As it is most deffinately Autumn and becoming quite Wintery with the frosts we have had this week, I thought I would give you a reminder of Summer. Although saying that, these pictures were taken on 3 November. We got home from the allotment to find this bee collecting nectar from the passion flower. He was not at all camera shy but obviously felt that this was his best side.
The fuschias are still in flower and buds opening, which is amazing as usually they are all wiped out by the frost at the beginning of October.
Back to reality now, and that means beans. Having lost the use of the kitchen table with beans drying, they are ready for packing away to give us some lovely soups and stews throughout the winter. I have kept some back for sowing next year as my idea is to build up my own stock of seeds of as much as possible. As well as the beans, I have kept seeds from tomatoes (what few there were after the blight wiped them out), passion flower, chillis, peppers, and melon.
We started to panic, as last year the water was turned off as soon as frosts started and we weren't prepared. We found as many water containers as we could, and with the help of our local plummer (Katy) sealed off the pipes that weren't needed and fitted taps. I then spent the afternoon walking back and forth from the trough with watering cans full of water. It wasn't a problem last year but we now have to think of a drinking water supply and pond refills for the next couple of months. It is amazing how much water an old water tank and two wheelie bins can hold.
As you will all know we are great believers in composting everything we possibly can - vegetable waste, not perenial weeds, teabags, cardboard, newspaper, wilting flowers, the stuff collected by the Dyson (I can't spell vacuum cleaner), the fluff out of the tumble dryer, the mountain of hair out of my hairbrush, duck bedding etc, etc.
A year later this is what it looks like!
It is fantastic stuff. I wish you could feel it, it just crumbles between your fingers and smells wonderful. I have put two barrow loads in the bed in the greenhouse ready for spring and have great hopes for a bumper crop of toms from that lot.Well, this is how it looks on a daily basis when we keep adding more.
Remember back to those heady days of summer when the bowls season was in full swing and yours truely has quite a successful season. Well, the prize giving is on 30 November so I will be able to show you my collection of awards. Old Basing Bowls Club is not the fastest off the mark, but they have finally got the results from the previous year on the roll of honour and of course, I won something then as well. Sadly this year, my win doesn't qualify for a place on the board but still, I will go down in history.
You will need to click on the picture to get a full view but I thought I would include a close up as well.
To finish as I started, with a picture of what we believe will be a prize winning dahlia. We have great hopes for this one and are going to join the Basingstoke Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society so that we can enter the dahlia show next year.
Great excitement today to find that a new lot of chippings had been delivered. We were getting desperate as the path to the ducks was becoming a bit of a mud slide. I moved 12 barrow loads and made what can only be described as the yellow chipping road. I can almost feel a song coming on, in fact we did burst into song for a little while. 
Not quite the same when you are wearing wellies rather than ruby slippers but I think you can get the idea. Follow the water butts, past the raspberries and the orange bucket and don't stop until you reach the ducks.
As you will all know we are great believers in composting everything we possibly can - vegetable waste, not perenial weeds, teabags, cardboard, newspaper, wilting flowers, the stuff collected by the Dyson (I can't spell vacuum cleaner), the fluff out of the tumble dryer, the mountain of hair out of my hairbrush, duck bedding etc, etc. 
