A PERFECT AUTUMN DAY

At the end of a perfect Autumn day, I find myself tired but very, very happy. Pa and I spent a large part of the afternoon picking some of the enormous apple crop with which our village has been blessed this year.

Sweet red apples with pink flesh, so pretty, huge even redder apples, again very sweet filled a large basket very quickly.

Cooking apples of various sorts, some small and very sharp others more mellow and full of juice and all wonderfully fresh and free from pesticides.

A neighbour of ours has bought an apple press, an odd thing to do since he has no apple trees on his property. We have been supplying his needs on a daily basis, I hope he remembers us when the cider he is making has matured.

Pa and I managed between us to re- site a large stone bird bath this afternoon. Typically the people who were here before us had set it slap bang in the middle of the front lawn, not aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Worse than this however is the fact that the birds which used it had no cover nearby to protect them from predators. Every morning this week a Sparrow Hawk has barrelled through the garden taking each time a small bird, even my doves have been taken by this beautiful but deadly predator.

Now sited at the edge of the lawn in a small recess with over head cover the birds will be able to drink and bath in safety. It would be a pity to loose all my grey doves just when I have erected a dove cote (a gift from Pa” for their especial use.

It seems that we now have four cats, the two new comers are a gorgeous black Tom cat and a very pretty tortoiseshell female so much like our cat Twiggy that it can be difficult to tell them apart.

I expect that their will be ructions between the new cats and our original two before things settle down. So much for the quiet life….Hey Hoe!