Tag: seasons

#365daysofbiking Hot pink

September 1st – Autumn is on my heels now, and slipping out after a day’s bike maintenance for a test ride, I found myself in the most beautiful pink-suffused twilight.

Heading up the canal that snakes its way between Catshill and Sandhills, I admired my favourite tree at Home Farm – now showing hints of getting on it’s autumn jacket – and the plains of stubble to Stonnall, the harvest now in.

It was peaceful, warm and pleasant, with just a hint of cold air. We are in the odd interregnum between seasons, that saddest crossover between a summer passed and an Autumn to come.

But with a crescent moon and tranquility like this to enjoy, it’s not so melancholy.

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#365daysofbiking Rainy days and…

August 28th – A grim day at work when nothing worked, and a wet journey home.

Today was not a good day. But the weather and rain were warm, and the wind favourable.

Squelching on the Canal up to the High Street it felt very much like autumn. Although I always dread the season, I always give in and adore it in the end.

But the thought of the dark nights does so get me down.

Still, it’s not been a bad summer.

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#365daysofbiking Remain in light

August 24th – A bank holiday weekend set for fair weather. This, whilst not unheard of, is a delight. Moreso this time as I hate the August Bank Holiday.

I hate it because it’s the last one before the darkness comes, and the suck of the dark commutes. It always feels final, the end of school holidays, the end of summer. If you haven’t done that summer thing by now, you’re not going to, and so on.

A miserable summer bank holiday drains the soul.

But not so this weekend: A heatwave beckons, and I slipped out at teatime into a glorious golden evening. I went to Hints, somewhere I’d not really been much all year. Shenstone Park was as beautiful and French-seeming as ever, and I took a walk up to Crow’s Castle to survey the landscape.

Over to Hopwas as night fell for a drink by the canal.

All around farmers were working into the night to get the harvest in, and strange machine noises and lights punctuated the ride home and made it otherworldly.

This was a perfect late summer evening, and I’m glad I managed to catch it in some of my favourite places.

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#365daysofbiking Sweet thing

August 23rd – Also showing late are blackberries, but in large numbers to the delight of forages making wine or puddings.

This year the fruit seem particularly sweet and after all these years I still can’t resist plucking the odd one and having a taste.

Always above dog height though, remember…

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#365daysofbiking Long life honey

August 23rd – Interesting to see this year the honeysuckle seems to be going on all season. It dipped for a month, and then when it’s normally over save for a few late plants, it’s burst back into life again, but more so the yellow than the pink for some reason.

Whatever the cause, it’s beautiful.

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#365daysofbiking A rose by any other name

August 20th -Whilst in Wednesbury, I took a look at Brunswick Park, which is a lovely spot. Whilst there, I spotted these red berries. The shrub was clearly under attack from some pest or other, but the fruit looked gorgeous, and a bit familiar.

Turns out it’s guelder rose, which isn’t really a rose at all, but the white flowers are very familiar to me. The berries are very mildly toxic, but jam can be made from them. They are very bitter.

A beautiful, bright red reminder that autumn is just around the corner.

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#365daysofbiking A good crop

August 17th – With my fascination with galls, it’s easy to overlook the fruiting of the oaks as it should be, and I’m happy to report this year that the crop of acorns – even though it’s been hit very heavily by knopper gall wasps – is plump and profuse.

The heathy acorns I’ll later gather to spread in hedgerows and on edge lands as is my tradition look better this year than they have for years. I guess a warm but wet season was good for them, if not so much for me.

I always have a dilemma here though: I can collect acorns solely from trees unaffected by knoppers, and assume they have so resistance, but in spreading solely those am I harming the wasp ecology? I suppose I should just spread any acorns I find, but it’s an interesting conundrum…

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#365daysofbiking Fancy an Indian?

August 14th – The awful summer continues, with heavy rain for most of the day. Returning from work soaking and miserable, I rode up a deserted Brownhills High Street.

I have no idea what we did to deserve this summer – it’s been grim. Yes, we’ve had good days, but I’ve not been able to get out for a long ride for weeks.

Let’s hope we get an Indian summer to at least compensate a little.

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#365daysofbiking it’s hip to be colourful

August 9th – Now we’re moving on to late summer, the colour du jour is moving from the purples of willow herb, thistle and buddleia to the oranges and crimsons of hips, haws and berries.

Sparkling with raindrops in the morning sun, this year’s fruitfulness was glorious.

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#365daysofbiking The golden hour

August 2nd – This week has been all about seasonal markers, and this evening as I left Shenstone for Stonnall and home, the harvest was well underway.

The fashion for huge, cylindrical baling seems to have ceased and we seem to be back to the more space efficient (and stable!) rectangular ones.

As ever, the machinery, synchronicity between drivers and sheer power of the operation is breathtakingly impressive, and a reminder that the countryside is still a huge, open air factory floor dedicated to our sustenance.

Always impressive to watch.

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