autumn sun

Early nightfall from now on, but as if to soften this civil blow Nature followed up a rainy and blustery Saturday with a rare sunny Sunday, and everyone came out to play. We took a stroll around the old lanes on the edge of Frome.

This strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) was alive with the sound of bees. The fruit takes a full year to ripen, so in October you can see both blossom and fruit.

In Portugal they make jam with the fruit (medronho), but here it tends to be neglected. (In the Victorian language of flowers, strawberry tree is sometimes translated as "esteem, not love".)

Whatever, the ripe fruit is worth trying raw. The luscious peach-coloured flesh is mildly sweetish,  but the tiny seeds do get caught in your teeth.

Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea). A new flush of blossom in a shady lane.

Laura's studies in Sumac (Rhus). Most of the pics in this post are hers.

How could you miss, yet so it was,
the fruit of noonday and the antique crowns
               At the last, murmuring something indistinct, that escaped love's grasp
Only the silence rolled over the waters

A last few blackberries.

Looking over the valley of the young river Frome. Those hills in the distance are in Wiltshire.

Hedgerow Cranesbill (Geranium pyrenaicum).

Another snacking food, in my opinion. Hawthorn doesn't taste of anything much, but the texture is agreeable and it's everywhere, so I always eat one or two when I go out.

Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus).

This was a more committed bit of foraging, last week. A second batch of rowan and apple jelly; the rowan tree outside has now been well stripped, up to head height. The crown is for the birds!