Monday 7th September 2015

Sunday.

Monty the Don has described September as being a month that can still feel like summer with warm sunshine, but the light from the sun is at a lower angle, thus shining through flowers, leaves and other plants, creating a wonderful golden light, unlike at any other time of the year. For certain, nights are cooler, it gets dark far earlier and it time to make preserves and maybe even prepare for Christmas.

Sunday was pretty much like this, lots of warm, even hot sunshine, and yet it began cool, and by dusk just before eight, was too cool to sit outside, or could it be just that day was so warm it only felt cold? I think that might be the case, but anyway, another day in which we got lots done, and I began to see how long the days can be without either orchids or football. Heck, those long warm afternoons seem to stretch on forever.

After a coffee and then bacon butties, we put on our walking boots and set off for a walk to look for a church.

We have an old OS map for the area, and on it we noticed a disused church in the woods between here and Ringwould. So could be find it?

Well, what was pretty certain was that we wouldn't, as our local history group had told us that a new fence has been put up, so it was always a pointless quest; but then aren't these the best kind?

Anyway, the weather was perfect, and being September, mornings were now cool.

The church was St Nicholas, Oxney Bottom, it is grade II listed, but is abandoned.

So, we set off on the usual path across the fields, and the dried beans are still in place!

I thought the piglets might have gone to market by now, but they were still there, and growing up quickly as we witnessed one young boar try to mount his sister! naughty piglets!

The harvest is in, fields have been spread with manure, mountains of hay and silage lay in fields and in barns ready for the lean winter months ahead.

Into the woods north of Windy Ridge, and after passing a group of joggers we take a wide path down towards the Deal road.

We met another walker who though the church was still accessible, but admitted he had not been there since the start of the year.

Indeed, as we walked down towards Oxney, we could see a new fence had been put right across the whole width of the wood. I think I saw the area through the trees where the church was, but it was out of reach.

A same that a listed building should be closed off from people. But then this is the land that dreamed up the enclosure act.

At least the sunlight falling through the still green covering of green leaves was cool in the warm sunshine.

With that, we turned for home.

It was just after eleven, which means we have 11 more hours to fill until bed time, with only a Wales football game to look forward to! I say that, but I am never bored, but even still it is interesting to see that once I have caught up with my snaps, and there are no churches nor orchids to go and photograph, there are huge amounts of time to fill. And fill with listening to music, writing blogs, reading, or sitting in the warm sunshine. Oh yes, the sunshine: despite being September, the afternoon was beyond war, too warm in fact to sit outside.

And the afternoon slips by: we have coffee, eat a lemon tart or two. But by four, it was cool enough to do some more walking. Walk to where, I hear you ask. Well, just along the lane to harvest some elderberries so we could make some wine.

We had seen some as we walked by in the morning, but when we came to pick them, we saw that many had already gone over, so we began snipping. Soon we had collected seven pounds of ripe berries; but once back home came the task of stripping them from the stalks, so we could make the mash. It seems like a straightforward task, but it went on forever. Well, 90 minutes anyway. Jools did the first stint, before she went to visit Nan, and then I took over, taking in breaks so I could prepare dinner, chorizo hash. Jools finished off the elderberry stripping when she came back, just in time as dinner was cooking with just the paprika friend potatoes only to do. We even had a bottle of 2011 vintage elderberry wine with dinner, which was mighty, mighty strong.

We then had to search through the house and shed for the wine making equipment and supplies, finding that the yeast was three years out of date, but looked OK. So, fingers crossed. We mash up the berries, add the water and will add the yeast in the morning when the mash has cooled.

But what is this, nine in the evening, where did the day and the weekend go?