September Ramblings

What a gorgeous month this September has been! I sent Roo to nursery this morning in a jumper but the middle of the day comes and I’m writing with the back door and study windows wide open in a sleeveless top! You really can’t complain when autumn starts like this.

The last rose of summer?

With a bumper crop of blackberries, we have spent September making the most of nature’s harvest.  The jam pan has been out and we’ve been stocking up on bramble jelly supplies for winter as well as attempting all manner of other blackberry creations and a stab at elderberry cordial. Now the sloes are out, it’s time to give some sloe gin a go too. If you have a good recipe then please share it.

Elderberry Cordial in progress…

Outside we’ve been beginning to get the garden ready for the cooler months ahead. We recently discovered we have a hedgehog in our woodpile, so plans are afoot to make a hedgehog box, the bird feeder has been replenished and re-sited and the apple trees given their late summer prune. Roo has been on lots of little walks with me to learn about the names of the berries and plants currently out, she’s been enjoying some outdoor nature art and we have started a nature scrapbook for her to record and store her outdoor treasures in.

Making the most of my RHS membership, we’ve been back to RHS Wisley twice this month to check out the gardens in their autumnal glory.I’m proud to report that I only came away with a total of only three new plants  – two of them on the recommendation of the advice centre so who could argue with that? The orchards have to be one of my favourite bits of the gardens there. They stretch on as far as the eye can see with every conceivable variety of apple bursting from the trees in the September sunlight. I swear some of the red apples had been polished. There’s no way an apple can be that shiny without help, surely? What a job that would be!

The early autumn colours of RHS Wisley.

An awful lot of September has been spent catching up after our Ireland trip at the very end of August and attempting to work around a very active baby. Having quickly mastered crawling, she is now climbing up by herself and beginning to cruise, all the while sprouting teeth at the most ridiculous rate and spurning any naps. Today she has slept a total of 30 minutes whilst constantly squirming like an eel and eating every bit of paper in sight. Until she is big enough to join her sister for an occasional stint at nursery or Mary Poppins falls out the chimney (please, Mary, please!) getting anything done is becoming increasingly hard work! I suppose I’ll just have to go walking instead…

Talking of Ireland, having failed to write a round-up from August and without sufficient time to write up all the posts from our trip yet, I should probably give it a mention here. We had a brilliant time exploring Kerry and around Dublin and managed to fit in some of the most scenic short walks I’ve had the pleasure of taking. Kerry is unsurprisingly touristy but for a very good reason. The scenery is breathtaking, the beaches endless and framed by mountains and there is the chance to lose yourself in the drama and solitude of some of Ireland’s best countryside despite the throngs of visitors you may find in the principle centres of the region. I am not one for mass tourism but I was still charmed by Kerry and would go back in a heartbeat, although perhaps not during the penultimate week of August!

Coastal walking on Dingle peninusla, Kerry.

As for October  – well, it is the birthday month for a certain girl in our family. It’s also jam packed with things marked on the calendar, including a foray up to Scotland for which we are intending to drive the girls up (wish us luck) with some stops to explore on the way, so it’s going to be a busy one. We are starting the month off well with a return trip to Pembrokeshire – hopefully we can find some seals for Roo (she is pretty grumpy that the Puffins won’t be there again) and explore a little more of that beautiful corner of Wales. I’ll keep you posted!

What have you been up to during September? Do feel free to link up your favourite post from September below. A walk, a travel adventure, a brush with wildlife, a favourite outing or activity at home with the family… anything goes so long as it’s not a sponsored post. I’ll happily comment and share.