28 September 2004 - Autumn

Well that is it. The geraniums are going in and therefore it must nearly be Christmas. The garden still looks lovely, but faded. The orchard is full of apples, some it must be said are rather small which seems odd when you think of all the rain.

We have been busy. The outside perimeter wall is a wonderful Cotswold example, but it is covered in ivy, trees and general rubbish. It seemed a great idea to clear it and expose its clear lines. That was two weeks ago and yes it looks lovely but we are covered in dust, have a forest to burn and are only a quarter of the way round. Any way my mother felt the rest of the garden was falling behind and we have gratefully come in from the dust and started the autumn clear-up.

We will finish the great wall of Cerney but not yet. So we have started the painful, annual battle with the rambler and climbing roses. It starts with gentle persuasion and restricted removal but rapidly pruning techniques centre around bits that have injured me and generally made my life harder.

There are some roses still in flower but the flavour is autumn. Mauves and faded pinks still attract late butterflies and even the odd dragonfly. The smell in the air takes me right back to school at the beginning of a new year when polish and wet, misty tones mingled. At this time I get an overwhelming feeling that I want to tidy up and put all to bed.

We used to leave the herbaceous cut back until the spring but we are so busy at that time of year that much goes now. We leave enough for the birds and to give a small relief barrier to the beds against heavy snow. Only the pernicious weeds and rose cuts get bonfired, the rest is composted to make top dressing next year.

Angus is clearing and digging the vegetable beds as they give up and we then hope to do all those jobs that were forgotten last year. New paths, frames and shaping of the shrubberies would be a good goal and of course the wall. Meanwhile the menagerie has increased by one as we speak and by two tomorrow.

Huggy, my brother's Newfoundland, has moved in with my parents - a loving mound of black fur that takes up as much space as a piece of furniture and Annie and Millie are Amy's new kittens that were promised last birthday. Rosie and Mabel, the Berkshire maidens, have gone on their honeymoon with a Duroc boar next door. We had meant to keep them pure but our friend Lucy found the meat far too fatty and since the aim is good quality meat for us all to enjoy her guidance is followed.



Tin-opener (above) is having his share of fun too. We have given him the six Suffolk crosses to look after and are now trying to find a Cotswold ram to serve the other ewes. We may have earlier, unexpected lambs since one of our ram lambs seems to have missed being totally put out of action and has been caught in an inappropriate stance - oh fab!

Anyway amongst all of this high jinks we have found time to enter some of our cheeses into the British Cheese Awards held at Blenheim this year and wonderfully our hard work has been rewarded with some medals. A bronze and silver medal for our ashed pyramid, which is my mother's original cheese, and, most exciting, a gold for our Cerney Pepper that we and our friend, Avril have created this year.

There were an enormous number of excellent cheeses on display and we quite realise that we have to be vigilant and inventive, but most important commit ourselves to maintaining high standards and that means finding even more hours in the day. Nice trick if you can do it.

posted by Barbara @ Tuesday, September 28, 2004   0 comments (Post a Comment)