I may be getting superstitious

OK, so I knew last week was going to be a challenge as a client was going to be in town and had complex issues to sort out, but I hadn't expected quite the level of complication and uncertainty that ensued.  I was brought, as a gift, a bit of California bling - I didn't realise it was hexed.  I left it in a café by mistake, and it wasn't until I had recuperated it from the café owner that things sorted themselves out and life settled down again.  Some might say that it was just a coincidence, but I'm not so sure.  So for safety's sake, it is now hanging on a hook by my computer, and treated with great respect!

Autumn is really making itself felt at the moment - we have finally resorted to having a duvet on the bed, rather than just duvet covers, have used the fire a few times, have purchased a new mobile gas heater and I'm still making quince jelly to use up the last viable fruits that are knocking around the garden.  Yesterday I chopped up 3.8 kilos of fruit and today made 11 large jars of jelly.  The quantities were so great, I had two pots going as neither was large enough to get the whole lot boiling at once!

Storm Austen passed through on Friday and Saturday - around here we "only" had gusts of up to 87 kmph, which is quite enough, thank you.  Naturally a lot of plant pots got moved around, the chickens sulked but weren't blown away and all the cats went on strike due to lack of air pressure.  The greenhouse/polytunnel got blown over but to our relief, the impressive industrial quality cover survived in tact.  The only bit of damage that we really need to sort out quickly, and even then, relatively quickly, is that a chunk of one of the poplars in the Plantation dogleg of the Meadow came down in the farmer's field.  We need to get in there and see how much we can move off the field to avoid harming his much needed crop.

The other thing autumn does so well is sunsets - this one last Sunday (after I'd done the blog) was a particular humdinger.

The cats are all trying to grow fur, floof and fat for the winter.  This is particularly the case with our outdoor family: Randolph, Wimsey and Wally Hinterloper.  When not sitting and judging us from afar, they are seeking out any last crumb of food to help create a layer of blubber for the long winter nights in our cellars.  I have pointed out to them that there are plenty of nice fat field mice around, but that just gets me even more severely judged!  Randolph is the father, and the big fellow on the right; the mother, Sluttella, moved away, tempted by the charms of a black cat as far as we can tell.

We are very lucky in our village to still have a pub/café, which is open Thursday to Sunday in the evenings for drinks, food and occasional events.  The local musicians have checked out the latest owner (she's been there a year now) and have finally decided she is trustworthy, so we are starting to get some seriously good bands coming in.  Last night was Spy Shuffle Drivers - a blues trio from L.A. (Loire Authion), who were very good, if a bit loud.  The drummer had a neat trick of being able to play harmonica one handed while still keeping a beat going on bass drum and cymbals.  They played a continuous set from 9pm to 11pm, with all sorts of blues styles, finishing up with (and bringing this story round nicely in a circle) Superstition and Voodoo Chile.

Support your local small live music venues and musicians and have a great week!