Autumn Days

With the unseasonably warm weather we have been experiencing recently last minute guests means I have have had little time to think about Autumn.  However it was with great dismay that I heard this morning that the world conker championship, due to be held today, has had to be cancelled because of high winds.  This got me thinking about our own avenue of horse chestnut trees so I walked down the drive to see how the conker harvest was faring.

It may have been like summer last weekend but a few blustery days this week have dislodged the leaves. A rummage amongst the leaves unearthed the shiny, brown conkers - I put a few in my pocket.

These are the cattle that Peter bought in the spring, they have spent the summer eating the lush grass  but as winter draws near and the grass stops growing Peter will make plans for them to go to market where another farmer will buy them to over-winter inside feeding them corn or silage.

As I walked back to the farmhouse I spotted some other classic Autumn colours...in the courtyard....

 ....on Stag cottage....

  

.....and in the garden.

Once back in the farmhouse I used the collected conkers for some Autumn decorating in the dining room....

 ...and the sitting room.

There seems to be plenty still going on in Cornwall during October especially as we build up to Halloween.  The Eden Project is repeating it's successful "HalloEden" with the skating rink back in situe along with pumpkin carving, wand making and potion mixing.  Whilst at Pendennis Castle you can discover some spooky secrets and ghastly tales as you take on their ghostly Halloween family fun trail although Libby is talking about taking Mark on the spooky special, adult only Halloween ghost tour during the evening!