The garden's bounty

Sleights holiday 11

I enjoyed my evening rambles round the St Oswald Community's gardens very much. The views over the Esk valley are pleasant and, after dinner, the air temperature had generally cooled to something comfortable and bearable. Used to the bustle and hum of city suburbs, I'm always surprised by the peace and quiet here. It's not quite silence - you may hear a train, or an aircraft passing over. Sometimes the cattle moo, as if reminding you of their presence, or a fly will buzz right past your ear. Everywhere is so parched after the hot, dry summer that the desiccated grass crunched underfoot too, and there are already dry leaves on the ground. Autumn will come early this year, I guess.  

There were fewer pops of colour than I recall from last time, as some plants have already set seed. I visited in July, not August, last year. Still, there was plenty to aim my camera lens at. 

These plums, not quite ripe, were an extraordinarily vivid shade of violet. 

The seed heads of clematis look, comically, like little wigs. (The Tory MP Michael Fabricant springs to mind. 😆 )