Evidence of Autumn

In recent days it has become clear to me that Autumn has arrived. I was out walking the dog just before midnight, and there, in the middle of what in daylight is a busy road, was a hedgehog. He saw me before I saw him, and we both noticed one another before the dog spotted anything. The hedgehog stopped on the white lines while I pondered what to do. Do I chase him to get him off the road? Do I leave him and hope no vehicles come along? What if the dog makes a lunge? Finally, tired of my indecision he wandered down the middle of the road until he felt he was safe enough to ignore me.

Next night, in bed, reading done, lights out. In that delicious semi-consciousness my wife nudges me and says our outdoor light has come on. Like a superhero in boxer shorts I make my way downstairs, and peer out the kitchen window. Fear grips me round the throat, I’m being stalked, for there is the hedgehog again, in my garden. OK, unlikely that it was the same one but cool as you like he snuffled and shuffled along the path in my back garden, and out under my fence.

And then these photos of apple picking time in the garden. This year we have been amazed by the quantity of the harvest, and what a blast it was to gather them together. Crab apples, blackberries, red currents; year after year with the minimum of care and attention. And we always leave a tithe for the animals. Hedgehogs and all.