Parched hawthorn

I'm jumping to Tuesday to post my tiny autumnal detail, though I still need to catch up with my Sunday and Monday photos (not to mention today's!)

These hawthorn berries look more wintery than autumnal, but they are shrivelled because of the long months of summer drought. They are not all like this, but some of the branches on quite a lot of trees of all kinds are clearly not coping. These poor berries also feature September's novel embellishment, raindrops! By January I will probably be wondering how many more photos of raindrops on vegetation I can possibly blip, but for now they are a welcome change from dry seed heads and fading flowers, and I quite enjoyed wandering round the garden in the drizzle. 

It was a busy day. I had J showered, dressed and hoisted into her wheelchair before her PA arrived, freeing me to clean up after the cats murderous snacks, which they had inconsiderately devoured in the utility room, before the arrival of the builder responsible for our small 2018 utility room and pantry extension. He came to look at some possible changes to the organisation of our heating system which we hope will allow the underfloor heating in the kitchen and dining room to work more effectively this winter; now we're waiting for a quotation. He was quickly followed by the service engineer who carries out regular local authority safety checks on J's ceiling track hoist; this time he was accompanied by a trainee and the trolley carrying 150 kg of weights with which it is periodically tested. The ceiling joists were reinforced before the hoist was installed, but I worry a bit about the elderly floorboards. Then I washed up all Monday's non-dishwasher lunch boxes and flasks, and grabbed a quick photography break in the damp garden.  After lunch (which P cooks) the weekly supermarket delivery arrived and was unpacked, disinfected and put away - am I the only obsessive still wiping all the shopping before I put it in the fridge? - and already, it was time for J's PA to leave and for me to help her search for favourite portraits for Wednesday's online Art Talk and do her daily arm and leg stretches. Another day gone - and I still haven't chased up the wheelchair clinic or done anything with the box of apples I picked days ago. Later, I fell asleep over the laptop before I got round to downloading the day's photos, though I did catch up with Saturday's.