Autumn begins

Autumn begins and, right on cue, the first autumn crocus flowers appeared on the first of September, plus a Birch Brittlegill mushroom (Russula betularum).

This morning I looked at patches of blue sky and wondered if we'd get through the day without the rain of which the forecast said there was a 10% chance. Here this usually means it's going to rain. It did, solidly from mid-morning into the afternoon.

Pan lid toad

There is an old pan lid on the ground outside the Boggy Brae kitchen window. I put it there to cover the kitchen drain vent to prevent the drain from getting clogged with weeds and grass. I think it is the vent for an additional drain that was added to the house when the kitchen was... what is the expression?... re-modelled some twenty or more years ago. Before that all drainage from the house went a different way and still does.

Yesterday I lifted the lid to check the drain, which I do from time to time, and found a toad.

It was there all day. I took the photograph in the failing evening light. This morning toad has moved on.

Elsewhere in the garden I was enjoying some pinks.

the 'fairy' fuchsia

And here is this morning's north-east sky:

Woke up to a low cloud, breezy day.

                                         It stayed breezy 

but the cloud lifted and the sun shone–a lovely day to be working outside.

I've been meaning to clear ways through the overgrown vegetation up by the old henhouse (which I'm now using as an overflow woodshed). I think doing archery has helped restore some of my strength, at least in short bursts, so I thought I'd make the most of the day and get on with it.

There's a clear way through now both above and below the spiraea that tends to get invasive if not kept in check.

Bluebells grow here in spring

 

I found more of the Root Rot fungus (Heterobasidion annosum) at the base of the old rowan tree. The fungus one sees grows close to the ground and tends to be hidden under vegetation, mainly ferns and small brambles in this case. When I picked up some of the rowan's fallen branches, I could feel how soft the wood was. My fungus book calls the growth of Root Fomes, as it used to be called, a 'disease' but in the case of this old rowan I really do think it is just that old age has caught up with it, not slowed down, it has to be said, by all the chopping away of branches and the hammering in of large nails that occurred in its youth when a tree house was built in it. I'm left wondering if root rot fungus establishes itself in trees that are already decaying with age, rather than taking up residence in young healthy trees and 'causing' decay?

You can see in the last photo above the falling half of the large cypress behind the rowan. That's also an old tree and it also has root rot fungus growing at its base. I haven't seen any of the fungus at the base of the younger trees that are dotted about nearby–mainly grey sallow and birch.

Yes, it turned into a lovely day.

I think we're in for some rain for the rest of the week.

Sunrise Sunday 12 Jan

Cold wind so came down for a coat and caught the reflection in the kitchen window

Back up the garden again. Fading fast 

A January day waking up around the boggy brae

Time now to get sorted for Toadlet's riding lesson and then archery practice for Toad and me.

Oh, before I go... Saw three roe deer charging around the field earlier. At first I thought they were fleeing something but then, as they didn't leave the field, it seemed they were just having fun. There was a buck and two does, one of the does smaller than the other (last year's faun, perhaps). the smallest deer was charging around like a kid in apparently random directions. The larger two looked on for the most part from either side of the field, occasionally joining in with a mad dash or two. It was fun to watch.

The morning wakes up well

The day has woken up splendidly so it's time to go and do some outdoor work. Muck boots, check; two pairs of gloves, check; Hebridean bonnet, check. I'm out the door.

Did some sawing and shredding of the fallen eucalyptus tree then, when I needed a break from that, I wandered around with my camera looking for snowdrop leaf shoots and more daff shoots if any.

Found some snowdrop shoots on the north side of the front terrace wall and under some decaying ferns. Maybe the daffs didn't beat them after all.

I've identified this as Neat Feather-moss (Pseudoscleropodium purum). The entire northern corner of the  front bank under the silver birch tree is 'lawned' with it with small amounts of springy turf moss interspersed, and a wee bit of grass.

The red-stemmed moss is Springy Turf Moss

 Here's a small part of the mossy bank

 On the terrace wall, wedged between rocks, the reflexed stonecrop is looking winter healthy.

I thought these dried Self-heal heads looked nice

 Dried self-heal heads with Tamarisk Moss and Springy Turf Moss

Yellow among the green Escallonia leaves

Then I came in for some root soup. Recipe on the next post.