Autumn colours

Strawberries in November, I'd like to say this is unusual, but it happens most years, they won't get much bigger or ripen, but it's always nice to see flowers. My tower is in it's temporary home beside the garage at the end of the path, it's in our way, but once everything is sorted, it will go to it's final home, sad fact is as yet I have no idea where to put it, best spot is next to the fence where we have had rats come into our garden, so not there. 

I always think the blueberry bushes are stunning at this time of year, the leaves always give so much colour, there are two plants in here, they fruit one early and one later, giving us a longer season, and no glut. I have cut back a third of the plant, all old wood, the berries grow an second years growth. 

I love this trio of acers, they work well here, each plant has a different colour leaf, they are inter wound together, and makes a wonderful display, this spot suits them very well, sunshine up to mid afternoon, and total shade from the wind. Next spring I will trim them back in hope I can keep them in this spot for longer, they all grow at about the same rate. 

This small tree is amazing, it's years old, it was a twig when I purchased it, now it's almost to the top of the 6 foot fence, I love the way it has branches and leaves to the very bottom, this photo does not show all the true shades of red and green, when the breeze moves the leaves it's breathtaking. This marks the end of our garden and the start of the paving along the boundary fence, we love seeing this area from the sitting room. 

The garden is looking good for November, I'm picking up leaves most days, nothing much else to do. The veg beds are doing good, I cut back the gladiola leaves from the flower bed in front, so now we can see through to the veg beds, I am loving the view from the house. Most of my beds are too small for summer and winter plants, but I'm happy to see the garden in it's sleep mode. 

Friday we popped to Dunelm, we needed a new kitchen bin, hated the cheap ones, others were very expensive, so hubby agreed to look online, we got a nice small suitcase for me, we have two weekends away soon. Went into Home bargains and found a perfect kitchen bin at a price we liked, also got the last bits off my Christmas list. I passed by all the decorations, some are beautiful, but not needed.

Saturday, hubby was home alone, so loads of laundry was done, the day was bright and breezy, and sudden heavy storms, hubby made the first batch of mince pies, a real treat. I went to our local craft shop to work, just 9am to 4pm, longer than I will normally work as Liz was off. I loved interacting with the ladies in the shop, swapping idea's and generally being helpful, the time passed very quickly. Later watching Strictly whilst knitting more of my sock.

Sunday I got up a bit later, had a lazy start to the day, it was sunny and breezy, so late morning I went outside, I needed to support my broad beans, the heavy rain was beating them down, I have popped in extra supports in hope they say upright. I also dug out the tiny bed by our back door, the fuchsia's are still in bloom, but I did need to get them into the huge tub, all the spare soil from the bed I put on the side bed. It was cold outside, but nice to have sunshine, I have now finished all the jobs ready for the paving to be done later this month. 

Boredom....

 .....is a terrible thing, as is our local craft shop face book page, Sarah the owner knows just what she is doing, this Christmas blanket comes as a pack in a box, knitted in DK, I'm bored, I don't need it, but it's something to do, I'm sure the little ones will love it. Sarah ordered 4 packs and whilst unpacking her order, she has already sold 3. 

Just being nosey, seeing what else was in the order, Sarah got these out, Aran yarn, I loved making my 2 chunky cardigans, and thought it would be good to have another. Everything has been added to my stash list, not the planned start to November. 

I have done more on my socks, I do love the feel of 3ply, and if everything goes well, I might make another pair, they do not grow as fast as my other socks, but with all this rain I do have plenty of time to craft. 

I am going to start my cardigan before finishing the socks, I love the colour of the yarn, I decided to make this one shorter, I do love the two I made from the design shown above, but a shorter one is a nice change. I am finding myself keeping really warm at the moment, I wear my normal light jumpers, which I wear through out the year, I pop an Aran cardigan over the top and it's really snug. 

I popped into town on Monday to get our fruit and veg, I did have a look around, as I am stumped on what to get hubby for Christmas, yes I know it's only November, but I do like to get things sorted before the stampede which is the run up to Christmas. We have set a £25 limit on gifts to each other, and my problem there is nothing he wants, and I can't think of anything he would use and enjoy. For a change the morning was dry, the bus journey home long as the traffic was backed up again, we sat for ages waiting to get past the closed lane, but for once there were people working. 

Tuesday we had a birthday in sign group, so it was more of a social morning, hubby spent the time outside, he has cut back our side flower bed, and dug out the salvias, they were too big. Hubby also started in the Magnolia tree, its a big job, he has filled one dustbin with shredded leaves, hopefully we will get another dry spell to get the tree finished, just a small bed to dig out and we are ready for landscaper.

Yesterday I did something very different, Sarah at our craft shop is struggling as the shop is busy, she does not want to take anyone on as she knows there won't be enough work for 3 people in January. So I am volunteering for a couple days a week to help out, just for 8 weeks, I know enough about most of her products to help customers, I had loads of fun with like minded ladies of all ages. Just 4 hours for my first time, I'm in all day on Saturday as Liz, her right hand lady is having a day off, it did not feel like work at all, so much fun.

We have got through the night loads of rain from storm Ciaran, we are still on an amber alert of wind, going to be a bumpy day.