In which we know it’s autumn…
Nine months of watching the changes to the oak tree on the lane. Above is a picture from each month of 2014, starting in January and ending with the picture I took this morning, showing how the tree – and the hedge – has changed over the weeks and months.
In August, although I felt that something was beginning to be different in the air, you still couldn’t really say that we’d moved into autumn, but now, despite afternoon temperatures on many days reaching summer levels, you certainly know at 8am in the mornings, that the earth has turned into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness…
The oak is changing colour now. There were hints of change last month, but they were difficult to pinpoint, the quality of light makes such a difference to what you can see each day. Now I can see the beginnings of a golding, as if someone has lightly sprayed antique gold paint across the leaves. But it’s still subtle, green continues to dominate.
But change is more obvious in the lane.
The lush growth of midsummer is dying down now. Bracken is tinged with brown as the first fronds die back. The cleavers that I thought would strangle the nettles have all but disappeared. And everywhere, the huge abundance of fruits is evident. The hedges are red with haws and hips, and sloes and blackberries hang heavy along the way.
Gradually I’m beginning to be able to see through the hedge again to the fields beyond, which until now have been hidden behind a curtain of tall, thick green foliage.
This month I’ve surprised a couple of pheasants and been mocked by dozens of squirrels – they obviously think that teasing the Delinquent Dog is a jolly good game. And is it me, or can I hear more birdsong now – it certainly seems so.
I haven’t quite had to resort to gloves and a scarf yet, but it didn’t feel far away today – I might get them out ready.
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I post my daily photographs of the tree and other snaps from walking the Delinquent Dog on Instagram – either follow me there, or see the mini-versions on the right-hand sidebar of the blog for regular updates.
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Dreaming In Stitches 
Beautiful to see them all stacked up like that, and hard to believe how quickly the time has passed! We are definitely feeling autumn here too, though we don’t get mists, just clear and sunny cold.
Really, no mists? I never knew that. Bright crisp autumn days are spectacular, especially once the trees really turn red and gold, but I’d miss the occasional foggy day, they give everything an ‘other-worldly’feel, which I rather like.
Sometimes, yes, but the air is just not that damp in the autumn. I love a good foggy day, too!
It’s my favourite time of the year – I am already looking forward to those chilly autumn walks followed by a hot drink next to the fire…
Yes, me too, nothing quite like autumn.
I love seeing the tree through the months, makes me think of those wonderful time-lapse sequences on natural history programmes.
Well, if I ever manage to do it, I might try and put together a little sequence – by the time we get to December I should have over 300 pictures to use. I need to brush up my technical ‘know-how’.
amazing to see how much the hedge grows up over time, and the way you can still see the underlying structure of the tree when it’s in leaf – you must definitely brush up on your IT skills and create a sequence of the images, that would be splendid fun