BS: Signs of Autumn

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 05 Oct 20 - 03:49 AM

Some of our fields have been combine-harvested now, and our local sheep/pig farmer has put his flock of sheep onto the stubble to munch up any leftovers.
But one ewe managed to escape, and has been seen up Cadders Hill nibbling on roadside weeds.
Guess who discovered her and added her to his menagerie? Yes, BamBam now has three goats, a whippet dog, an escaped pig and a solitary ewe in his retinue.
Wonder if they'll all fit in The Fox pub?
A deer, some swans, three goats, a pig and a sheep entered a pub. The fed-up landlord said, "Oh deer, swanning around in here again? Goat to blazes all of ewe, and take that smelly thing with you, the utter pig!
No animals allowed to Lyng-er in 'ere!" So they all peed copiously on his carpet and left.
Honestly, this is all true (except my joke) This village must be the maddest in England.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 03:25 PM

The incoming migrations of various geese have started, and this evening a group of about twenty Canada geese flew overhead, then circled our house/street honking loudly. They were selecting a place to settle (there are several small lakes and the winding river Wensum, plus millponds from which to choose) The leader of the V formation finally decided and they all descended down towards the lake behind the village hall.
It always touches my heart to watch them - they've had such a long and arduous journey.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 03:54 PM

Eliza, this morning as we walked along the river we watched another such flotilla get organized to migrate, squabbling over who was going with whom. Two ganders, each with his own gaggle, really went at it, honking ferociously and rearing up to beat their wings, each in the other's face. Then the other birds in each respective gaggle joined in, honking and ragging the opposition gander. Meanwhile, the snoozing mallard ducks did not even crack an eye, let alone bother to take notice.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 04:23 PM

Ha Charmion, that must have been quite spectacular! I've never observed a group setting off, just those who are arriving.
So funny that the ducks didn't even bother looking. "Those blooming geese at it again! Shut up you lot, we're trying to have a little nap here!"

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 05:01 PM

In 1997, Stratford Ontario took first place in its category in the Nations In Bloom "Prettiest Town" competition -- we're still patting ourselves on the back over that -- but the contest I want to see is "England's Maddest Village".

Actually, Stratford can be fairly mad sometimes, for Canada. We usually keep it to ourselves during the summer, when the tourists are about, but we let our freak flag fly once the snow comes and we have the place to ourselves.

But I doubt our chances in competition with any representative dorp in the UK.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 06:11 PM

When I was visiting my Irish auntie and uncle in London, Ontario (this was the late sixties) it was a very pretty town. Rather similar to our village here - bungalows with pretty open-plan front gardens and pavements. I really liked it, and walked about on my own exploring (August/September so quite warm) A few times a Police car would slow down and the Canadian officer would ask me what I was doing! They always found it a bit strange for a young lady to be walking about like that. I did notice that most people got into a car to go out.
I also remember the massive thunderstorms during the nights. And the lovely cool basements people had (not something we have here).
I swam in every one of the Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Erie, Superior and Michigan) but sadly I left Canada before the autumn leaves turned to gold.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 06:54 PM

Eliza, the late ‘60s was a time when young Canadians liked to spend the summer travelling around the country, often hitch-hiking. So many were doing it that school gyms and church basements were opened to provide hostel space. In big cities and in tourist towns like Stratford, patrolling cops looked for young folks on the street, especially if they had rucksacks and sleeping bags. Hitch-hiking was technically illegal, and wandering kids also had a tendency to beg — also illegal. (The Criminal Code included both behaviours in its definition of the offence of vagrancy.)

So the Stratford cops were just deciding whether to bust you.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 07:33 PM

... increasingly bare trees.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: EBarnacle
Date: 11 Oct 20 - 12:13 PM

OK, there was frost on my windshield yesterday and the temp went up to 24 C. Took the last o our ripe tomatoes in. Indian Summer is officially here. The root veggies come in next, especially the potatoes. Lost most of that crop as they developed a fungus. The sweet potatoes may overwinter in their planters.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Oct 20 - 04:23 PM

We had blooming hailstones yesterday and tons more rain today.
BamBam the tame deer hates the cold and the rain, so there's a photo of him in The Fox pub scrutinising the menu on the wall. Some wag had written underneath the picture "Hide the venison for God's sake!"
He enters the pub almost every day. I don't personally think it's very hygienic (but Normal for Norfolk?)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 06:18 AM

Damson jelly, Damson Gin, Bramble and Apple jelly, Green Tomato chutney, Rowan jelly......all safely in the store cuoboard, Autumn harvest.
Soup pot is now out for Cullen Skink, Lentil, bottom of the fridge soup and other hearty Scottish delicacies - mince and tatties, casseroles, haggis/ neeps/tatties a' the things yer grannie cooked!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 01:01 PM

Ooooh yum yum Gallus Moll! My Irish aunties (who lived in Durham for some years) made all those types of things in the autumn too. In those days we all had a 'larder' or 'pantry' (walk-in room with shelves, freezing cold and used for storage of food) There was bottled fruit (remember Kilner jars?), chutney, jam etc.
Our neighbour-across-the-road collects up windfall apples (Bramleys) and makes delicious crumbles. She sells them on her rounds (she flogs vegetables/fruit from her car like a travelling greengrocer to make a few bob)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 02:13 PM

The weather here has skipped three-quarters of October and the whole of November. However, I've just bought a new replacement Weber gas barbie for a bargain price. It will stay under cover until next year and I'm leaving the old one outside in case we want a sausage sizzle on, e.g., Christmas Day...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Jos
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 02:31 PM

You can still buy new Kilner jars (not just old ones in charity shops) - they aren't that old.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 03:26 PM

Bigger Kilner jars are great for making sloe and damson gins. I have a goodly supply of said jars.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 04:24 PM

I am reminded of a poem...

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Spread it thick, say it quick!
Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Spread it thicker, say it quicker!
Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
Don’t eat with your mouth full!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 06:21 PM

Hi Sen, usually I get a lot of apples and quinces from friends who have some trees in their garden, but they are totally isolating so not wanting to contact anyone at all this year!!! - Last year I had some left over quinces and experimented with quince vodka -- really lovely! (thought gin would overpower the delicate quince flavour.
I came across a book of recipes for absolutely every single type of wold and hedgerow thing you can imagine - and I know someone working her way through each one. Shall post the name of the author and her book when I find it again online - - -
Now we are all anticipating the January rush to buy Seville oranges for marmalade making-------!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 07:55 PM

I get bumper crops of Autumn Bliss raspberries most years, and last year I made some raspberry gin. I loved it, but Mrs Steve didn't care for it. That meant temporary heaven for me, but she wouldn't appreciate it if I made any more...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 10:02 PM

Migration - another sign of autumn. The DH and I went on a long ride to birdwatch a few days ago. Went to a state wildlife refuge and saw 16 kinds of birds - bald eagle, blue heron, great egret, killdeer were the most exciting.

We also saw some shorebirds we can't identify, but they were a wonderful sight nonetheless. There are largish shorebirds called willitts, and we decided to call those we saw won'titts. Shorebirds can be so hard to identify that there is a blanket term "peep" to cover all of them, but the word peep doesn't seem right for big birds.

We were baffled by a woodpecker that had a brownish head and red patches on its cheeks. Turned out to be a juvenile woodpecker. All these years of birdwatching, and we had no idea they existed.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and we were so glad to get out of the house.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Oct 20 - 12:11 AM

Great bird naming.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 12:47 PM

The hills and mountains, from a viewing distance in the car on the highway,
still have a lovely patchwork of colored leaves.

Get close up to any trees on level ground, though,
and those leaves are falling so fast --
and the leaf-blower landscaper groundsworkers
are working up a storm in town.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: EBarnacle
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 02:05 PM

'Tis closing in on the final days of the elections on this side of the pond. We local types keep reminding people that the election is more than for president.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 05:04 PM

... how do things look coming up to All Hallows Eve??

and don't forget the other senses,
as Autumn is also a time, as well as looking,
for listening,
tasting,
smelling,
touching ...

what are tne odo[u]rs of Autumn where you are?

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 05:31 PM

Finally cold out. Went to hear music outdoors at a winery, came home 3ish, and here it is 5.30ish and my feet are still *radiating* cold under the blanket on my couch.

I love fall clothes. And the sound of leaves being blown from trees and along patios.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 05:43 PM

Our clocks 'went back' at 2am, and we're now an hour earlier than we were before. Most confusing for our 'body clocks'. It gets dark now by 4pm, but dawn is a bit earlier. It always takes me about three weeks to adjust.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Oct 21 - 09:43 PM

A bit late this year,
but it's still autumn for most of us.
Enjoy it while it lasts,
knowing what follows.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 06:38 AM

Lots of little log-vans trundling up and down our village streets. All the wood-burner owners have ordered their supply. Then one hears 'chop chop chop' as they use their axes to cut the logs into kindling-size pieces.
Also, our Sheep Sanctuary friends are trundling odd bits of pumpkins over to give their sheep a treat.
Algy's Farm up the road is thronged with families choosing their pumpkins (all colours, white, orange, green, and all sizes, from tiny to gigantic!)
And our beautiful Norfolk oaks (all the fields have lots of oaks along their boundaries, many over three hundred years old) are turning orange at last. Very late this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 08:35 AM

It's been a very warm October, my garden is still in full, slightly-bedraggled bloom and I've just bought an impressive-looking wood maul in a clearance sale. I have a stack of logs that the tree surgeon cut into decent-length rounds but which are too wide for my stoves. So this afternoon I'm going to see what a good wielding of the maul can achieve. A quick google first...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 12:21 PM

I need more practice and a better technique... :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 01:16 PM

Oh Steve, please be careful! Those things can be a bit dangerous.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 01:18 PM

I was very tempted just to post that I I now have an impressive new chopper and that I'm working on my technique, and leave it at that...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Sol
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 06:43 PM

Giving the grass it's last cut.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Oct 21 - 11:04 PM

leaves, leaves, leaves
off of the trees and all over below,
and the professionals or the homeowners,
working overtime to get the leaves collected and carried away.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Oct 21 - 05:45 AM

It's a mortal sin to dispose of your fallen leaves. I collect huge stacks of them from my garden and the surrounds. You can keep them piled up or bagged up for several years, but I've found that I can make "accelerated leaf mould" by next spring by mixing the leaves with grass clippings. I've got lots of them too.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Oct 21 - 08:22 AM

Frost at long last.
No more mosquitoes or biting flies.
The first unequivocal hard freeze cannot be far away.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 30 Oct 21 - 03:43 AM

Bloomin' clocks go back late this evening. It will get dark an hour earlier, but at least it will get light an hour earlier too. Trouble is, we have about seven clocks around the house, and it takes ages fiddling about putting them back. Fortunately, the 'puter etc do it by themselves.
I hate wrestling with the oven and the car clocks.
Also, our oil is going down rather fast, so I shall have to order 500 litres quite soon from Boilerjuice. I'm dreading finding out the price - bet it's gone up horrifyingly. Ah well. Better than shivering eh?
And we got a letter saying our Winter Fuel Payment will be £200. Very pleasing, until I read further down "It should arrive by January 25th".
I jolly well hope it arrives well before then - we have three months of heating to finance if that date is correct!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Oct 21 - 08:35 AM

This is the month for low budget new horror movies like;
I Know What You Tweeted Last Summer
Rosemary's Anchor Baby
The Tory at the End Of The Street
pResident Evil
Night Of The Living Wage
The Man In The Ironic Mask
Heather Has Two Mummies
Husband Of Chucky
House Of Vax
Friday The Juneteenth
Jews...da dum, da dum, da dum da dum da dum da dum

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Nov 21 - 09:21 AM

campfires are better

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Nov 21 - 08:29 PM

And all of a sudden, the clusters of pine trees in the neighborhood,
while staying green,
have decided to shed quantities of dead pine needles.
All at once, BOOM, we come outdoors one morning
and the sidewalks and parking lots,
AND parked cars,
have got these dried up pine needles all over them!
And, as I say,
the tree branches are still well covered with good living green pine needles.
Something going on there that I don't understand.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Nov 21 - 09:38 PM

All pines, spruces, firs, cypresses, cedars and sequoias are evergreen, but that doesn't mean they never drop leaves. They do, all the year round, though there may be some seasonality involved in the amounts they drop and when (I don't know...). A few types of coniferous trees are deciduous, such as larches and the swamp cypress (Taxodium, separate from the true cypresses). Coniferous woodland always has a carpet of leaves (needles) on the ground. When the ground freezes in winter, trees can't take up water and ordinary-type leaves would just dehydrate and die, but needle-type leaves have a tough outer layer and have their stomata enclosed on the inside curve of the needle, which greatly reduces water loss by transpiration. Evergreen broad-leaf trees have various strategies to get them through the winter, such as thick, leathery leaves, sunken stomatas or a covering of dense hairs.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 05:40 AM

(Gosh, "stomata" is already plural, Stephen! Oh reading specs, where art thou...)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 09:26 AM

First frost last night.

Fall Back is this coming weekend. I miss it being on Halloween.

Switched out my summer for winter clothes and discovered that what with losing 50lbs *nothing* fits. Needed flannel shirts, warm vests, long johns, all too floatingly large to be *warm* - yeah, yeah, complain, complain.

We lost the governor's race, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 02:26 PM

Shorts and a short-sleeve shirt all winter for me. Sandals, no socks. Exceptions for funerals and weddings only. I do have a thin cotton gilet for those breezy December days. I don't wear ties. All my shirts are cheerfully-patterned or positively floral. They go well with my incredibly sunny personality. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 02:35 PM

I wear open sandals all year round, never any socks, and my feet are in perfect shape. No corns, bunions, ingrown toenails etc. I too wear a T shirt and light trousers all year, with a gilet popped on for going out. I really hate being trussed up.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 04:56 PM

I simply must have fresh air about my person. Force me to wear a woolly jumper and you'd end up on a murder rap.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Nov 21 - 07:37 PM

Several VERY chilly nights so far... and the county leaf collection brigade just posted the signs warning it begin "in a few days, weather permitting". The signs say nothing about "mortal sin". I MUST get rid of the majority of mine or I'd have no grass next year. If I collected them and composted, I'd have no place to use it. I never get them all... there are plenty to decay and go back to making now soil.

   Had to light the furnace... and then had to call a service company because it wouldn't stay lit. Had visions of the heat pump motor dying... but a very clever guy figured out that my boiler system had air bubbles.. and had it cleared in an hour. (I have radiant heat in the floor, with hot water pumped thru it.)
   So.. house is warm enough, and I can put away all the electric heaters.
We had 'almost' no snow last year, and they don't think there will be much this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 21 - 04:19 AM

I seem to be very like you Steve. All my T shirts are cheerful and brightly-patterned. And (here comes TMI) I never wear any night clothes, just sleep in the buff winter and summer. My very Norfolk neighbour-across-the-road was shocked when I told her this. "Thass roit rewd! Yew orter ware a noit dress, yew brazen hussy!" They've started their wood-burner off, using all the chopped-up wood from their farmland. Stinky smoke belching out into the village air.
By the way Steve, how are you getting on with your chopper and your new technique? (This post is beginning to sound like the script from a Carry On film!)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 21 - 06:19 AM

"I never wear any night clothes, just sleep in the buff winter and summer."

Snap!

It's been a bit too wet to wield my chopper. The forecast from today on is better so you never know, I just might be seen waving it in the air...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 21 - 07:14 AM

Pwaaaghaaaagh!!! That will be a sight to behold!! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Autumn
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Nov 21 - 10:33 AM

I don't like skin touching skin in bed so I sleep clothed. The number and weight of blankets change, though. Haven't gotten out the big duvet yet!

What I can no longer wear are turtlenecks. Used to love'm, now, they strangle. I sense scarves becoming a thing...

And do note my use of the word Duvet. Unamerican, that, forvall y'all across the water.