October 2025 began without a great deal happening, at least not to me. For now I am staying in my little bubble. Maybe this shot is representative of that, somehow, but maybe it’s just a nice splash of colour.
“Who’s this guy then?”
“No idea. Another tourist with a thing for pigeons I suppose. Like London’s the only place that has them.”
“Pervert. Perhaps if I scowl at him he’ll go away.”
Two decades of working the allotment has proven that fruit is so much easier to handle than vegetables. The plums and the various berries (black, blue, josta, logan) have all been and gone. But here is just a small portion of the last crop of the year. Anyone want some apples? We will have too many.
Photographically, today was definitely a ‘give thanks to the heron’ day. Had I left the house 30 seconds earlier, you might well have seen the reason for its somewhat smug look, seeing as it has just guzzled a fish almost as long as its throat: I did get a shot of the kill but it was on such a long zoom (and in the same gloomy light as all other shots in the last few days) that the quality is very poor. Take my word for it, though: this is a heron that dined well this afternoon.
It’s only the second day of September but the kids have started back at school, it is much cooler and damper than it was, and there’s this general feeling of decline (and I don’t even mean in political terms, though we’ve certainly got that too). Autumn is upon us, I fear. Well, let’s make the most of it.
Our Victorian house has always provided various nooks and crannies in which spiders can happily make a living, but like various types of fruit, the species has had a particularly good 2025 — at least at our place. Some mass hatching, then subsequent occupation, occurred in the spring. Alternative versions of this shot are currently available: Spider Above Bath, Spider(s) In Kitchen, Spider Lurking Above Front Door…. take your pick.
There was a big overflight of geese tonight. They came in waves, sub-flocks of 20-30 at a time (I count 22 in this particular group). Wherever the destination, they were leaving for somewhere else. There’s something a little melancholy about it all — the first intimations of autumn.
This was the product of less than an hour’s labour in the garden this morning, and there’s plenty more still up there. I know, global warming, climate change and all that, but I doubt a medieval peasant farmer would have complained about the weather round here in 2025. This has been, without a doubt, the most productive year since we acquired the allotment, thus in more than 20 years.
As it is my birthday tomorrow, with this picture I also reach 14 full years of photographs that document my doings on a daily basis. Meaning, as of today, this blog encompasses exactly one quarter of my life. There have been some times when I have felt the creativity waning, not just on particular, less interesting days but in a broader sense. But there were times like that back in 2014, or 2020, or whatever, just as there sometimes still are now. For now, I will do my best to keep it up.
Another day with very little to see, but as the sun was shining the garden once again obliges. These little red flowers are due to become green beans, and I believe that’s a junior version already curving itself attractively down towards the bottom of the picture. Vegetables and fruits of all kinds have done very well this year, even for a black-fingered (opposite of green-fingered) doofus like me.
A rapid return to the theme of purpling plums, but as is often the case in August, we seem to have a lot of them. The pears come from elsewhere than our garden but further ripening is still required.
Being 42 