Sunday 25 October 2009

To Autumn

Photos copyright: Maggie May

The clocks went back one hour last night so we are really entering winter time but as far as I am concerned it is Autumn. I hate the clocks going back one hour and would sooner leave things as they were, having really dark mornings but lighter evenings.


These photos are a selection from a recent walk. I am sometimes really pleased that my camera lives in my bag, so that I can snap the unexpected whenever I want.

I walked through an archway that divided some allotments and I think this arch had crab apples trained over it.



The girls were walking on ahead through the archway.
I encountered some lovely berries and brightly coloured plants.


I am reminded of John Keats poem, To Autumn.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage trees
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells.







36 comments:

Suburbia said...

Wow, lovely photos Maggie. Autumn for as long as we can stretch it out for I think?!

Irene said...

I hope we have Autumn until we have Spring again and skip Winter altogether. Lovely photos, Maggie.

Jinksy said...

That poem certainly encapsulates the essence of Autumn, as did your photos...

MARY G said...

I came very close to quoting Keats last week but ran out of time to look up the bits I couldn't remember. Also this one, a poem that every Canadian school child used to have to commit to memory. Not great poetry, but hey, this is Canada.

"Indian Summer"
Along the line of smoky hills The crimson forest stands,
And all the day the blue-jay calls
Throughout the autumn lands.

Now by the brook the maple leans,
With all his glory spread;
And all the sumachs on the hills
Have turned their green to red.

Now, by great marshes wrapt in mist,
Or past some river's mouth,
Throughout the long still autumn day
Wild birds are flying south.

-- William Wilfred Campbell (1860-1919)

Mickle in NZ said...

Beautiful post, dear Maggie.

Pretty much all of the trees I look out on stay green all the time. I so appreciated the changes in the seasons after spending Winter 87/88 and the 88 early spring in London. Mind you the October 1987 storm had a wee impact (and work for me in the insurance industry).

I stayed a whole winter and it didn't snow once! Hope the 09/10 winter is a kind one to you and your garden.

Mimi said...

Lovely post and pics, Maggie. I learned last night that some people keep their own clock, ignore the "fall back". If they work away from home, they have home time and real time...interesting.
Even though I don't like Autumn, I love the colours, and "under an October twilight, the water mirrors a still sky" often comes into my head at this time of year.

VioletSky said...

I always feel slightly disoriented for days when the clocks go back (or forward).

And the smell of crab apples in the fall.... wonderful.

Akelamalu said...

Soon we'll be going to work and coming home in the dark! I'm not an autumn/winter person at all. :(

Magpie said...

Hello to another Maggie (yes, I'm really Maggie, not Magpie, but...).

Jackie said...

Beautiful, Maggie May.
I love the arbor....and especially loved the photos of the girls.
I truly enjoy the flora of other lands...different from here...the colors and beauty of the colors are the same...but it is so interesting to share photos from you with us. Thank you, Maggie May.
Love,
Jackie

Rose said...

Beautiful images, Maggie; the one with the girls is especially sweet. I always think of Keats' poem at this time of year, too. I'd love for autumn to last as long as possible--we've had so many gloomy rainy days that I haven't been able to enjoy it as much as I'd like. It's a great time for taking long walks!

Eddie Bluelights said...

Sad the Summer is over - so quickly again!! Great photos and glad you had an enjoyable walk with the girls.
Hopw to do some walking myself when I have the hip replacement ~ Eddie

Jeni said...

Great pics, Maggie! I'd be very hard-pressed if I had to choose a particular one as a favorite but I think, if I had to, I'd opt for the one with the girls -something so nostalgic about that shot!

SandyCarlson said...

Your views are very lovely.

I too wish we could leave our clocks alone.

Unknown said...

I have always loved that poem. Truly! So perfect for Autumn. Your pictures are lovely today!

Hilary said...

You've certainly captured autumn in all her glory. Our clocks won't change for another week.. I could easily live in DST forever.. especially if it meant summer weather joined it. ;)

Helena said...

Now, I'm am moaning minnie as I actually love Winter! So Autumn has me happy that Winter will be with me soon.

But what beauty the natural colours of fallen leaves take on.

oh, and I loved the line in the poem:
"And still more, later for the bees. Until they think that warm days will never cease"

Unknown said...

You guys already turned your clocks back? "They", whoever they are, decided ours will now be done in November. But I'm with you on the time change. I swear I'm sad throughout Winter just because there is no light during the day! I work in an office with no windows, so when I get to work it's dark, and when I get off work it's dark. So depressing.

Love the pictures. Especially the first one. That would be excellent framed!

Nessa said...

Those are such pretty shots. We don't change time here for another two weeks.

Book Review #4 - Drood

cheshire wife said...

The Autumn colours are wonderful! Like you I am not keen on the dark evenings and the fact that Winter is around the corner

Cheffie-Mom said...

These photos are wonderful, Maggie. I love the one of the girls walking down the path. enJOY your day!!

Wendy said...

Our clocks go back next week. I am not looking forward to that either!
Your photos are pretty. Autumn at its best, especially with the girls walking along the path. I love the red berries and archway too.

Jeni said...

Maggie -just read your comments to my earlier post from tonight and wanted to thank you -before I forget (LOL) and also to say I do agree completely with your thoughts on trying not to dwell and worry about the whole mind/memory loss thing cause who knows what life may bring tomorrow, next week, next year and on and on! Maybe, by doing something as simple and sometimes too, as silly, as blogging, it may help to ward off some of those mental losses along the way. It could happen that way, ya know!
Peace, my friend!

DayDreamer said...

You have got a beautiful blog..with some great pictures and great posts..

Keep up the good work!!

Do check out mine(Its not as good as yours though)..

Will keep visiting your blog..(Already following your wonderful blog)..

Cheers,
D

Anonymous said...

Oh how I miss seasons - Great pics

Jules~ said...

Hi there Maggie,
What beautiful pictures! I am so glad that you shared them here. Autumn has such amazing color. God's glory of artistry sings everywhere.

So you have already fallen back on the time clocks? Our happens this coming weekend. I agree. It is already quite dark in the mornings.

Thank you for visiting me and being such an encourager....even when I have been so absent from everywhere.
You always bless me with your smiles and kind words.

Have a blessed and wonderful day.

Alyson | New England Living said...

I love this! Autumn is so lovely. I agree with you about the time change. I don't know why they do that anymore. Most of society aren't farmers anymore. In the states, we don't go back an hour until next week.

Loved your photos of this beautiful season.

Rosaria Williams said...

Our clocks change at the end of October. It will be dark on Halloween, and our children will be spooked going door to door after dark. Love your pictures, and your lovely girls through the garden walk.

Elizabeth Bradley said...

I love autumn, it's my favorite time of year. I also love these pictures. I remember crab apples from my childhood. Used to eat so many I'd run home with a bell ache.

Brian Miller said...

ah...how i love this time of year...a warm fire kindled nicely by the pics and prose....

Joanna Jenkins said...

Hi Maggie, Thanks for your kind comment on my Sunday Roast over at Eddie Bluelights'. I really appreciate.

You have a lovely blog and the fall photos are wonderful. I live in So. California and we don't really get fall around here. Your pics were a great reminder of how beautiful it can be.

Hope you're having a great week.
xo

Granny Smith said...

I think that photographs with the quality of these should be published in a "real" book (one made of paper). Or a magazine. And thank for the Keats poem. And I agree with you about changing the clocks.

Maria said...

I love Keats. And Maggie May, the post was lovely.

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

What a lovely post, Maggie and such lovely photos too. Strangely I was just thinking of that same poem as I looked out of the window at a very misty afternoon. It's truly Autumn now. M xx

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I like the one of the girls on the path the best. Or maybe, the one with...

All great photos.

The Enchanted Room said...

Beautiful pictures, beautiful time of the year.

Alina