Autumn is approaching…PLUS one for Charles

Here is one for Charles….On my morning walk in the woods I stumbled across this shoe.  Now Charles of Open Mind Images (http://openmindimages.wordpress.com/) has, or did have, a shoe fetish. However he has been rather quiet over the past few weeks….so to avoid Charles getting withdrawal symptoms this forlorn shoe is especially for him….

I should add that his talent spreads much further than shoes, so if you want to see some great images – recently some fabulous images from Islay, Scotland – then click on the link above.

NOW on to serious matters….

This last weekend was for us in England  ‘The Late Summer Bank Holiday’ the last Bank Holiday till Christmas.  Whilst there is still a long way to go before Autumn arrives, this last holiday marks a psychological seasonal marker.  From now on the days start to draw in and natures signs of autumn start to appear more rapidly…..

The Elder Flowers have now to turned to berries, the small fruits changing colour from yellow, to orange, red and finally dark purple when they will be ripe enough to pick for making Elderberry Wine.

Teasels with their glowing spike covered heads have thrust their way high above most of the hedgerow……

and Rosebay Willow Herb has cast its flower heads, have seeded and now drape a wool like mantle about their stems….

Hog Weed, not the most attractive of wild plants looks a good deal smarter when its head starts to sport its dry seed heads, just one more sign of that seasonal change….

Autumn may well be on the way but right now this period of late summer offers many of the calmest days of the year, mellow sunshine and a subtle warmth, an ideal climate to be out and about and to watch the fruits and flowers reach maturity.  Calm it is even down by the Lake…..

The perfect late summer morning.

27 August

© David Oakes 2013