September 6th – The breath of autumn on my shoulder, as the song says. Cycling along the canal in Place on a beautiful, sunny day, it’s hard not to notice the subtly changing colours, the slight chill in the air, and the first few fallen leaves.
Technically we’re still in summer, but Autumn is now limbering up. I find this time of year so hard.
Ah well, nothing to do but ride on…
September 3rd – Shooting through Weeford on my return, expecting the rain to start again, I noticed these mushrooms growing on a verge. They were huge, and their presence reminded me that now we’re coming on Autumn, watching out for the fungus could be productive.
Wondering in the rosy earthstars and orange peel fungus will be back on Clayhanger Common this year?
September 1st – As I arrived home in darkness, I caught sight of a critical milestone on the bike computer: Sunset was now taking place before 8pm. From now until November, the darkest will positively gallop onwards, and summer, with it’s warm and light evenings will just be another memory of a season passed.
How I hate the encroaching darkness.
August 31st – The willow herb is going to seed now, I noticed the fluff as I rode the cycleway through the Goscote Valley. Filling the air at the slightest provocation from the breeze, the seeds this dweller of the margins produces float and dance on the wind.
When I was a kid, we called the little floating seeds ‘fairies’ and it was considered good luck to catch one. These days, I just tend to catch them in my mouth while riding.
My grandad called this ‘old man’s beard’ and you can see why.
This is a real end-of-summer occurrence and so a little bittersweet, but no summer would be complete without it, even if it does make me spit!
August 8th – I felt it again today, that Autumn feeling. Just on the canal at Clayhanger the leaves aren’t even turning and the feathered water lilies are still perfection itself, but the honeysuckle going over, the acorns swelling on the trees and hard quality of the air made me think more of a clear day in October than August.
Is it me, or is anyone else feeling an early Autumn coming on?
August 5th – Interesting to note the fruits doing well this year and those that aren’t. We seem to have bounteous quantities of blackberries, acorns and here, sycamore seeds. Beech also seems to be fairly prodigious.
Not doing so well at all are the horse chestnut, hazel and pear trees.
It’s curious how the years cycle. As my Grandad used to say ‘It’s always a good year for something’.
August 4th – Bitterweet to see the rosehips now ripening well along the lanes and towpaths of the Black Country. They are beautiful in their shiny, vivid orange jackets, their sight brightens many a ride in late summer and autumn. But they also indicate the passage of time and season, and their appearance always makes me a little sad for a summer passing.
There’s plenty of time, though for summer to improve, and while there are still blooms alongside the hips, all is not lost yet.
July 23rd – Pleased to see again that the walnut tree, appropriately situated in the village of Wall, has a great crop again this year. It’s the only such tree I know of locally, and the only one I’ve ever seen that reliably fruits.
A few more weeks and I might grab a couple of handfuls of the still green nuts to try pickled walnuts. Always fancied giving them a go.
December 11th – Also at Telford, by the M54 just n the embankment by the cycleway, a fine crop of crabapples even the birds are not bothering with.
Perhaps they’re too bitter, or hard, but there’s something a bit sad and dramatic about a tree with no leaves, and an unfallen, unwanted crop of fruit.
November 20th – I passed these pine cones on a roadside path on an industrial estate in Great Bridge. They are the largest I’ve ever seen – almost two inches in diameter and seven to eight inches long, they seem untouched by birds and squirrels. They feel quite heave and dense and wonder if they’re ripe or just premature windfalls from the recent storms.
Fascinating fruits that look almost prehistoric.
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