I drove down through lanes splattered with copper and gold leaves as autumn prepares my Devon countryside for the approaching winter . Even during these difficult times it’s hard not to marvel at the beauty that nature surrounds us with . The rich moist smell of autumn pervades the air ; still warm earth and fallen leaves take the place of verdant hedgerows and the scents of summer . The swallows are long gone back to warmer climes , I half envy them but then welcome the return of field fares and think of logs fires and the smell of woodsmoke as the evenings draw in and curtains are closed against the invading night . No frost as yet but it will come . My garden looks tired and is ready to be put to bed , daffodil and tulip bulbs are waiting in my potting shed to be planted but I can’t quite bring myself to pull out the still flowering geraniums and nasturtiums . If Veronica was still with me she would be there urging me on and when I am in my garden ,even three years on , I expect her to be there . Well she is there, there is no denying it , and I am happy with that .
Seasons : I drove down through lanes... - PSP Association
Seasons
She is there George as are all our loved ones, keep well and good luck with the garden
Victoria x
Dear George
What a beautiful and evocative post you have brought the autumnal colours, fragrance and feelings to life.
I like to think our loved ones are still with us in spirit. I am reminded of my husband every day sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes just happy memories.
Do plant those bulbs!!!!
Love Tippy xxxx
I’ve missed this. Thank you George xxx
Lovely to hear your descriptive post, Georgepa!
Hope all goes well around you over winter. Yes - plant those bulbs and wee flowers so you can see them in the spring!
I am recovering a couple of Danish style chairs at present. It is a similar job to the one hubby and I did together just after we moved here - and has brought back some memories!!
Now we are heading into summer and I wonder what is in store for us. Hope Covid does not get thru our quarantine barrier and create more havoc!
So far, we are enjoying life more or less as 'normal'. Just have to remember to distance, wash and check in.
Our only cases at the moment are returnees in"managed isolation" and are being very strictly monitored.
We do not underestimate how very lucky we are!!
Hugs to all! Hang in there!
Jen XXX
Oh Georgepa it is so good to read your lovely descriptive post of Devon countryside. I can see the colourful autumn leaves and smell the smoke curling up from the chimneys.
Time to get those bulbs planted before the ground gets too cold but maybe Devon weather is not as harsh as it is here.
It's hard to believe it's 3yrs since Veronica passed away, but she is still in your heart. I can't believe it will soon be a year from Will passed away.
Stay safe and I look forward to another virtual trip in your lovely Devon.
Lots of love, Marion xx
Good to hear from you too Marion.. time slips by so quickly doesn’t it .x
It sure does. I thought with all the restrictions and lockdowns it would drag but just as the months begin, they are over in a blink of the eye.
Continue to enjoy your lovely Devon countryside and gardening with Veronica watching over you. Well someone has to make sure you put the bulbs into the soil the right way up. Seriously though, take care and keep safe.
Lots of love, Nanny857xx
Dear Georgepa
How lovely to hear from you and read your beautiful descrption of the Devon lanes in Autumn.
Yes, the colours do seem to be spectacular this year in Gloucestershire too no doubt down to the good start everything had in the spring.
My garden is also looking battered and bedraggled after all the wind and rain we had this last week. I too have spring bulbs to plant but believe the later the better, but my heart isn't in it.
The combination of the announcement of yet another lockdown and All Souls day made for a depressing weekend.
I'm coming up to the first anniversary of losing my darling Chris at Christmas so that will be difficult but we must keep on keeping on for the sake of our loved ones.
Sending hugs
Anne
Today , Wednesday was glorious , took a pre Covid lockdown trip to north Devon and watched the surfers at Saunton Sands ,mad fools . But the coast looked wonderful in the soft autumn sunlight .
A beautiful post, as usual George, in all respects.
I was in Devon a couple of weeks ago - Rod’s ashes are scattered there in a beautiful place so I visited to mark the 2nd anniversary of him leaving us, but as you say, they never really leave us, do they?
As for the bulbs, it’s ok to leave the planting out until late November, early December. According to Monty Don on his garden programme yesterday, they will do so much better for late planting. I’m leaving mine until the end of the month at least, too soggy out there at the moment anyway. Like you I have flowering geraniums giving that last bit of colour so there they will stay until the last flowers fade.
Keep enjoying the changes that the seasons bring to your beautiful Devon.
xx
All is well in the world. Georgepa is still with us, entertaining us, giving that lovely warm glow of comfort that his words always give us.
Thank you George, I really do hope you know how lovely it is to read your posts and the comfort it brings to everyone. Of course Veronica is still with you, just like Steve is with me and all the other loved ones that sadly PSP took away.
Plant those bulbs when you are ready. Keep safe.
Sending very large hug and much love as always.
Lots of love
Anne
Hi Anne , good to see you are still about , have lost touch a bit recently but aim to rectify that ! Take care
Love
George
Dear Anne, I have missed you! Nice to see you here. I wrote a long reply to George below, which sums up where I'm at, without going into all the work business. How are you?
Love and hugs,
Sarah/Ec
Hello George. Wonderful to hear from you. I missed your words describing your surroundings. I can feel what you see but am never able to put it in words.
Some time ago I deleted my healthunlocked account, needing to wean myself of it, it is now 6 years since hubby died. When I received your e-mail there was a need to reopen and read your message. I hope you are keeping away from covid and start to enjoy a beautiful winter landscape. Love Maddy.
Oh George, it’s lovely to read your wonderful descriptions of your beautiful county again. After 4 years I don’t read all the posts now but still think of the friends I made over many years. I’m sure Veronica will always be with you and I hope you have more happy memories of her and the not so good memories are fading. Keep well, keep safe.
XxxX
Yes lots of friends NannaB and perhaps when all this ghastly business is over we can all meet up again and share the odd glass or two...... or three 🙃x
Hi, Bev! SO nice to see your name here. I do like to imagine, as George says, that we might meet for a glass someday. Good thing you got so much travel in while you could - I enjoyed your messages from China. I somehow doubt I will ever make it now, myself - I think the big Buddha you pictured was recently threatened by flooding - is that the one?
Love, Sarah/Ec
Good to hear from you again George.
What a lovely lyrical description - as always I can just see it all.
Yes Veronica is still around, as is Chris , especially in the outdoors and when there is music.
Hope all is well for you. Love from Jean x
All is good under the circumstances ... life goes on even if not quite in the way we imagined it would a few years back . Stay safe Jean x
How lovely to see George's lovely post and so many responses from friendly names of folk who have so much in common.
If you're in the UK keep safe and well during this new lockdown.
Love n hugs all round.
Anne
Georgepa,
I love reading your posts about the beautiful Devon countryside. They are so well written, it is like a mini get away from the every day.
East Anglia is also looking lovely as the seasons turn, I get to see it as I take my dog out.
My Mum is now confined to bed, so I am with her a lot as we wait for her passing.(according to the nurses, any day now, though this has been the same for over a week, they didn't factor in my Mum's stubbornness!)
Time goes so quickly, it only seems the other day you were posting about all your antics, while caring for Veronica. I am sure you will get out in the garden one sunny day to plant those bulbs for her. We have had a frost here now, so maybe the geraniums and nasturtiums are finished down there.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Julie
Hi, Julie, just wanted to send you a thought and my sympathy as you are watching over your mother. Take care of yourself, too.
Love and peace, Sarah
Hi, George, It was wonderful to see your post. I'm coming up for air from the US maelstrom, and reading your post was, as others said, comforting. Just what I needed! You have a remarkable talent for evoking the sights and fragrance of your beautiful countryside, and it did indeed feel like a little vacation.
I have enjoyed a gorgeous autumn here in Maine. We have had a little passing snow, but the weather has today taken a mild turn, so I still have a chance to get some garden work in if it lasts through the weekend. I went quite mad two months ago ordering tulip and daffodil bulbs, with some hyacinth and allium besides. (I love the way the giant alliums on their thin stems from a distance look like little purple planets floating magically, in midair.) My garden in town is way too small for the hundreds of tulips I have to find room for, but I have dreams of springtime joy and splendor, so will do my best to find room for them all . I may have to tuck some into my neighbor's border - I have permission! I planted some of the daffs at the old home farm in the mountains, where there is a lovely and spreading display every spring, especially around the boulder where the ashes of my sweetheart and his brother and their parents were scattered, but deer are too fond of tulips for them to survive there. (I have tried.)
I find my best comfort in the garden here and in being at the old farm. He loved that place above all others in his adventurous life, and I do feel his presence there. Taking care of it for his distant children, and for him as well as for myself, is meaningful to me.
All the other seasons are wonderful, but I love winter the most, with the vistas cleared as the leaves have fallen and with snow and skiing and snowshoeing and sitting by the fire. The night sky is dark there and when it is clear, especially in winter, the stars are mind-boggling brilliant.
It has been three and half years, and I miss him just as much as ever, but am less bowed with grief. On we go, as we must.
Thanks again, George.
Love and peace to all.
Easterncedar/Sarah
How lovely to hear you are surviving, Sarah. Three years for me too. I just live with the loss . It's the only way I know. Your gardening sounds lovely. I can just imagine all those drifts of bulbs.
It feels the world has gone mad. Chris would be so angry.
Enjoy your garden. Thinking of you. Love Jean xxx
Hi, Jean! Isn't it sweet how George's post has brought so many friends around? There's where hope comes from - humanity is not quite irredeemable while such loving kindness can be found. We just need more if it. And science. And respect for science. And how about some tolerance? And patience? Charity? and and and... Yeah, the world needs help. Let's hope for better days.
And how are you getting on?
Love, Sarah
It almost feels like a get-together doesn't it ? If only we could all meet up. If you get to London we will come !! Its a world for survivors at present. I'm okay but I worry for my grandchildren. Big hug from Jean x
I may have family of sorts near London soon if my widowed sister-in-law in Montreal decides the winter over here is too much to bear on her own. I hate it that she and I can't visit now. Some of her family is in England, so it's not a stretch to believe I may see you there yet. I wonder how Amanda is doing. Does anyone know? Love, Sarah
Yes. Amanda is doing fine She is getting married when they can - due to covid. She would certainly join us - plus the other South Emgland lot. We would love to meet up. Can't see past this covid at present ! Love Jean xx
Congrats to Amanda! That's a nice bit of happy news. Thanks!
I'll tell her you send best wishes. Ray is a really nice guy and she has moved near the sea and is very happy. xx
Best wishes and hugs, please! I really am happy to think of her being happy. Such a trouper.
Sarah ,how lovely to hear from you . Yes time does seem to pass by so quickly .I think I should like Maine it sounds wild and wonderful. I used to have a friend who lived near Kennyblunkport ?and she used to write about the hard winters . Deep snow almost over the roof of her house .The night skies are to be envied ,very little light pollution Iguess. I would love to hear from you ,my email address is georgecybermills@ gmail.com if ever you feel like dropping a line . Eventually we will all move on and it would be a shame to lose touch .
Watching your elections with some trepidation !I suspect you feel the same .
Beautiful as always. My heart is so broken, it is a challenge to piece it together.
Oh Christine I am so sorry , time does work wonders , it’s an old cliche but it’s true . Be kind to yourself .
George
How lovely to hear from you. I really missed your marvellous descriptive posts. I hope that you are keeping well despite all that is going on. Veronica is certainly with you especially in the garden. Big hug AliBee x
Oh George don’t come on here that much, still in touch with a lot of the wonderful people that helped me through the PSP journey. Hope you are keeping well, love hearing from you, can’t wait for all this to be over so we can all meet up. Yes wonderful news about Ray and Amanda, lovely couple xxxxx
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