Doug’s DIARY
We’ve passed the autumnal equinox. The swallows are still here, but not for much longer, gathering on the telephone wires in readiness for their epic journey and bursting into flight as we pass. In the lanes, birch and sycamore are starting to display their first autumn shades; haws and rowan berries, ruddy and ripe and in considerable profusion, are much enjoyed by the mistle thrushes that visit our garden.
It seems like we are in a moment of suspended animation, but this is literally the calm before the storm, and it’ll not be long now before the wind and rain blow in, the temperatures crash, and I’ll be moaning relentlessly to Hannah, and yearning for the spring to come around! It’s a good few months before that will happen, during which we’ll have plenty to keep us occupied in the warmth of the workshop.
Pippin has settled straight in at school. Fortunately, she’s acquired her mother’s brains. She draws and paints endlessly when she’s at home and brings lovely pictures back from school, too; it’s wonderful to see her creativity developing. However, a less wonderful thing that she brought home from school was her first tummy bug, which she has kindly passed on to me,
