Early Morning Walks

During our heatwave, with temperatures reaching 32C,

I've been doing my walks very early in the morning.

Sometimes leaving home as early as 5.30 am.

Many of my outings have taken me to one or other of the parks. 

I did love these bright pink Hollyhocks.

The bees love them too

I often go down to the bigger park as I love the tall trees there

and the little pond with a bench right next to it.

This is the very early morning sunshine.

Here's another entrance and I really appreciate the shade of those beech trees.

The path is still wet as it rained in the night.

Don't you just love being surrounded by greenery?

I took this photo this morning around 7 am, just as the sun rose high enough

to filter between the trees and illuminate the grass.

There are beautiful flower beds of hydrangea

Both dark and lighter pink

Here's the little pond and you can see the bench on which I sat to have my picnic breakfast.

There are lily pads and lots of waterlily buds

The Agapanthus flowers are starting to open

against a bubbly green and blue bokeh in the background.

One morning, I sat by the fountain and a tiny robin perched on the lower part.

You can see him on the left in front of the pink hydrangeas.

Click on the photo to see all images in a larger size.

One morning, I met a friend in the nearby lakeside town of Morges.

I have to take the train to get there and I left home at 6 am

to be there before 7 am.

We sat at a lakeside terrace with this lovely view to have breakfast.

It was so hot that particular day, that we walked in shady spots 

and finished up on on a bench in the shade to eat a water ice and drink water!

Two more delicate Agapanthus looking fresh and summery against a house

with closed shutters.

A collage of the flowers blooming on my balcony garden right now_

Geraniums, Carnations, Begonias, Zurfinia (in the middle) and yellow daisies.

The Begonias on their own with the greenery from a big tree to the right of my balcony.

My homegrown strawberries

which were small but delicious.

My lavender which the bees just love

The Gaillardia flowers as they develop. 

They are just in front of the kitchen.

As for crochet, I made a sunflower granny square and then a second one

to make a little shoulder bag which is useful for my mobile phone, keys and a small purse

when I go out locally with my camera.

I've also started a new project in the form of a ripple throw in fresh colours.

 I crochet less when it's hot, but even a row or two helps the projects move forward.

I hope that you have been enjoying this month of June.

It's lovely to have the longer days, but I prefer it when it isn't too hot!

My favourite temperatures are between 20 and 24C.

How about yours?

How to Enjoy November

Maple leaves

How can we enjoy the month of November?

We know it can be a month of dull weather, rain and wind.

Some of the things I really love to do in this month are

 Daily walks

 Getting into nature as often as possible

 Collecting colourful leaves to press

 Making hearty warming soups

Inventing new ways of capturing interesting images with my camera

(even when the weather confines me to the home).

Handiwork which means lots of colourful crochet for me!

Despite windy days and some rain, we have had some beautiful sunny days too

in this first week of November.

Walking fifteen minutes down to the park always lifts my spirits.

I see how the leaves have changed since last time I went.

The sun was illuminating the beech leaves in the late afternoon sunshine.

Maple leaves in different shades of orange

dancing against a background of evergreens.

A flowerbed of deep orange Chrysanthemums

with leaves falling from the Tulip Tree above.

Look how the Gingko Tree has turned golden since I last showed you

through the same archway.

I love the carpet of fallen leaves.

Another cascading branch of Maple leaves turning deeper shades of orange.

Walking back home, I noticed the lovely leaves on one of the trees in my street.

I picked several of them up from the ground to make a leaf collage.

Last Saturday, my daughter and I decided to go walking in the vineyards

because the weather was so fantastic.

The wind was blowing and it created pretty ruffles on the surface of the lake.

We started our walk on the steep slopes of a village called Chexbres

It stands at an altitude of 589 metres.

We walked along the vineyards above the lake and a view on the mountains

I never tire of these views, They change constantly according to the lighting.

There is already snow on the higher mountains.

Steep stone steps leading up to the vines.

Notice the red rose bush planted at the top.

The sun was right opposite me when I took this photo, 

but the vineyards are so lovely that I didn't mind that big white glare on the lake.

One of the small roads coming up the slopes.

Cars are not allowed here.

Vine leaves changing colour and illuminated by the sun.

We decided to do quite a long walk two villages further on

so that we could take the train back to our homes from there.

It was actually further than we thought and there were very steep parts

to walk uphill!

In the end, we walked 17.917 steps

which turned out to be 12.5 kilometres!

A nice flat part before the climb.

The last photo I took before the very steep part.

I think I was too tired to take more photos!

We had a leisurely drink on an outside terrace at the Auberge de Grandvaux

before catching the train.

What a wonderful outing with so much walking.

The Dahlia are still blooming on my balcony very prettily.

A close-up of one of my geraniums.

Don't you love the little star in the centre and that tiny curl on the petal on the right?

I finished my autumn colours crochet since my last blog entry.

I made a tabletop Mandala. 15cm in diameter.

The two smaller doilies are useful for a mug of hot drink

and my Essential Oil Vaporiser.

The colour of the autumn leaves was the inspiration for my choice of colours.

I may already have started a new crochet project in red, white and green!

I'm an early bird and I like to get up, make a hot herb tea, often peppermint,

light a candle and read.

You can see the Autumn Mandala in place on the small round table next to my couch.

I hope that you are finding lovely ways to enjoy this month of  November.

When Autumn Turns to Gold

 

The month of November this year is one of the most beautiful I have ever known!

The temperatures have been milder than most other years

and the leaves are lasting longer.

This particular vision of sunlit leaves took my breath away!

These two images are the wonderful colours in a Tulip Tree.

I love their easy to recognize shapes.

Two burnished leaves connect against the blue of the sky.

Every autumn, I look forward to visiting one of the city parks, the one nearest to me,

to see the Ginkgo biloba Tree turn golden.

It's also know as the Maiden Hair Tree.

A golden carpet of fallen leaves forms as the wind brings them down to the ground.

 I was lucky enough to see them fall when I was standing there.

Children were playing in the leaves and the air was full of laughter!

Aren't they just beautiful?

Their fan-shape is so special.

I took a few to put them in my flower-press

A branch hangs down against the deep blue sky.

Look how next spring's buds have already formed...

Taking a closer look to see the sky behind the openings and the beautiful structure of the leaf.

I have to include the pond

The lighting was beautiful in the late afternoon.

There's a bench by that pond - and I've sometimes taken a picnic

and a book to read to sit right here!

A collage of my favourite leaves and autumn hues.

Right at the end of this month, I'll be posting the last leaves of November

I still find them in protected places

shining in the sunlight like golden jewels!