the running wave

We had the first frost of the autumn a couple of days ago, and strong winds are blowing leaves all over the place, but despite all that my vase this Monday is still very summery.  That's fine by me.  The vase includes the last of the sweet peas but there is still plenty of everything else.  The colour in the garden is very welcome but I daresay, as we gallop towards November, it won't last very much longer, so enjoy it while ye may!

Sadly, we are home from Colonsay now but I still have some photos to post.  The holiday photograph album is not yet complete. As part of the island's Autumn Food and Drink Festival, last Monday I went on a farm walk at Balnahard, which is the top north east corner of the island and an area we haven't explored before.  The farm is reached by a pretty extreme track and luckily I was in a vehicle being driven by the farmer, who will travel along those 2 - 3 miles every day.  It is not a track I would wish to drive myself and our car wouldn't stand any chance of survival, especially on the stretch beyond the farm to the beautiful beach at the top end of the island!  Generally people walk to the beach at Balnahard, and it is certainly worth the effort. You can read all about the farm at Balnahard here  https://www.balnahard.com/balnahard-farm.html    It is a beautiful part of the island, with views across the sea to the mainland, the northern end of Jur...

I was really sad to hear today of the loss of a really lovely, wise old cat, Joe - or as we have always known him, Jo-Jo.  He came to live with my daughter and her ex-husband back in 2000.  A scrawny little character, who rocketed around their flat, bouncing off the walls and living his young kitten life to the full!  Throughout his very good life he has mothered one or two young kittens who have come into the family, including my beloved Pippi, and in the photos below you can see him providing warmth and protective love to my granddaughter's kitten, Missy, when she first arrived in the family.  He had a long and good life, brought lots of pleasure to us all, companionship to his fellow cats and he will be missed.  I know he will.  Sleep well Jo-Jo, and thank you for looking after Pips when she found herself in a new and strange place.

I defy anyone to find me another place on the planet where I can see and do all this in one day. On Sunday, I started with a walk in the magical, gloriously autumnal outer garden of Colonsay House, with its exotic magenta coloured magnolia fruits, weird and wonderful flower spikes of the gunnera, enormous rhododendron leaves and rich red barked trees.  A nd then along a peaceful, sunny track where it was so quiet I could hear absolutely nothing except for one small bird twittering, and only when it felt like it.  The local beekeeper was there, tending his beehives, so I had a chat with him too.  Colonsay has the best honey in the world, with a lovely mix of wild flowers for the bees to forage on, including heather of course, which I think has the best honey flavour of all! At lunchtime, a large glass of rose wine, sitting in October sunshine, in the island's small hotel garden, which looks back across the sea to Jura. Then a walk o...