Autumn is here

My regular walks have petered out a little, the arrival of a new kitten is very distracting, and makes staying in the house in the evenings much more attractive, and in addition, the nights are drawing in,and there has been a lot of rain, both of which also reduce the opportunities for pleasant walks! 

However, when I get the chance I am still going out. During the week, when it doesn't rain I often take the opportunity to go for a short walk near the office,

 

There is a community park, which has some scrubland and open space, and various footpaths, so I can take half an hour of my lunch break and get some fresh air, and sometimes sunshine.

I have been spotting different types of mushroom and toadstool, some more dramatic looking than others, and have come across some unexpected sculptures, too (unexcepted not least as this one is off the path and not visible from it, I only found it because I turned up a little muddy gap between trees to get off the path as there were some other people coming and it isn't very wide. Perhaps it is more visible from the path in winter, when the foliage dies back.

This Saturday morning, I woke up rather earlier than I consider reasonable for a weekend, and found that there was a rather nice sunrise and a beautiful bright, crisp morning, and contemplated going out for an early(ish) morning walk. However, by the time I had washed my face and cleaned my teeth the sun had gone in, so I went back to bed with a book and a couple of cats for a bit, then went for the walk after breakfast instead.

It was still a nice day. For the first half of my walk the sky remained grey and overcast, and it was definitely chilly,  but enjoyable - there was still heavy dew on the grass, and lots of mud.

There were also some lovely autumn colours - yellow gorse flowers, and bright red hipsand haws.

As I continued, the sun came out, so the second half of my walk was made in bright sunshine, under a brilliant blue sky. 

It wasn't the right time of day for foxes or badgers or deer, but I did see lots of birds, and several cheeky squirrels.

And the sun was still out when I got back home, so I was able to put some washing on the line, and to let Vashti explore the garden a bit. 

Loki came out too, whether for company, or in a purely supervisory capacity,I am unsure. I don't think Vashti approves of wet grass, although she does enjoy visiting the Outdoors, at least for short periods. I weighed her today and she is now 2.1kg so she should be able to have her op soon - the vets will put her microchip in at the same time, and I shall then be able to start teaching her the Way of The Cat-Flap. 

The afternoon turned pretty grey, but it was a beautiful morning.