Well actually it was posted in Italy: it arrived this morning, a reminder that Keith and Barbara will be back to retrieve their bus in a few days time.
A whole month of Autumn days has passed since they parked their bus and flew off ...
Foggy mornings;
After the rain there is always sunshine again, and a return to outdoor dining.
Finding ourselves in Lyttelton on a warm sunny afternoon inclined us to ambling, eating ice creams and viewing the street art.
There hardly seems anything left of the commercial area of the port town
but the local community responded to the destruction caused by the ongoing earthquakes, with optimism and creativity. While there are shocking reminders of the damage at every turn, the town had a quiet energy about it - and no shortage of photographic subjects!
Back at home one of the joys of a moist autumn are the field mushrooms that pop up across the land. There are never enough at one picking for more than a slice of toast or two, but that makes them one of the season's prizes: to be cooked quickly with butter in a stainless steel pan, laid on good grainy toast with some fresh parsley and savoured for lunch.
Just as the mild, wet weather brings out the mushrooms, so it makes the grass grow. I like to think that one more cut and it will be time to take the mowers in for their annual service.
But, with one month to go before I leave for an English summer I suspect this grass has a lot more growing to do before cold weather checks its growth.
