November 4th – And then, in the afternoon, again crossing Kings Hill Park on a short errand to B&Q, the twin sisters caught in the soft sunlight of an autumn day, surrounded by turning leaves.

This scene has occurred every year for over a century, and makes me feel safe in it’s constancy.

November 4th – The autumn colours were great this morning. When I started my ride to work, it was in semi darkness and drizzle; by the time I got there it was sunny, with clear blue skies.

Looking up in Darlaston’s Kings Hill Park through a canopy of yellow orange leaves, it felt good to be alive, to be there in the here and now.

It happened every year. I dread the onset of Autumn, and the wily old devil charms me to love in the end.

It was ever thus.

October 31st – A beautiful day in Darlaston and on the canals of Walsall, with sun shining through a light mist, suffusing all with a soft golden light.

As I’ve noted, Darlaston wears autumn well, and Victoria Park, the mystic bridge and canals were all lovely today.

A welcome pick me up after yesterdays dull greyness.

October 31st – The mornings have been damp over the weekend, and we’ve had a little rain in what has generally been a very dry autumn indeed. This has led to the fungus taking a surge, and I noted in the canal cutting through Pleck this morning there was lots of fly agaric growing, some of which were astoundingly large. Contrary to my earlier fears, it actually seems to have been their year after all.

Meanwhile, the toadstools I found on the log at the back of Queen Street Cemetery have turned a gorgeous orange brown colour as they mature and die off.

Lets hope with a little damper weather, more fungus will appear. I love to see it.

October 28th – An irritating day where I forgot my camera and everything happened at top speed, so little time to take photos. I’d been over to Telford in the afternoon and came back from Shenstone as dusk fell.

These lanes, I know them so well; they run though my veins like blood. I must have ridden this route thousands of times, and certainly many with the impending feeling of autumn I had today.

I know I will again ride this way on a springtime, sunny day and the wheel will continue it’s inexorable rotation, but tonight, in the gathering dark, it felt a very long way off.

I hate the dark months.

October 27th – Again passing through Telford, I came past a row of trees on Stafford Park whose neat, straight planting always fascinated me. 

Just beginning to turn, they’re a welcome dash of colour in a grey urban landscape on a dull day.

Every year, I note these trees come into leaf, blossom, and shed their leaves. Seeing another cycle complete makes me feel old…

October 27th – Spotted in Victoria Park, Darlaston, this field mushroom. All on its own, it’s mates had either been picked, or not turned up – but this was a splendid specimen, and quite rare so far this year due to the dry autumn we appear to be having.

It’s a strange autumn when you can’t find enough wild mushrooms for a senescent omelette!