Saturday 5th and More Painting Planned

This is the living room end of my newly painted room with the new flooring and the new rug. The rug changes colour all the time with the light and which way it's looked at but has the gold/greens of the sofa and chair and curtains merging into blue at one end like the chest the TV sits on and the bookshelves.

Last weekend I was doing a bit of tidying in the small bedroom/toy room/playroom and realised that I had enough paint left from the living room to do that room, which is also grey at the moment. So I can get rid of the 15 little hooks the previous owners had - all were holding a photograph - and fill in all the holes that will be left. They have to be prised off with a screwdriver and pliers and leave a big hole behind. I've made a start but will get going properly next week. 

We had a lot of rain here on Monday and then again on Tuesday, and yet again on Wednesday. I took DiLs birthday present over early Monday and the water was already across the road in one place that flooded to a serious depth last year. Was it always like this? every day of rain producing flooding on country roads? I don't remember it from the past and we certainly never had problems getting to school in the 60's. 

For the first time since our Keep Moving group started 2 years ago, this week we didn't have enough people turn up to run it, numbers have gone down since the summer. One or two ill, others away, two with ill husbands - it's not looking good for the future - sadly. Other groups for over 60's exercise are further away and more expensive. We'll try again next week.

I took a boot-load of bags of 'stuff' to town on Thursday to pop into a charity shop, but had to go to 4 different charity shops before I could find anyone to take it. One shop was only accepting one bag per person, another two taking nothing but thankfully the new Mind shop welcomed my bags of unwanted crockery, toys and odds and ends. Those taking nothing said they were chock-a-block full in the back rooms. Are fewer people buying from charity shops? Maybe - I've only bought a couple of things from a CS this year..

There's been no phone signal in the village and some surrounding areas for O2 for the last few days. I thought it was me and my phone and something I'd done wrong but thanks to the local Facebook and Next Door website I read lots of other people are having problems too. Something to do with the mast that can't be sorted quickly apparently. Hope it doesn't take too long.

This week I am grateful for

• Lots of delicious eating apples from my little trees
• Help in the garden from someone looking to fill some time
• Getting to the pool for a swim

Have a good weekend.

Back Soon

Sue

Reading The Seasons + A.N.Other

 Just the second book with Autumn in the title so far. This is a collection of short stories that had previously appeared in magazines back in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. One was a Poirot story and another a Miss Marple.  

Quickly read and not very interesting! is my summing up of this book.

100% better was the latest book by Robert Harris. I had no interest in the WWI Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and his correspondence  with a woman less than half his age during the start of the war, but Robert Harris writes so well that it's impossible not to get drawn in. This story, as are many of his books, is fiction but built around fact.

Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe. In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley - aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless - is having a love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state. As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer is assigned to investigate a leak of top secret documents - and suddenly what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that will alter the course of political history.

A really good story about a bit of history that I had no knowledge of at all.

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Sue 

St Peter, Hepworth

 If an event is held in a church I've not visited it's a good opportunity to go - knowing it will definitely be open and I went to St Peter's Hepworth while they were holding a small art exhibition but it then made it very difficult to take photos. So   HERE  is a link to Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches website so you can see all the things I couldn't!

The font cover is quite amazing and dates from the C15 and survived a fire in 1898 when the thatched roof, as the church had at the time, was completely destroyed.

The paintings were interesting but nothing  that stood out. There were more paintings in the village hall and I really should have taken a photo of a very colourful picture of Silver Birches in autumn which was lovely but expensive.

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Sue

Following A Tree

 Thank you to everyone for comments on Monday and Tuesday.

Up the lane last Saturday morning - with a fantastic blue sky, the oaks still have all their leaves.

We hadn't had too many windy days so there were still acorns on the trees on Saturday - although with Monday and Tuesday being so awful I expect there are less now.

There were lots on the road too

The oak leaves may be hanging on but they are starting to turn from green to browns and yellows

The ivy on one trunk is now flowering

The view over the village with one brown field, it looks as if it's been sown already but no idea what with

Not sure what's happening with this field. Last month it looked as if it had been drilled straight into the stubble. Now there seems to be a wheat crop coming through but lots of something that has leaves like oil-seed rape but the wrong flowers. 

On the other side of the road, in the huge sugar beet field some of the beet are getting bigger

The rose hips are all bright red now - plenty of them too

I wonder how many leaves will be left when I take the October photos.

Back Soon

Sue

October Country Days

 I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

L.M. Montgomery

 October was originally the eighth month of the Roman calendar. The Anglo Saxons called it Wynmonath - the wine making month or Winterfylleth meaning the full moon heralding winter.

Illustration by Eugene Grasset from the Kate Greenaway Illustrated Book of Days

There is often a short period of stormy weather in the first half of the month, followed by St Luke's little summer -  dry days around the 18th and heavy rain at the end of the month  around  St Simon's and St Jude's day  on the 28th .

In the past villagers relied on pannage - the law allowing them access to the woods for their pig - to enable it to fatten on acorns and beech mast before it was killed at the end of the month.

A good October and a good blast

Will blow the hog his acorn and mast.

 

Beech Mast

 

 I found pannage carries on  ...........this on the National Trust website........

Pannage, pigs and acorns in the New Forest

Pannage is an ancient practice that is still used today by commoners and verderers who turn out their pigs into the Forest during the season.  The pannage season, usually between September to December, lasts around 60 days. This year's season will run between 13 September to 14 November.   Pigs do a vital job of eating many of the acorns that fall at this time of year. Green acorns are tasty for them, but poisonous for the ponies and cattle that roam the area freely.

Weather lore this month is mostly predictions for the coming winter.

Hard frosts in October means we'll have a mild January

For every fog in October there will be snow in winter  

Full moon in October without frost, no frost until full moon in November

 

Much rain in October, much wind in December

Warm October, cold February.

Most of these weather sayings have been on previous October posts but hopefully they are good for a repeat.

Back Soon

Sue