It was great to have last Friday off after two extremely busy months. I spent the morning doing my tax forms and then set off to the palace grounds with my Mum. You'll see more of that in one of my next posts. Aren't the flowers fantastic this time of the year? Late summer has such an abundance, but different from spring in atmosphere and colours. You can see a top-down view of the flower beds here.
The statues are on top of the roof, and the only way for me to see them close up is by zooming in with the camera.
And what's the update I was talking about at the beginning of this post? Well, for one thing, there is the weather. We've had some cold nights already, with temperatures down to 4 Celsius (39 F). This meant for me wearing gloves (yes, gloves!) on my way to work on two or three mornings, turning the heating on in the bathroom for half an hour before having a shower, and having a blanket on top of my duvet for a few nights.
Then, some time last week, summer was back with highs of 25 Celsius (77 F) and more on a sunny afternoon, so out came the summer dresses once again.
But the best update I have for you is that the grassy path I like so much has NOT been spoiled! Remember when I told you about the heavy building machine I saw there last time? This was at the end of August; you can read about that here. Last Sunday, I went there again to check on any progress, and found the machine gone and the place unchanged. What they did that short bit of gravelling for I have no idea, but I am relieved that one of my favourite places is still as it should be!
It's so good to see the flowers still out on the first day of October and the beautiful blue skies. Oddly my garden in the Hebrides is still a blaze of flowers but here in Glasgow my friend's is almost devoid of them. However we've just had the warmest summer for 100 years in Britain as a whole and the second warmest in Scotland. I'm glad, by the way, that the grass wasn't ruined. It tends to be hardy stuff.
ReplyDeletePlenty of flowers also in people's gardens around here still. I wonder what's so different about your friend's place in Glasgow. Is it that much colder there than here? Or is it simply the kind of flowers they have in their garden?
DeleteI would have thought last year, 2013, was the hottest summer in Britain for 100 years. I've never had such a non-stop sunny and warm holiday in Yorkshire over the many years I've been going there, with temperatures as high as that (29 Celsius!).
I think, Meike, it's a combination of reasons although now that I'm back on Lewis I can see that my garden has suffered in the recent storm that we've had. My garden here has different plants but also the growing season here tends to start later than Glasgow where there is more warmth and protection in the gardens. As we start later I presume that we end later too.
DeleteMuch more flowery than our northeast Ohio gardens just now, though I have some helianthus and hydrangea in bloom....We'll have glorious autumn colors very soon..........
ReplyDeleteAnd what a good update, that your beautiful path is still lovely and not destroyed!
It was such a relief to see the path untouched, Kristi!
DeleteOver here, what I see in many gardens on my way to work are dahlias, chrysanthemums and aster, along with many other flowers I don't know the names of. And now that the leaves are beginning to turn, it is the most colourful time of the year.
Lovely pictures. We've been having similar September weather... From night frost in the early morning some days, to around +20 in the daytime!
ReplyDeleteThe past week has been warmer, no frosty nights anymore, and I have put away my blanket again. It'll soon be back, I guess.
DeleteIn Yorkshire, the summer has lasted al the way into October but the weather forecasters tell us that Autumn will arrive with vengeance this coming weekend. By the way the statues on the palace roof are so rude that I am blushing with embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteIt was warm and sunny again today, after the dissolving of a dense fog that lasted well into the morning. I hope we'll still be able to enjoy nice long walks for a while before it gets too cold and wet out there.
DeleteMaybe that's why the statues have been placed on the roof, to protect unsuspecting tourists from embarrassment.
It is starting to feel autumnal here, a golden light and sun not so hot. And a kind of a quiet feeling
ReplyDeleteOn my way home yesterday, I noticed how many of the trees and shrubs along the fields are already changing colours. Combine that with the fields being by now nearly all harvested (except for a few late maize fields) and the crows' calls in the air around sunset, and autumn is definitely here.
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