then more lakes. I wonder if these lakes are the result of gravel extraction. We pass a river and are at our junction.

The leaves on the horse chestnut trees are curling at the edges and turning brown, some of these trees are starting to shed both their leaves and their fruit, commonly called conkers.  These shiny, round, beautifully marked, brown delights are to be found in their dozens at the foot of the tree, some still locked in their prickly green cases, others boldly brown waiting showily to be gathered up, and sometimes they are shyly hiding in their partly opened cases or even coyly peeping out of a pile of leaf litter, however they are there, there are few things more pleasing than gathering some up and taking them home to place in a bowl in order that their beauty can be enjoyed, before they fade and are put outside on the lawn for the squirrels.

Autumn Changes

It is September and everywhere is still relatively green, no doubt due to the amount of rain there has been.

The trees although green are no longer fresh looking but rather a tired yellow/brownish green. It has been a strange summer, cooler and wetter than we would have expected or than most of us would have liked, for me  the greatest difference this summer has been the reduced number of butterflies in my garden. Interestingly, not as many wasps about either although bees and hornets have been plentiful.

The fruit this year has been overwhelming in its quantity and quality. Years ago, housewives would have been so busy: bottling fruit, making jam, collecting sloes and elderberries to make wine, blackberries and damsons from the hedgerows for jam. A glut of autumn produce not only kept them busy but also kept the family in tarts, fruit pies and tasty spreads for bread and butter or toast at tea time. The flavour of home produced jams etc., cannot be compared with its modern mass produced counterpart, which most of us collect from shops.

At one time most people kept chicken in their back garden; the eggs would be used in cooking and as a welcome treat for children's tea, for cake making for Sunday teatime and any left over would be laid down in a solution of isinglass to provide eggs for when hens went off the lay. Meanwhile the chickens which would have been loved, cuddled and named by the children were destined for the pot when they had outgrown their usefulness as egg providers.

Day-old chicks soon replaced the others to be stroked, cooed over and in their turn named and so the cycle went on. How very different our lives were then to the lives of children today.

Gone are most of the roadside flowers, the grasses have grown taller and we are still enjoying clumps of blue hardy geraniums. Taking the place of other flowers are drifts of Michaelmas daisies mostly a gentle calm, pale mauve colour with here and there white ones to be seen. Pretty scatterings of bright yellow Oxford ragwort seem to frequent most verges, I have mixed feelings about this escapee that is so eye catching, seeds so readily and yet is so dangerous to horses.

Joy of joys, I have just found my first conker of the year, it is as perfect as every other conker I have ever found: round, brown and shiny with it's own unique patterning made by various shades of brown on its shiny surface. A smile on my face, I clutch it to me, a symbol of the continuity of life. I admire it and show it to my elder granddaughter who also finds one and immediately points out to me that hers is better as it has a flat side and is much better for playing conkers with. Something I have never ever thought of!

I always think of September as a golden month; this year it truly is for Mike and I, as our Golden Wedding Anniversary falls this month. We shall be having a family reunion and a blessing and renewal of our vows all in aid of cancer research uk. Having cancer has made me more aware of many things and I have become a registered collector for cancer research uk,which has truly added another dimension to my life.