October 3rd – Spinning through north Walsall on the way home, I was held up by this little thing peering up the road. Tiny, but with enough cute for several litters of kittens, she was apparently waiting for her owner who she’d spotted up the road.
The joy at the reunited pals, separated by a day at work, was beautiful and infectious.
A gorgeous little young cat, brimming with charm and life.
September 26th – On my way home in the road in the backstreets of Walsall, I spotted these large acorns in unusually hairy cups. Not having seen the like before, I assumed there were some kind f insect gall.
Looking it up when I got home, these are actually the acorns f a turkey oak, and quite normal for the species. I’ve never seen them before, and they’re quite alien after the familiar gnarled, knobbly normal acorn cup one usually sees.
An interesting oddity.
September 13th – On the way home, I was travelling in the damp air and landscape just after heavy rainfall. Everything glittered, reflected and shone. Of the things rendered precious, few were more beautiful than the snowberries near the roadside in Pleck which looked pure and dappled with glinting raindrops.
Cycling after rain is a joy. Actually in the rain – not so much.
September 12th – The Autumn fruits are starting to come with abundance now, and few are more welcome than the bright reds and oranges of the rosehips. Where there were beautiful wayside flowers a few months ago, there are now gorgeous, shiny berries providing a feast for wildlife and a splash of welcome colour in the hedgerow.
The diversity of shapes and colours of these little-appreciated fruits is interesting, too.
Always a nice compensation for the ending of summer.
September 8th – Terrible photos, but something fascinating – a piece of bread on the canal in Walsall, thrown for the birds. Uneaten, the water around is rippling and bubbling almost as if it were boiling.
Turns out the fish were having a feast.
Fascinating and unusual to watch.
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…
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 30th – Something in the climate of this day was perfect for the cats of North Walsall. They lazed in the shade of cars and lamp-posts, relaxed, just watching their world go by, making sure all was in order and nothing was untoward.
It’s nice to know they were on guard, these sunshine sentries of suburbia.
August 25th – North Street, The Butts in steady rain. Late again.
At least it was warm rain, and there was an excellent takeaway to look forward to at the end of it.
I still can’t get used to the tower block with the bizarre white halo. Walsall Housing Group did a fantastic job of refurbishing Austen House, complete with geothermal heating and solar panels – but I do find the aesthetics a bit odd.
August 17th – Another sunset return after an early start and late finish. As the more perceptive amongst you will have noticed, my main blog operations are currently on reduced power for a few days due to workload. Which is a bugger, but they do pay me so I’d better do it.
It is nice, however, to return through a twilight, almost somnambulant Walsall. The moon is still full, and rendering normally mundane views magical, and keeping me company as I pedal wearily home.
Sometimes, the moon is company, and sometimes, that’s all you need.
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