Autumn observations in a new and wild place
Notes from a season in a new home, remote and rural Northumberland, at a time of changing tiers.
23.9.20 First day of autumn, yellow tinge more than a tinge.
25.9.20 Last full day in this home, enjoying the light filtering through the goat willow in the garden, cast up on the walls of the living room.
26.9.20 Moving day!
27.9.20 Sat in the sunroom late at night. All the lights off, let our eyes adjust to the night sky - silhouettes of trees against a dusky sky, turning to the big dipper.
28.9.20 Woke up early, still dark. Not a sound outside, so incredibly quiet. The smell of coffee breweing seems stronger somehow. So excited to be here, it feels like Christmas!
4.10.20 So much time settling in, changing addresses, finaly took time for a walk. After all the rain, squelchy underfoot. Beautiful broken sun reflecting pine boughs in the puddles and flooded burns. Everything wth a burnt orange, golden glow.
6.10.20 Driving home from picking up the last of our potted plants from the valley. It was dark, the waning harvest moon rising and still low on the horizon. We parked the car on the side of the road and got out. No lights anywhere, a dome of stars and the golden moon around us.
8.10.20 Went for a walk at dark. Stars everywhere. The Milky Way! Pleiades! Just out our door. Lucked out big time. Stacked logs today, sycamore, beech and birch from a Special Site of Scientific Interest less than 15 miles away as the crow flies. Trees felled to open up the canopy for species needing dappled light.
9.10.20 Golden air, wet rain. Color saturation dripping off the trees. Milky Way again. Magic.
11.10.20 A long walk in our new neighborhood along squelchy paths following the burn east to a boggy pasture and then up into woods. Long shadows, golden light all day and water drops hanging off pine needles.
13.10.20 The colors changing, more and more yellows and browns each day. Dew drops on guelder roses, mushrooms falling back to earth.
17.10.20 First bike ride for over a year, single track road from our village, over a cattle grid, two fords and past dense woods bordered by larch at their peak. Luminous yellow. Dew caught in the spiders webs in the bog reeds and rushes.
18.10.20 The silence here. The underside of clouds changing from blue to pink to blue to grey. Sunrise chattering of starlings on opposite chimney stacks.
19.10.20 A break from clouds in the evening. Milky Way overhead, Big Dipper straight out the back door.
24.10.20 Out in the rain, cushions of moss interspersed with snapped bracken - rusty orange, eggplant purple. Sodden paths turned up by strangers’ boots. Wind howling high in the tree tops, calm down at their trunks. Oh to be in the woods in the rain. Tufts of lichen catching dew.
25.10.20 Sun, broken clouds, that perfect autumn day. Reeds and rushes glowing amber. Dark water coursing through the burn.
30.10.20 Solid rain since I last wrote. Lost track. Just rain rain rain. Rain rain. But today was beautiful. Sun on my face and the larch are still glowing. Lots of trees now bare - the transition happens so quickly. Greens and goldens now gone, beautiful bare branches left in their wake.
1.11.20 Beech leaves, those that are left, are incredible this time of year. The deepest orangey brown, beautiful in the rain. Hanging in scattered layers, decorative orbs catching the light.
3.11.20 Into a different woods today sliding through mud. Thankful for waterfalls and rivers and mushrooms and moss to focus on. Election day tomorrow.
4.11.20 Moon waning from full on the last day of October. Clouds clear, moon so bright we could only make out the brightest of stars and maybe Mars.
6.11.20 Time spent in the garden, getting weeds out before winter.
9.11.20 The past few days our village has been in a blanket of fog. Went out at dusk to see trees hiding in it, everything soft and quiet.
12.11.20 Warm light, long shadows. First shadows in days.
19.11.20 The first wholly blue sky in weeks it seems. Oh so good to see the sky and the sun! Shadows, washed out winter colors. Burn flow strong after all this rain. Paths the essense of squelch for this time of year. Went out at night to watch the stars before they started to cloud over. Milky Way and Pleiades - how good it is to see them.
21.11.20 Too easy to not get out at all for days at a time. Short days, flat skies. Out for a long walk today along the burn to clear the head. No leaves left on the trees except for a few bright yellow ones on the tops of the birch, birthday candles scattered amongst the heather. Boots couldn’t grip the sloped path, slip and slide. Clay! Scooped up a handful, taking it home in my little tupperware from lunch. A comforting weight in my pocket.
22.11.20 The usual loop today at sunset. Everything a rosy hue. Squirrels have been feasting at the picnic tables - cone cobs scattered everywhere.
23.11.20 A later walk today. Not late, but late enough for it to get dark. Dusk crept in at 3pm, dark and craggy shapes in tree runks, shadows under stone bridges. Creepy vibes early these days.
25.11.20 Sun just stretching into the woods - blades of grass illuminated like fireworks.
26.11.20 Another day of calm, broken sun filtering through pines and bare trees. Either gusty or perfectly calm here. Pine plantations creating a little micro-climate?
1.12.20 Watched the full moon sink towards the horizon this morning, until it was obscured by a thin low band of clouds. Sun filtering just above high clouds this afternoon as it started to dip toward the treeline.
2.12.20 On our way to the kiln, sky dark, cloudy, no moonlight. An owl banked away from the headlights, white underside.
5.12.20 Out for a longer walk today, trimming a few sprigs of Scotts pine and holly for our wreath. Early afternoon and the sun so very very low. After a downpour, a reminder that this is my favorite time of year for birch. Small branches holding on to every drop of rain, catching every bit of golden light. Red birch roots underfoot.
10.12.20 A record. Five days of not stepping outside of the house except for setting the bin out on Monday. Good to get out today. Cloudy but a few rays of sun filtering through. Moss glowing, full.
12.12.20 Rain.
13.12.20 More rain.
14.12.20 Blue sky!! Warm light! Feels like its been so long. The burn is rolling, the bracken at its final stage. Deep purple, curved and broken on the ground. Shadows. So nice to see shadows today.
15.12.20 More sun today! This feels so good. The mystery plant in the plastic pot in the wildflower bed is starting to bloom. Brighy yellow. Second flush of angelica has now gone to seed. Approaching winter in the swamp. Squelchy might be the word of the season.
17.12.20 Got spooked by a fallen tree root ball today. With all the leaves down it’s easier to tune into the flow of the burn and its bends. Getting to know the course of the current and where the eddies lie.
20.12.20 Last day of autumn, trying to scout out a hill to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning. Solstice. We walked for the first time up the hill that looks like it’s out of a Miyazake film. Bog all the way up - even at the very top. Moss and rushes. Squelching down into layers and layers of moss. Flattened a small patch of rushes at the top. Can see for miles but won’t catch the horizon. Nice to be out of the woods, looking out. Getting a sense of where we are in relation to everything else.
