St Mary's Church, Gosbeck

This small 14th Century  church is a mile from the actual village of Gosbeck on a back road into Ipswich. I've been past the church many times but never turned off to the village itself. The church has it's own small car park and meadow.

The Gardemau Charities are historic trusts founded in the 18th century by the Reverend Baltazar Gardemau, a former vicar of Coddenham, and his wife.

The outside probably hasn't changed much since the C14. While inside was restored by the Victorians as usual.

When you step into the church via the south door in the tower, you step into a part of the church sectioned off by wooden and glass screens and curtains. It's quite unusual.

The font is in the screened off part. Not sure why it looks askew as I'm sure it wasn't. The design is typical.

Looking through the nave to the altar.

Below is the view from the alter back through the nave showing the screened entrance room. I think this is used as a vestry and baptistry because the church doesn't have one anywhere else. 

The most colourful thing in the church is this reredos behind the altar. (apologies this is an awful photo)

The crucifixion in the centre, with  the raising of Lazarus on one side and the raising of Jairus's daughter on the other.

A panel from the old rood screen is fixed to the wall

The stained glass dates from the late Victorian restoration

Better photos and more information on Simon Knotts Suffolk Churches website.

Nothing much to write about at the moment so I'll be back in a few days

Going Nowhere

 I'm having problems with one of my car tyres, it keeps losing pressure. I seemed to be pumping up with my hand held compressor far too often. So the car will be taken to my friends at the repair place on Wednesday to see if they can find a very slow puncture or valve leak and as there was plenty to do at home I decided not to risk the extra miles by going to car boot sales and jumble sale.

I started in the garden with filling the garden waste bin ready for it being emptied today. Cutting the grass and things in the greenhouse are finishing plus I cleared some of the flag iris that have spread like mad under the Magnolia.

I'd been leaving the bin empty as I thought BiL was going to come and cut the horrible Yew hedge but he'd not realised how many weeks had gone since I asked him. He was away at Stock Car racing for 5 days but hopefully he'll get here when he comes back.

Then I had 'fun' with paperwork as I was looking for something and had to wade through a pile of this years gumpf  - so lots of shredding done and sorting of things into different folders. Information to keep longer and things that can go into the recycling bin. It's a job I really dislike and it usually gets left until year end - or January. But getting rid of some now will make the January 2027 sort out so much easier. The instructions leaflet for our new recycling bins says you can now put paper shreds in the card/paper bin but only if its 'wrapped in paper'. What a messy business that was - bits everywhere.

A bit of stitching 

and reading

 were done too and I watched the Strictly Launch Show, which was what they called the first of the 2026 season. It was OK except for Josh Widdicombe who I do like as a comedian but his awful laugh kept intruding. Hopefully someone will have mentioned it to him and  it will be less annoying next week when the live programmes begin or maybe it's just me being picky.

Saturday 19th

Forgot this photo was on the phone - only 19 days late!

On Monday when  the post about Being Prepared was published I cooked up some beetroot that I'd collected from BiL's garden but a few hours later when I put the hob (electric induction) on for my meal it flashed up an error sign. I thought I was going to have to get the picnic stove in from the garage - even without power cut and apocalypse situation!

The hob instructions, once I'd found them, suggested turning the hob off and on - but the switch is behind drawers under the hob which involved a torch and a broom handle to reach it. Thankfully it worked and I was able to cook my meal. Which proves having a torch handy and gas picnic stove available might be a Good Idea in more than just a weather, cyber attack or zombie apocalypse crisis! 

BTW,  I'm still waiting for a commenter to explain why Monday's post was irresponsible advice!

AND can't imagine why a blogger thinks it's OK to copy a comment off my blog and dismiss it with hilarity on hers - bit rude I thought, then someone told me I was rude for saying it was rude to pinch a comment without attributing it! All jolly good fun!.

Anyway, on the sensible, non stirring-up-mischief side of life, what else has happened this week...... I've been doing some cross stitch, starting the Christmas tree decorations I mentioned and had a good week on the NYT wordle website as I got a 20 badge for getting the Spangram first on Strands and got wordle in two tries on Thursday. Didn't manage a Connections puzzle all week - hardly ever get a win on that game. And of course I got started on one of the library books.

Strictly Come Dancing starts tonight - I've not looked to see who's on it this year and it's all change for presenters so will be interesting to see how that goes. This week I've been watching the updated version of Magnum PI - the thing Tom Selleck did years ago with big moustache and very short shorts. The Chelsea Detective is back for a 4th series on U and Drama and Blue Lights back on the BBC at the end of the month.

I'm hoping to get to a rare Jumble Sale today unless BiL can come to cut the yew hedge, in which case I will be here clearing up all the bits.

Have a good weekend and I'll be back Monday

The September Library Book Photo

 A good collection brought home from the mobile library this time, they are all books I had reserved online. Good job I took two bags up the road with me.

Lots of crime fiction - no surprise there then!.

I have no idea how I'm going to get through this lot in 4 weeks - think it's very unlikely that I will.

Better get reading.

4 weeks ago I brought home this lot below. I read most but took some back unread and still have a couple here. Those I read get a mention on the Books Read 2026 page.

The Horse Chestnut Tree in Mid September

This months photo of the tree that is on the playing field beside the village hall where we have our Keep Moving group and  I was surprised to see how much the, thankfully harmless, disease that affects Horse Chestnut trees had increased since last month.. I think the rain spreads the spores and of course Autumn is progressing too so all leaves are gradually turning.

The conkers are hanging on

Horse Chestnut trees were first raised in Northern Europe by a botanist Charles de l'Ecluse from seeds brought from Constantinople in 1576.

There was just the one on the ground which I picked up to bring home to start my winter collection for deterring spiders.

You can see the link to why the similar trees and  their seed in the US are called  Buckeye.

The other mid-month photos are HERE

St Ninians Day

 Folklore says that  St Ninians Day is the day that the first eating apples are ready. Now there are cultivars that are ready earlier and my lovely Falstaff apples are really good but  another week or two will improve them even more.

4th Century Manuscript at Edinburgh University Library

 Ninian was the son of a Cumbrian chief who travelled to Rome after becoming a Christian. In 394AD Ninian was made a bishop by Pope Siricius. But he didn't forget his fellow Britons who didn't know the gospel and decided to return home. 

He built a stone church at Whithorn - now in Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland which became know as the White House which he dedicated to St Martin of Tours. This is thought to be the oldest Christian foundation in Scotland dating from 397.

Sometime in the early 2,000s we had a holiday around some of the Scottish coast and spent several days at Garlieston not far from Whithorn and visited the remains of the Priory and museum. I wish I had photos but either I didn't have a camera or lost a whole photo album from those years in one of the house moves.

Chocolate Rabbits

 You just never know what you are going to find at a car boot sale and last weekend I found 3 chocolate rabbits. Actually I could have had more but decided that maybe 3 were enough.

Someone had a whole tray full and selling them for 3 for £1. They are only just out of BBE date and being Lindt are sure to be good .

My plan is to eat the chocolate (of course) and use the ribbon and bell on some Christmas decorations that I just have to first stitch!

I made a few of these years ago and still have a couple that go on my Christmas tree most years.

Better get stitching.

(I went off chocolate in the heatwave of 2022 and hadn't eaten much until recently getting hooked on Maltesers! which I count as supporting local industry as the malt for Maltesers is prepared at Muntons maltings in Stowmarket!.)

Should We Prepare for this Winter's El Nino and Possible Cyber Attacks?

 After last nights Apocalypse programme on Channel 4 (which was just an hour of 20 and 30 year olds arguing) set in an abandoned town in the US which is now used by the military for training,  I'm jumping on the bandwagon!.........

Seems there is a Weather Event about to happen and Russia are planning a cyber attack in Suffolk!

"An El Nino event could disrupt UK weather, laying bare the vulnerabilities flagged by the Climate Change Committee's new report"

There is a factory in Suffolk producing drones for Ukraine which could be attacked by Russia. With a  small airfield in Suffolk being used to train the drone operators. We also have two USAF air bases and a Nuclear Power station. Any could have a cyber attack or an attack on the electric supply. (Although if there was a problem at Sizewell B then we probably wouldn't need anything stored at all!)

 I'm not panicking but can see no harm in being prepared for problems - it's better to have things in the cupboard and not need them than the other way round.

In Son and DiL's village they are actually having a special meeting on the 5th of October

People’s Emergency Briefing, St Mary’s Church

I've not heard about my village being briefed yet.

Anyway, I doubt it's possible to plan for long term problems or a zombie apocalypse! but it feels good to have a few just-in-case items.

I decided to order some more gas cartridges for my small picnic stove. I've used this three or four times since living here when electric has been off for a few hours. It doesn't happen often since a local transformer was upgraded but having a way to heat water for a coffee or a hot water bottle is comforting.

 There are batteries for torch and a radio in the cupboard and I also have a very old wind-up/solar power radio (it doesn't run long either way now but still works a bit). For light I have candles and a lantern that is rechargeable from the mains. I found a camping light that can be recharged by winding and also has a built in solar panel and can also charge a phone and have ordered that also.

In the garage I have a good stock of wood for the wood-burner - logs and kindling, firelighters and matches and BiL will save me some newspapers for fire lighting too.

In the medicine cupboard I always have a supply of paracetamol and ibuprofen, antiseptic and antihistamine creams and plasters and  reorder prescription meds from the pharmacy at the village health centre in good time.

I try and keep the car at least half full of diesel - which is a couple of hundred miles, enough to get out and about to family or shops for several weeks.

There's one thing that went from the shelves early in covid that I've never understood - loo rolls. I'm still getting a box full once a year from the Who Gives a Crap company so no shortage here. 

Then there's food and water as per instructions to have a supply - just in case. There is new government advice due later this month.................

The initiative is intended as a practical, "common sense" approach to enhance household self-sufficiency, which in turn frees up emergency resources for the country’s most vulnerable populations. [1]

What to stock: Households will be encouraged to keep a three-day supply of bottled water and non-perishable tinned foods (such as tinned meat, fruits, and vegetables) that do not require cooking, alongside emergency tools like manual tin openers and torches. [1]
When it launches: While initial reports leaked around August 25–28, the formal guidance and an official "Prepare" website are expected to be heavily publicised later in autumn, with some frameworks pointing to mid-September 2026. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The reasons: The policy update comes in response to heightened risks from hostile state cyber-attacks on infrastructure, severe summer heatwaves causing agricultural droughts, and potential disruptions to power or water grids. [1, 2]
The "War Book": Alongside the public advice, the government is updating its classified crisis blueprint—traditionally known as the "war book"—to prepare civilian and military infrastructure for external threats. [1]

Officials and supermarket bodies have heavily emphasized that this is a long-term preparedness measure and not a call for immediate panic buying

 Years of living miles from a shop means I never let cupboards get low on food and I have a 5 litre bottle of water in the freezer which works like a giant ice pack if the electric goes off (two or three 4 pint  bottles of milk too and they do the same) and a couple of small bottles of water in the cupboard and keep my filter jug in the fridge full. Plus the water butts outside have refilled with recent rain. I don't think there's anyway to have an indefinite water supply unless you happen to have a well or your own supply of spring water. But some of the things suggested to stock for food shortage just wouldn't appeal at all - like baked beans. If I was stressed/depressed without much heat and light they would be way down my list.

One of the frugal you-tube ladies talked about spending £100 on her pre-autumn prepper pantry. She has a supply of  oats and dried milk to last a year, peanut butter that she doesn't like much, jars of fish paste (yuck) and enough canned lentils to last until 2029!

 I don't have the enthusiasm for  stocking up that much so decided to get in just a few items that can be heated in one saucepan on the picnic stove to make a filling meal.

In the end I only got 3 cans to keep in the cupboard. That'll do for now. These are the sort of tins that we used to take camping when feeding 5 and cooking on two gas rings - they were cheap back  then, definitely aren't now. 

I was going to buy some canned vegetables until I discovered the 3 cans of carrots in the cupboard were best before 2022 so maybe I'd better eat those first before buying more!

According to the Labels list there's a post like this back in 2023, in Covid Strange Times too (2020) and back in 2018 when we had storms and power cuts- seems I've been preparing for years and nothing too drastic has happened...................... yet!

    

What's Happened This Week...............

...................not a lot.

But I like bullet points!

• I got a quote from a local company to clean out the gutters after a downpour a couple of weeks ago sent water cascading everywhere. They will be round Monday. A chunk of money that will be worth it. 
• The rain has turned the grass green again and needing cutting - haven't needed to do that many times since spring.
• Also got a local bloke to do a quote for sorting out the patio. Getting rid of the old uneven slabs that have weeds between everywhere and replacing with new and then using the old slabs to make a proper path down the side of the bungalow. It will involve a mini digger etc etc. Sounds as if it might be expensive, haven't heard yet - I think he might not want the job!
• Managed a bit more of the usual Autumn garden clearing, now have a heap of stuff waiting to go in the bin but hopefully BiL will be round to cut the horrible Yew hedge at the front soon so I'm keeping the garden waste bin empty until he's been.
• One of my Keep Moving Group friends brought some pears from her tree along and I came home with a few and made a delicious pear crumble, I like this more than an apple crumble.
• After saying, on the blog post about the darning book, that I'd not had to do much mending lately I discovered the seams on a pleat on my shorts/skirt were pulling apart, didn't need the darning mushroom - just a few stitches to make sure they last yet another summer.
• Colin would have loved the recent cricket test matches, he used to listen to Test Match Special on the radio. I've been watching the 1 hour highlights on 5 and England bowlers have been doing really well. I always 'tell' him at the end how much he would have enjoyed the matches.
• Also on 5 - but on their catch up channel I've watched season 6 - the final season from 2022 - of the US drama Bull which has been released to us here a while after the other five series. I'm glad it had a good proper ending rather than just stopping.

There is a new addition to my bookshelves.

EGD made it at Brownie Camp in the summer holidays and gave it to me. Mrs Tiggywinkle with a teasle for her head.

Hope you have a good weekend, I will be back Monday.

 

September 11th

 25 years ago today I was doing the ironing and listening to local Radio Suffolk when the two presenters suddenly stopped talking. 

After that everyone watched their televisions in horror as the events unfolded.

I rang my penfriend in the US even though she lived miles away in Michigan, just needed to check her family were OK and tell her people here in the UK were just as horrified at what had happened. 

The after effects of that day are still rumbling on.

Sending condolences to all blog readers in the States who are remembering those events today

The Country Pie - At Least the 20th Vegetarian Taste Test

 Another frozen veggie concoction to try. From Asda £2.50 for two

I followed Sue in Lancs advice to heat up a baking tray in the oven before putting the pie on it to avoid a soggy bottom!

As usual there is a long list of ingredients, a few weird things. I wonder why they need to use both palm oil and rapeseed oil?

Ingredients : Water, Wheat Flour (calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin) rehydrated textured soya protein (11%). palm oil, maize starch, rapeseed oil, brown sugar, salt, yeast extract, maltodextrin, dried onion, garlic powder, tomato powder, wheat flour, palm stearin, onion powder, malted barley extract, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, red wine extract, emulsifier:mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids.

I served it up with fresh carrots and frozen peas and sweetcorn. It was actually quite tasty and the pastry was good and crisp - top and bottom.

I might buy again - much better than some of the other frozen veggie bakes I've tried, and handy to keep in the freezer for something different.

St Catherine's Church, Pettaugh

 I've driven past this church hundreds of times but someone who lived in the village had told me that it was always locked so I'd never bothered to stop.

But when I did stop recently I found it open.

Just a small church for a small village that unfortunately suffers from having the A1120, a busy cross county road, passing through it which has two horrible corners between the old houses which were originally a pub and a shop.

Walking up the path I hoped the gate across the porch wasn't padlocked...it wasn't. I like the flint and brickwork pattern.

The view down the nave towards the east window, it's light and bright here

Apologies, the photo of the font is very dark and gloomy

The lovely East window dates from 1936

Christ the Good Shepherd stands at the centre, with two simple tales of redemption flanking him, the raising of Lazarus on the left, and the calling of Zacchaeus on the right. Townshend and Howson were important figures in the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th Century, many of whom were women. Like a number of her fellow artists Caroline Townshend was also involved in the suffragette movement, which brought her into friendship with the stained glass artist Mary Lowndes, designer of the suffragette banners and co-founder of the Glass House. In 1913 she met Joan Howson who became her apprentice and later her partner. This is the only Townshend & Howson glass in Suffolk, though they were also responsible for organising and setting the great scheme of early 16th Century glass a few miles off at Gipping.

The other windows are plain except for the blue and yellow edging and dedications at the bottom

Elvis is in the Building!..............

..................... I found him at the Sunday car-boot sale.

For the princely sum of 50p, he has joined the other three looking out of my bedroom window.

That's a cobweb on the outside of the window - not cracked glass!

He is one of the originals from dcuk. A company started in 2004 (which must be when I got my original). My second was a charity shop rescue in 2017 and the third was from a boot sale last year. In between then and now I could have bought one for £5, but that would have made me a serious collector! Whereas at 50p I'm just a duck rescuer. 😀

The company are still in business, still using bamboo but now all the ducks have painted wellie-boots - I'm not keen on those, there are lots of copies around too. The originals have dcuk stamped on the sole of their foot.

Read One and Found Two More

Thank you to whoever mentioned this authors crime fiction books. I thought I wasn't going to get into it, as there was a bit of a slow start and I was rather put off by one of the celebrities recommendations on the front cover.......... 

"I am insanely in love with George Cross" says Stephen Fry. Nearly enough to make me not start it!

This is yet another police person with problems, this time Aspergers, and he tends to have no empathy or realisation of how to interact with people. Yet his very insistence at routine and being precise with everything has made him a brilliant detective so his bosses put up with him - he gets results and makes them look good.

The Dentist is the  first story in a series of eight so far which have been around with the covers below since 2020. Now the paperbacks have been reprinted with the cover above and similar.

From the library website

DS George Cross can be rude, difficult, and awkward with people. But his unfailing logic and dogged pursuit of the truth means his conviction rate is the best on the force. An outsider himself, having been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, he is especially drawn to cases concerning the voiceless and the dispossessed. Who was the unknown man whose weather-beaten body is discovered on Clifton Downs? Did the tragedy that led to a life on the streets also lead to his death? His police colleagues may dismiss it as a squabble among Bristol's homeless community, but Cross is not convinced. As he delves into the dead man's past, he becomes convinced that to catch this killer, he needs to solve a cold case murder from years before. A murder that someone has spent fifteen years thinking they've got away with. And they have no intention of letting one eccentric, socially awkward detective, change that now.

I was going to reserve the second -  'The Cyclist' -  but couldn't as I already have the upper limit of how many we are allowed to reserve but I  found Stowmarket Library had two others on their shelves so popped in to borrow them ......just in case I run out of reading before the mobile is round again. (There are already 13 (!) books ready for me to collect but the mobile visit is still 10 days away)

Hopefully it won't matter if they are not read in order. It's so good to hear about a 'new to me' crime author who has already written a few books.

Heading Into September.

 I wonder if Blogger will let comments publish today. What with this problem and the slow updating of blogs on reading lists I'm starting to wonder if Blogger is trying to fade quietly away.

This painting was on Tuesday's post but I like it, so putting it on here again.

Young September's Cornfield 1954

Oil on board

Alan Reynolds (1926-2014)

Below is ............................         Young September's Cornfield 2026 

                                                                 by me (1955 - ), 

                                                              with my big camera

 Already the field had been harvested, cleared and  disc-harrowed ready for whatever comes next - possibly oil seed rape which is often drilled straight in when a field hasn't been ploughed................or they might go back and plough ......I shall see later.

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I've started on the autumn garden clearing- although haven't tackled the four huge Buddleias yet. BiL cut one right back with his chainsaw last year but it  put on 8 foot of growth regardless. Each bit has to be chopped up to fit in the garden waste bin and takes an age. I raked up all the small fallen apples from under the Minarette trees - I thought to leave them for the birds for winter but seeing as so many had codling moth maggot damage they need getting rid of.

************************************

The BBC have decided to end Ski Sunday after nearly 50 years of Sunday evening winter viewing for ordinary people who are never likely to go skiing- very sad. I liked to watch for the snowy views. Bad BBC!

On the other hand they had a brilliant programme from The Royal Albert Hall Proms - Bond Themes played by the huge BBC Concert Orchestra. It was really good. Most of the annual Proms festival is too highbrow for me but can you imagine the outcry from the rich and famous if the beeb were to stop broadcasting the Proms!

This week I've been watching some of the British Open Snooker and  something called Tout le Monde Ment. - It's French! - translates as Everyone Lies, crime of course. A short series of eight, originally shown between 2022 and 2025. It's on Walter Presents on 4. No details anywhere if  French TV are likely to make more. 

Have you seen the trailer for a new programme starting soon on Channel 4 called Apocalypse?

In this bold and ambitious social experiment, Channel 4 is sending a group of ordinary people to a jaw dropping, real world location - an abandoned town that bears all the hallmarks of being ravaged by an apocalyptic event. 

It sounds very odd - but apt for all the dire warnings of cyber attacks, weather abnormalities and wars!

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Compared to the week before, this week has been much quieter. I've only spoken to ladies at Keep Moving group, son on the phone and Kirsty who cuts my hair. There was some wild, windy and wet weather  for a while on Friday morning showing me the gutters need cleaning out. Not sure me and a ladder are a good idea any more - may need to get a man in - no one in the family would jump at the chance to clean out gutters either!

Another view of the disc-harrowed fields up the lane not far from home.

I can't decide which to visit today - car boot sale in one direction or a village garage/yard sale event in the other direction.

 Have a good weekend, I'll be back Monday

Flowers and Books Or Books and Flowers

 As mentioned the other day I went to the Flower Festival with stalls at Crowfield Church mainly for their second hand book stall. I also got some cheap plums from their produce stall, ate a few but added the rest to the freezer for the next batch of compost/mixed fruit jelly. It's mainly apple peels and cores but adding some whole cheap fruit means it makes a bit more jelly with a better colour.

Just found two books this time (I'm beginning to think that they save the books from year to year!) and it was threatening rain and so dark and gloomy in the church and very busy that I didn't take any good photos of the Flower Festival which had a theme of 'Desert Island Discs'

I've just finished the Evie Woods book - The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris-  borrowed from the library. I enjoyed it and had read another two of her books a few years back. They all have a bit of mystery and magic about them. This one sounds similar. All books were for sale for 50p each.

With the flower festival theme of Desert Island Discs, some people went for Islands, others for people who had featured on the radio programme and others choose their own music or a luxury item that they would take to an island themselves.

There was a leaflet with details of the villagers who created the lovely arrangements but I handed that back on my way out and the notes on each display with a number and  details were very small and I didn't get them in the photos. So apologies to the brilliant florists!

Just editing in to say that it seems Bloggers latest blip is not being able to publish comments anywhere! Hopefully short term.  I've tried to comment on several blogs this morning but no luck.

Nutting Day - Revisiting A Post from 2018

 Did you know September 3rd was traditionally known as Nutting Day? No, I didn't either, until 2018 when I came across all this information and wrote this post.

According to the book 'Cattern Cakes and Lace' (Julia Jones and Barbara Deer, 1987).......this is the day on which children would traditionally go to the local wood to gather hazelnuts. All villages would have had local hazel coppices as the wood was so important for hurdles - no wire netting or electric fencing back then.

So what can I find out about hazelnuts (Corylus avellana).

From a little book called 'Nature in Your Basket' by Richard Mabey..............
Pollen deposits suggest that between the retreat of the glaciers and the arrival of mature forest some 9,000 years ago, hazel was the commonest tree across much of Britain, and it must have been one of the most important sources of vegetable food for Stone Age hunter gatherers.

 From the book 'Discovering the Folklore of Plants 'by Margaret Baker..............
The Celtic world treated hazel as a holy tree. Its nuts were connected with poetry, knowledge, love, fertility and childbirth. In the Scottish Highlands hazel was one of the nine sacred woods used in kindling needfire at Beltane. (Need-fire, or Wild-fire, a fire caused by friction is a term used in folklore to denote a superstition which survived in the Scottish Highlands until a recent date.) 
Hazel is the wood often used for divining rods and  if you stir jam with a hazel stick the fairies will not steal it!
The nuts were given the names of potential husbands and thrown into the fire by young girls. The loudest bang as the nut exploded or brightest flame showed which man she would marry.

Apart from the well known use of coppiced hazel for hurdle making, it was also used for baskets and the bast or stringy inner bark could be used as a tying material. The wood was used for carved walking sticks and broom handles and the oil from the nuts could be used as a polish. The nuts can be ground and added to flour for a flavoured pastry and like almonds can be used to make milk.

I'd try these ideas for cooking with hazelnuts.......if only the squirrels didn't take them before I get a look in.

That was 2018 before moving  here.

 I planted a Red Hazel in the border here in 2022, it's 6 foot tall now but every summer it soon reverts to green and only goes back to red leaves with the new spring growth. Whereas the huge Red Hazel in BiL's garden (from a seedling which popped up at the smallholding years ago) stays red-leaved most of the year. I think there's a draught along the side of my bungalow that hits the Hazel and causes it stress. It has about 4 pink tinged nuts on it this year - the first I've seen. I went along the footpath not far from home to see how many nuts on an ordinary Hazel tree that grows there - None!