Autumn's Coming

I found today's picture just outside the back door.  On the bank behind our house there's a mixture of trees - various evergreens which should have been planted in a forest, but never mind, we'll never be short of firewood, unless one falls over and demolishes us.

They shed cones which litter the bank and the grandchildren like to collect them. They go into a bucket to dry out and come in handy for crafting, and also for reviving the stove if we let it burn down too low.  

So there was plenty of material to hand for today's Abstract Thursday theme of 'texture'.  This is the original shot, there's a somewhat tweaked one in the extras.  Not sure which I like best.

We've had deer in the vegetable garden the last two nights.  This morning I found a bat, a pipistrelle, TM says, in the Hayloft. Birds are coming to the feeders in increasing numbers. I think the wild life is starting to prepare for chillier days ahead.

Thanks to Ingeborg for hosting the Abstract Thursday challenge.