Rosy Evening

We walked down to the pub last week for their fortnightly movie event, and were lucky enough to see this glorious sight on our way there - we thought it was going to make us late because we kept stopping for more photos!

We are so lucky to be in such a gorgeous spot

On our walk home, we had fantastic views of the Big Dipper, too - how lovely it is to be on foot!

Litter Picking

I've become involved in our local litter picking group, and now have my own equipment from the umbrella group BRACE (Building Resilience And Community Engagement) so I can collect litter any time, with the right supplies.

I'm really happy to report that I'm not finding much trash! It takes many hours to fill a bag, which is unusual. I shouldn't complain, because it takes me out to all parts of town, giving me new perspectives on familiar places, and the opportunity to explore new areas.

This is the stream known as Afon Abel not far from our home. It's fenced off and its banks and flow have been modified over time.

All the litter collected this week was displayed at the Public Institute last Sunday, sign courtesy of moi.

Autumn

We're experiencing familiar northern hemisphere cooling as autumn approaches, with temps dropping to 47° F overnight and warming to between 57° and 65° F during the day. Robins still bathe regularly in our mini 'lake'.

It's crisp and beautiful outdoors in the daylight hours. I especially love the smell of quinces ripening in the sunshine.

Quinces in June

Quinces in September

Quince paste and quince jelly is now on my 'to-do' list ... We don't have a functional heating system in the house yet - our heat pumps are scheduled for installation in the last weeks in October, but I'm expecting it will be later than that. We have a small woodstove, which we might be forced to use before then.

Quiz Answer

The beautiful pattern from yesterday is the abdomen of a European garden spider, Araneus diadematus, an orb weaver. 

The suggestions I got were fascinating, and could conceivably have been:

a cowrie shell

snake skin

mould

something Dale needs to have looked at by a professional

frog/toad skin

caterpillar

some kind of plant

two people suggested it might be part of an insect,

and one said

an arachnid! (which it is)

Every time I went back to re-photograph it, the little rascal would scurry off into the brush. Why? Because spiders have sensory hairs on the legs and bodies that alerts them to puffs of air and vibrations. These thin hairs on their legs and bodies are called trichobothria - so effective and sensitive.