Bad weather comes with good music

--------------------*--------------------

Autumn fruits

Autumn is a fruitful season. Last weeks, I collected nuts, berries, apples and pears from the park and our garden.

Homemade applesauce and stewed pears with cinnamon.

A plate full of autumn! Plums, an apple from our own tree, grapes, pinecones, a pear, hazelnuts and leaves from our apple tree and ivy.

Stewed pears with cinnamon, sponge cake and grapes. Yummy!

 Preserves nascent! Elderberries with applepieces (for the pectin).

--------------------*-------------------

Nuts!

'Nuts, nuts, driving me nuts. So sick and tired of nuts in me' guts!' Poor Eddy.

Nuts in abundance! Last week, I looked for several nuts to gather.

During a walk in the park, I noticed an unusual noise. It was the sound of hazelnuts, falling from the tree! I was right under a big Common Hazel (Corylus avellana).

I gathered a bunch of hazelnuts and took them home. In a few weeks, I can use them in cookies and cake.

These chestnuts from the Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) fell from the tree too early. The spines are still soft and the nuts are not ripe, yet.

Beechnuts from the Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica). Yummy!

The first mushroom I photographed, this autumn. This lovely, small white guy has still dirt on top of its cap.

---------------*---------------

The end of summer

It's obvious: the end of summer is certainly here. Now. The wind is blowing in our faces, clouds cover the sky and make it look like sheep to be shorn.

Though, today was a wonderful day. The sky was mostly clear, and the sun was shining the whole day. I thought it was time for a walk, and my dog was very with me. During the walk, I noted that autumn is very, very near. Take a look yourself.

A pond with fountain in our neighborhood. Some leaves of the Small-leaved Linden are already yellow.

The sun was shining on these beautiful trees. The berries are so bright red and orange, it looks like they're painted.

A stunning blue sky.

The Rowan and its fruit.

Elderberries. If you want to make syrup or jam with elderberries, this is the time to pick them.

A young pollard willow against a bright blue sky.

Flowering clover! The last meadow flowers of the year.

The park in the polder is a lovely place to walk. My dog loves this place, because she can run free and there are always other dogs to play with.

Outside walking gives me so much energy and inspiration. Every time when I go outside, I am astonished by the beauty and the power of nature. I hope you can feel with me.

----------*----------

Beautifully abandoned

For my friend Tamara, because I know she cherishes warm feelings for this place.

Next to the petting farm where I work on saturdays, is an old, abandoned farm. This farm is about 200 years old -some parts are even older-, and a monument. The farm and its environment are neglected and overgrown, but it's still a beautiful place.
Within a few months, contractors are going to turn this farm into a modern care farm. What I hope for, is that the old, silent atmosphere will continue, but I'm afraid that will not happen. I know it's necessary to smart up the whole place and give it a new purpose, but I'm quite devoted to the place and how it is now.
For I want to remember the old farm as it was, I made a few pictures. I tried to catch the warm atmosphere of the old farm, but also the sadness of the expired buildings. I hope you can feel it.

The driveway of the farm is hardly used. You should see wood chips, but they are rotten en overgrown by plants.

The imposing pear trees may be over a hundred years old. They still bear fruit.

The passage to the front door.

The front door, a window of the upstairs room on the right. Through the years, the building sank a bit into the wet ground. That's why the building is crooked, in several spots.

The left side of the house.

The overgrown path behind the big cowshed.

An overgrown wing of the farm. I personally love this picture.

The back of the same wing, overgrown by brambles.

The wooden wagon shed is rotten and half collapsed.

The lock in the door of the old, rotten shed.

A dusty window in the old wagon shed.