Wistfulness

Wistful: sad and thinking about something that is impossible or past

 Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary 

A succession of mists have engulfed our side of the Pennines this week. They have infused the valley with a sense of wistfulness. I think this is not unusual as the winter closes in upon us all, but this year the feeling is that much more acute. While the garden has been a retreat from the sad news of the pandemic that has defined 2020, it is now a paradoxical place with both a degree of melancholia yet the promise of the inevitable rebirth and regrowth. 

The ailing health of the cherry trees at the top of the garden has not helped but at least there is something I can try, to help rectify their situation. I am hoping the application of copper sulphate powder and slaked lime will, up to a point, serve to arrest the fungal attacks. This is to a degree in my control. However, winter and the pandemic will have to run their course. 

Of course, a little feline company, a nice warm brew and the garden are always a reliable restorative, as Hippocrates wisely observed 

 "Nature itself is the best physician.”

 

Autumnal Colour and Some More

 The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, "The only constant is change." Autumn reminds us that our bodies, minds, and surroundings are always developing. It focuses on the impermanence of life, emphasizing how vital it is to embrace the present. By doing so, we can savour what we have before it is gone. Autumn is undoubtedly a season of beautiful colour. While most might focus on the gorgeous fading greens, yellows and reds, you do not have to look far to realize that autumn has so much more to offer chromatically. 

Grey skies commonly frame the valley sides, a brooding backdrop but an atmospheric treat to match the autumnal chills. The dahlias still have the last of their blooms and Tibetan cherry is a distinct burnished bronze. 

Top tip: get outside and enjoy all the colours of the season before the winter arrives and the covers have to go over the garden furniture.

Gray skies to the North

Dahlia bloom in November

Tibetan Cherry

 

But just as lovely are the blacks and the whites, all have been spotted out in the Pennine garden over the past few days. 

Mili in the autumn leaves

Mili being closely followed by Hecate

      

Badger on nightly patrol, by the pond