Invader

This purple pampas is growing along the road. I couldn’t resist the feathery flowerheads against the blue sky. The bee came as a surprise when I downloaded the image.

Despite its beauty, the pampas is a non-native from South America which spreads fast and is officially a weed in New Zealand.

It’s been a lovely day of fruit-picking, chatting over cups of tea, cutting grass, walking with Bean.

The extra was taken on our late afternoon wander along the lane, with sycamores changing colour and long autumn shadows.