Fruitful

More Autumnal walks, scant opportunities grasped between increasingly wintry showers, just not always successfully!

There are some mature hedges (can you believe it?) along the Gyre Road in Orphir. A rare and precious jewel is the Orkney hedge. An afternoon saunter delivered a few surprising splashes of colour: a hip of a Rosa rugosa; the bud, flower and fruit of a bramble; and some Yellow Brain Fungus on a Gorse branch.

As we returned to the car, the setting sun backlit a few showers picking their way between the hills of Hoy.

The following day was rinse, dry, shine, repeat, which at least meant lots of rainbows. We ambled over the hill to the coast at Warebeth and munched our picnic in the rain whilst we watched umpteen waders scurrying about the beach.

Again, the showers over Hoy provided drama and atmosphere.

Monday was simply dreich, and we didn't even stick our noses out of the door.

On Tuesday lunchtime, returning home from a morning's work, I parked the van and, as I locked its door, thought I heard a gentle trilling sound behind me. Looking around at the tree tops, I couldn't see any birds at all, but then a small flock of something flew up from our garden, accompanied by more trilling.

Waxwings!

 These beauties are being belt-fed as many apples as we can muster!