The Last Day of October

The month of October has been glorious this year with lots of sunshine
and very little rain.
The autumn colours are becoming more beautiful each day.
This house in my neighbourhood so beautifully covered in Virginia Creeper.

I walk down to the city park very often as I enjoy the tall trees and the seasonal plantations.
I saw these pretty leaves on the way down.
It only takes me fifteen minutes to get to the park from where I live.
It takes a bit longer to get back home as it's all uphill!

These elegant pots have already been planted with autumn chrysanthemums.
In the background, we can see the golden Tulip Tree.

I stood under the branches of a small tree to capture the wonderful golden bokeh.

Through the archway under the bridge, the Ginkgo is turning yellow.

The shape of the leaves is so lovely against the blue of the sky.

Chestnut Tree leaves.

One day, I took a train with a friend up higher to a village called St.Cergue
which is at an altitude of 1.041 metres.
We did a really lovely walk in the woods.

Another scene on the way back.
It's so delicious to walk on the fallen leaves!

Where the forest opens up, we can see the poles put there to measure the height
of the snowfalls to come!

A charming little hut at the end of a garden.

On the front, there was a sculpture of four horses drinking from a trough!

A little chalet with yellow shutters and door.
What a lovely place to stay in the middle of nature.

A mixture of evergreens and autumn colours against the blue of the sky.

Back to the park again to see the maple leaves change colour


Spindle Berries in striking pink and orange

Mighty Beech Trees out on a walk in the country

I love their smooth, straight trunks and how the leaves turn to a rich copper colour.


A mossy tree trunk with fallen leaves

... and the roots of a Beech Tree 

A day spent in a spa centre with my daughter in Lavey-les-Bains surrounded by mountains
and autumn colours.

These two photos were taken from the adjoining park which runs along the River Rhone.

Closer to home are the last strawberries on my plants.
The leaves turn such a pretty red colour in the autumn.

On Saturday mornings, I like to go downtown early to do my marketing.
This was taken on Saturday morning when the sky turned beautiful shades of pink and red.
The silhouette is of the Gothic Lausanne Cathedral.
The construction began in 1170 and continued over a long period
of about one hundred years.
The Cathedral, called Notre Dame, was consecrated in 1275
by Pope Gregory X.

***

My next blog entry will be in the month of November - as it will be here tomorrow,
and on Saturday we put our clocks back an hour which makes it dark very quickly
in the afternoons and early evenings.

I believe there will be some new crochet pieces to show very soon!

A Stay in the Vineyards

 

This time of the year is perfect for visiting the vineyards.
The weather forecast was so good that we decided to stay the night.
This is the village of Chexbres, well know for the quality of its wines.
This was the mist over the lake when we arrived in the morning.

We walked through the vines on small paths with no traffic.
The wine harvest had taken place just the week before.

The views on all sides were stunning

On many of the slopes, the vines were taking on a golden hue.
I love seeing one of the steamboats pass by too.

The view from the hotel room was breathtaking!

This is a partial view of the hotel
and I stayed on the top floor in the third balcony from the left.

These are the mountains seen on the left of our balcony
The small thumb shaped mountain to the left is called la Dent de Jaman
and is 1.875 metres high.
I climbed that mountain once many years ago
and trying to come down again was a bit hair-raising!
a kind and experienced man helped me by telling me where to put my feet.
Whew! I don't have a head for heights!

The longer range of mountains to the right is called les Rochers de Naye
and they stand at 2.042 metres high.
I've been up there on an electric cogwheel train.

We see another steamboat go by in the opposite direction.
I believe we saw five of them gliding across the lake during our stay.
This boat is called the Simplon. It is named after a mountain pass.

A view from the balcony towards the end of the lake and the Valais.

The views took on a warmer tone towards the end of the afternoon.

There's a big cedar tree planted just below the hotel.
Luckily it only cuts off a part of the view.

Towards the end of the day, we noticed murmurations of starlings coming across in swirling clouds.
It was so difficult to get a shot of them as they were so fast
so the quality of this photo is not as representative as I would have wished!

Murmurations are huge groups of starlings that twist, turn, swoop and swirl
across the sky in beautiful shape-shifting clouds.
Just before dusk, small groups of starlings from the same area
come together above a communal roosting area.
We saw them settle into surrounding trees.

After a light supper, we sat on the balcony to watch the sunset.
This photo was taken at 18:28 (6.28 pm)

This one was taken at 19:03 (7.03 pm) after the sun had set
and the lake seems to be illuminated from within!

The next morning a purple and pink sunrise announced a new day.
This was taken at 7.56 am

Just a few minutes later.
So beautiful!

We walked into the village for breakfast and came back through the vineyards
 to enjoy them again.

The vines leaves were catching the light so beautifully


There were even a few grapes leftover.
Often these grapes are allowed to ripen and sweeten to make a very delicious
November wine which has the sweetness of the early autumn sunshine.

So vibrant and lovely with the vines in the background.

This is a partial view of  The Deck belonging to the hotel.
It was closed at lunchtime, but we did have lunch in the adjoining restaurant with the same view.

We had just finished the last drops of our delicious red wine!

An original deck decoration: hanging bottles of roses.

Some of the lovely autumn leaves I picked up on my walks.
The leaf on the upper right is a vine leaf.

The colours of the leaves inspired me to crochet a big mandala to go on the top
of a small round table next to my couch.

Here it is on the table, with an orange cotton cloth that seems to fit with the colours.

This a rather photo-heavy blog entry, but maybe you don't mind too much!
If you have time, do a double click on the images to enlarge them.

I hope that October has been a beautiful month for you so far!