MONO PHASE

Since doing a lot of work raking the grass yesterday, Mr. HCB has been suffering from cramp in his left calf, so I have suggested tentatively that he drinks more water and perhaps does a little more gentle walking.  With that in mind, I thought we could go for a walk around a nearby lake, which we did, but after about twenty minutes he had had enough.

It was quite dull and cloudy, but I did  manage to get some lovely shots of one of the many cygnets down there and rather liked the way the light played on the water.  When I came to edit the shot, I inadvertently changed it to black and white, and quite liked it and so did Mr. HCB, so here it is.

It was great to walk around the lake and see how much work has been done by a group of dedicated people, clearing certain areas and making flower beds and I even noticed a little herb bed, which had a notice stuck in it saying, “HERB BED - To be enjoyed by all, please cut & don’t pull! Thank you.”  What a great idea - I do hope people use the herbs.

I did get some lovely shots of the autumnal trees, but as I have blipped trees quite recently, thought this cygnet deserved its fifteen minutes of fame on Blip.

Whilst walking, we swished through the fallen leaves, which, with their smell always makes me think of autumn.  Apart from parts of the lake being a little smelly, partly I think, because there are a lot of honking Canada Greese around, it was a really pleasant walk, if shorter than we had intended.  Mr. HCB is now sitting with his leg raised, having drunk a cup of coffee and also a large glass of water - sounds as if he is doing as he’s told, for a change!

We stopped on the way back to admire the trunks of some silver birch trees - some were very smooth, while others were still papery, with the bark still intact and felt quite rough - I feel an abstract shot coming on!  We did get some rather strange looks from people driving by - I guess not many people stroke tree trunks - well, I did, but Mr. HCB just wandered on and let me get on with it, as he often does!

“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakeable, 
     the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves 
          blown along the street or road 
by a gusty wind, and 
     the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.
Both are warnings of chill days ahead, 
     fireside and topcoat weather."
Hal Borland