Whispers from the Past...& my September Garden

If you read this blog regularly, you may have picked up on the fact that I have a passion for history....
I think this is because I feel that the way we live now is influenced & entwined so much with the way people lived then. I love to imagine how life must have been for the ordinary person in different times...and searching for little clues and insights into those times is something I try to do whenever I can.
The electricity company has recently been doing some maintenance in the little cobbled street I walk down every day...they've dug a large hole...and as I passed it I suddenly began to see fragments of glass and patterned china everywhere! Nothing whole - I hoped so much for an intact bottle! - but I just couldn't leave these gorgeous pieces where they lay, to be covered up and lost for another hundred years...

I think, from the shape, that this was from a large cup or mug...

and this was probably a plate but I just adore it's bright blue pattern...still so clear after all this time! It's been raining today...so I'll be back in the morning to see what other treasures have been uncovered!

After a grey August and then a hot & sunny start to September, we seem to have settled into an early Autumn this week. High winds and heavy showers have tumbled my poor garden into the new season before it's quite ready I think...

the hydrangeas are fading fast...although I think they are especially beautiful when they are like this - living watercolours....

the ivy hedge is glossy & gorgeous...alive with wasps, hoverflies and, of course, our bees!

'The Girls' as I call them are still incredibly busy...we inspected the hive on Sunday evening. Paul wears the outfit & does the hard work while I sit on the bench and write down his comments (it's quite important to keep a record each time you inspect, to note changes in the colony and how much honey is being produced) We think there will be around 20lbs to harvest this year...we're  erring on the side of caution as we want to leave plenty for The Girls to survive on over the winter. Paul is going to inspect next time with a member of our local Beekeeper's Association, who will check the hive and advise him. He's still a novice and there is just so much to learn - absolutely fascinating.

My nasturtiums have trailed everywhere...making a verdant carpet studded with jewel-like blooms of deepest orange, red and yellow...

the colours of Autumn...like the blueberry bushes...

but there are still pockets of summer colour around - these primula, for example...

Of course, it's also harvest time. I am quite pathetically proud of my sad little sweetcorn...the first I have ever grown and, sadly, a testament to how right my Dad was when he said they would need more sunlight than is possible in our garden...

but I still love them!! Much more successful are the tomatoes...

and best of all the runner beans...we've eaten many already, lightly cooked minutes after picking, and absolutely delicious. They'll be giving us lots more wonderful meals in the next weeks - and I'll probably give some away too...

Slowly but surely, the season is turning..... there's a chill in the air at night and first thing in the morning now, and the twilight descends much earlier. But I don't mind a bit - all is as it should be. And Esther arrives next week, with my niece and older nephews!! But that's another story....

Happy September and I wish you a wonderful week xoxo