Rodent dinner table

I cleared a pile of logs that had been drying on the terrace only to find that it has clearly been used by some rodent or other as a place to take nuts and shell them, leaving gnawed husks aplenty. I suspect it's one of the bank voles we often see dashing across from hedge to hedge.A reminder that leaving things alone in the garden is a sure way of encouraging wildlife.  Our piles of logs and clumps of weeds quickly become valuable habitat and shelter for something.

Autumn

I return to College after half term and its now 'properly' dark as I cycle home and I wore my hat today for the first time to stop the ice cream headache as I freewheel down the long hill on the way to work. The clocks going back makes such a difference to the end of the day but it does mean that I can enjoy the light as I cycle in to work in the morning. The buildings are full of butterflies escaping inside looking for winter roosts, the apples have suddenly fallen en-masse from the trees and a lone foxglove stands blooming and out of place in the progressively frosty college garden.