The end of September and the end of Lottie? Certainly the end of our Indian summer and those dreamy sunny days, as autumn arrives I need to anticipate next spring.

There is still time to relax and reflect on this year. The ground is hard as a bone and I can procrastinate on the double digging and collecting compost for another week.

I can never remember beyond the first few lines of Keats “Ode to Autumn” so I thought I would relax and share the first verse with you with some pictures before the rains come, the beds need turning and the soil needs feeding.

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-eaves run;

The Argus: vine

(Vines blessed with fruit- before the rats discover them)

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

The Argus: apple worcester august

(Worcester Apples with ripeness to the core -all are eaten now )

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

The Argus: white squash

( The swelling gourd- the White Custard Squash- so easy to grow)

And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.