Still this amazingly variable weather plagues us - mild, sometimes windy, very windy, often a lot of rain with this stormy pattern. With all this rain and sufficient to remove the surface layer of soil on the side above the house, there still has not been enough to get the springs running properly. As yet there are just drips, no more.
Now on the 4th October the weather has suddenly gone colder after almost continuous rain over the last three days. Even the honey bees in the afternoon sun were relucant to work the ivy flowers at the end of the bottom path. The wind has simply blown the leaves off the Corylopsis pauciflora and the Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' near the front door. Compared to other parts of the country (see the BBC Breakfast website with its autumn colour competition), autumn colours are still very poor and many trees still have green leaves, those that have not been blown off!