Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

The woods are lovely in autumn, the ground deep in coloured leaves, the weak autumnal light seeping through the gaps between the branches.

Especially on a misty day.

A good day for a walk in Grinwood.

I took the blue route which takes you directly up the hill and if you persist with following the path to Burbage. But I took a different way going left at the top of the hill and emerging out onto the open fields that surround Solomon’s Temple.

The Temple was lost in the mist so after a brief stroll amongst the remains of the disused quarries, it was back to the safety and comforting embrace of the woods.

The birds flitted about in the canopy.  An occasional squirrel darted from cover before disappearing again into the leaf litter or racing up a tree trunk and along a fragile branch.

A crow watched us carefully from an old tree stump, as we drew close his nerve failed and he flew off circling a clearing made by fallen trees before alighting high up in an old beech tree.

Moisture dripped from the branches. Yellowed leaves fell gently.

Stopping by the statue of the Quarryman, Lilly my Collie dropped her stick at his feet. She glanced at me and then back at the statue. She made a snarly face at it to try and encourage it to pick up the stick and throw it and then realising that this was pointless she picked up her stick and trotted back down the path.

Time to go back.