While the moon was still a faint white circle in the sky the sun was beginning to brighten the landscape. Still coo, a foretaste of the real Autumn to come.

Spiders had woven intricate webs over the tops of the hedges, capturing blackberries as they went. It was tempting to spend time just photographing them but Rosie wanted to walk and her hazelnut obsession is rather unnerving  so that was a good enough reason to keep going.

By the middle of the morning the sun had changed the lane into a Summer’s day with temperature to match, perfect for blackberry picking with the wonderful feeling  of the sun on my back.

Most of the blackberries are forming into berries but there was one delicate and bright blackberry flower sheltering close to some holly. Some, what I think are, common bonnet fungi are appearing near rotten wood. I remember my grandfather would go out and collect horse mushrooms for breakfast but I’m afraid I would not pick any to eat. I do not feel confident enough.

Red Admiral butterflies are still around and they add a richness to the colours of the stone and greenery. I hadn’t realised until recently that their original name in the eighteenth century was Red Admirable. I prefer that – it makes more sense.  As a child I could never understand why a butterfly was an admiral.