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Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness


Lehaut

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And the next line is:

"Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun"

Well Keats cannot have experience autumn here in our part of LA.  We have had one hour of sun in the past 11 days!  Thick mist (not being able to see the other side of the river some days) morning to night.  Damp and depressing.

 

 

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Good gracious, Lehuat.  Here nobody can believe how it is sunny and WARM (around 20° maximum) practically everyday since about mid October.

While out for my daily walk today, I met the 2 ladies and assorted children from the local crêche and all were dressed as though it were summer.

Incredible for November, everybody exclaims....

But no need to be too envious.  The forecast says change next week.

 

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22 hours ago, menthe said:

Good gracious, Lehuat.  Here nobody can believe how it is sunny and WARM (around 20° maximum) practically everyday since about mid October.

While out for my daily walk today, I met the 2 ladies and assorted children from the local crêche and all were dressed as though it were summer.

Incredible for November, everybody exclaims....

But no need to be too envious.  The forecast says change next week.

 

Not here Menthe, been sharing the anti-cyclonic gloom of the UK and it seems also LeHaut .. had a nicer day yesterday, and I got 2 loads of washign almsot dry at least, but back to grey skies now .. weather is getting very silly this year - and it rained heavily overnight - which is good I suppose as we do need the rain down here, but October was the coldest and gloomiest I remember for some years .. it's my birthay month so I have a better memory of what it was like in years past ..

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Haven’t seen the sun for weeks now, or so it seems. I wondered if Putin was controlling the climate, or the newly reelected Pumpkinhead! Plus a bit of light drizzle; boring, boring. At least my chap was able to cut my hedges. Went to Belgium a couple of days ago, light rain all the way. Foul! Only a visit to IKEA was bright.

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I just had a fantastic few days in Brittany, 22-29 Oct, with cloudless blue skies and positively hot days. (I had of course packed for rain, chill etc, so lugged a lot of unnecessary baggage around with me.)

It's getting chilly back here in London, but the autumn colours are beautiful when the sun peeps through.

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On 08/11/2024 at 08:51, Lehaut said:

Ah, hopefully a straight swap with us 🙂

There you are Lehaut, I have swapped and woke up to grey skies this morning.  So I hope, for you, that the other side of the swap is successful and that you now have our sunshine.

Walked in warm sunshine yesterday with my walking friends for the first time in weeks and it was indeed très agréable!

TBH I don't mind the greyness because it is not cold and it makes for easier driving in the afternoons when the sun hits me straight in the eyes.  I have the sun thing down in the car, dark glasses and a visor to enable me to drive!

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21 hours ago, menthe said:

the other side of the swap is successful

Regrettably not!

Still to make the most of the grey weather, we walked up to the "Cimetière Miséricorde" in Nantes yesterday, somewhere we have not visited.  Somewhat jollier with the chrysanthemums scattered about, we came across this particular "headstone", certainly brightened up the day!  (He was a celebrated architect)

 

 

IMG_20241109_114211.jpg

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Regarding the tombs, we in our little village have those elaborate edifices and little chapels (chapelettes?) complete with wrought iron gates and railings and even marble monstrosities with the names of people still alive.  I suppose they are laying treasures on earth as well as in heaven?

Our weather was fine, not too sunny though I was careful to pick us places that do not face the sun.  There was a very fresh breeze but it wasn't enough to make you feel cold.  As usual the message the maire read out was très emouvant and I could imagine the soldiers with heavy back packs who had to keep on moving forward however deadbeat they were.  After all, I myself have often felt the weight of a sac à dos and having to keep up...!!!  NOTHING of course compared to the what the soldiers felt and I never had more threats from gunfire than that of perhaps a stray shot from some hunter.

The last couple of years, we have gone to the ceremony at the monument aux morts and gone home bypassing the drinks afterwards at the salle.  But, to my delight, my husband this year (considering his meeting with the grim reaper this year) felt able to continue the "après cérémonie" and we went and had the drinks and the nibbles and the catching up with friends and neighbours.  Plus he'd stood throughout the ceremony and before lunch drinks, well over and hour...I was quietly really, really chuffed.

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Clearly your attentions have been doing him good, Minteroonie.

But, north wind today, air damper, colder definitely a touch of real late autumn, winter closing in. Time to get the last of the dahlias out of their pots and indoors though a frost would do them good.

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I wish I still had dahlias.  We had great big whopping ones in our previous house and they'd last till they shrivel with the first frosts.

I bought some bulbs on leboncoin for our present garden but they are miserable looking weaklings and they don't always flower every year.

Don't know when the leaves will fall from the murrier this year.  The branches were trimmed back last year by a team of trained paysagistes and the leaves are thicker and more abundant than ever.

Wondering how we will manage to gather up all the leaves and trundle them in something like 100 barrow loads to the end of the garden.

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2 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

Mint, an alternative to gathering leaves, perhaps; run your mower over them at a lowish setting and they will break up fine and be incorporated into the ground or gathered in tiny pieces in the mower box to then be taken to the compost pile.

I don't think a mower will work with these leaves.  They all fall together, tons of large, thick stemmed things, all gone within a couple of days.  This tree is not like the Indian Bean tree where the leaves fall over a long period.

You'll wouldn't get the mower to run over them.  You can't even see the lawn underneath.

In past years, we'd pick an afternoon and get very warm wearing tee shirts, pushing the wheelbarrow loads to the back fence and throw the leaves into the fields behind (with the farmer's permission)

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I suppose it depends on how tidy you want your garden. I have Murier, Oak, Fig and Accacia in my garden and I let the leaves fall as they will. I'm currently walking over a carpet of leaves but they'll be gone by spring. Just keep then off the paths so as not to slip.

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8 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

Clearly your attentions have been doing him good, Minteroonie.

But, north wind today, air damper, colder definitely a touch of real late autumn, winter closing in. Time to get the last of the dahlias out of their pots and indoors though a frost would do them good.

Can corroborate on the north wind today, AB, visited a very ill friend in hospital in Bedarieux, NormanH, you will know where that is, bypassed Beziers, so couldn't wave to  you, which meant a drive north into the hills, for the others.  Several degrees colder (11 ish) than on the coast, wind chill factor made me pleased I'd remembered to put on my vest, but didn't take a scarf and I was chilled rather.  So yes, wintery here too .. but yesterday though that breeze Menthe mentioned too, was OK but did not go to the ceremony this year, couldn't stand for that long, or do the walk, and so didn't get to the drinkies afterwards either .. not  a great loss now,as I am also an alcohol free lady now!

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