Autumn glory

Every autumn I like to photograph this  katsura  tree,  a few doors down the road. It was planted by my friend and neighbour, Frances, a keen gardener.
 
The  official name of this  Japanese tree is  cercidiphyllum, known for its unusual leaves and colourful foliage.

Welsh funeral
Tonight, I got a phone call from my family in Wales. They had been to a funeral of a neighbour, a man in his early 70’s , still farming who had been born on the family farm , grew up there , married had children and now died on the farm.
 
 It was a big funeral, even by Welsh standards- over 500. For this is a close-knit rural community.
 
 Oliver, for that was his name, was a well-known local farmer. I met him only once and he has special place in my memory of my childhood growing up in Wales.

For he bought my pony after I left Wales to go to London. He would ride her around his farm on the edge of the Sugar Loaf Mountain near Abergavenny. 

 It grieved me to part with her though I drew some consolation knowing she had gone to good home.