Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

Autumn looms over us once again, this morning there was a decided nip in the air and along the towpath

the sloes are ripening bringing the promise of warming glasses of sloe gin during the winter, although this year the crop does not look too bountiful.

The elderberries are already fattening up the birds for the cold days to come

and the hawthorn is showing the red plenty that will be a staple for the winter visitors, the redwings and the fieldfares, that will arrive in a month or so.

The blackberries are already being eaten by another towpath visitor,

fattius boaterii.

The summit of the Oxford has a plethora of apple trees in the hedges, I imagine they are the result of old time boatmen throwing their apple cores into the hedge from the boat. Do not try eating these as they will make your mouth purse up a tad; but cooked with blackberries and plenty of sugar as the basis of a crumble they are delightful. Serve it with a good whack of custard.

Rose hips are, apparently, rich in vitamin C, but they're much more fun if you open them and collect the seeds and little filaments from inside. When dropped down the back of someone's neck they make a great itching powder, a ploy that was much loved by school boys in the past. Probably get an ASBO for doing it these days.
Last picture and it is nothing to do with autumn,

in fact it's nothing to do with anything, it just amused me.

Watch this space............