Autumn morning walk in Coombe Wood

There was quite a  nip in the air this morning although the sunshine peeped through for a while.

The freshly dug soil in the flower bed near the entrance looked as if several children had been dancing in it.

The strawberry tree berries are turning redder and their surface is getting rougher. They're quite small - there are several pairs of pine needles draped over them

Evidence of the gardener at work

Perhaps I've been watching too much "Great British Bake Off" - the middles of these yellow flowers remind me of a deep round chocolate cake coated with a smooth icing and the sides have been rolled in chocolate curls. Now I've made myself hungry thinking about it

The pink fluffy plant is very shaggy now

The pink on the outside of these petals is very strong but how delicate the inside is

Two cats joined me for quite a bit of the walk in spite of the fact that I couldn't encourage them by reaching down to  stroke them. I did enjoy stroking them later though, when I found a seat and they joined me there for a while

I like the contrast of smooth shiny stems and fluffy seeds

From the prairie beds looking out at the gardener's wheelbarrow-cart - still no sign of the gardener yet but I can hear the mower

The pampas grass shone white against the dark green backgound

Acer leaves turning red

Zebra grass

The banana flower - another "petal" had fallen onto the ground under the tree

Fallen sweet chestnuts shine in the sunlight

If I hadn't been photographing the acer leaves on the ground I wouldn't have noticed the tiny seed cases among the fallen leaves

Gorgeous orange and red - looking up through the tree

I came to the shrub that had been covered in red heart shaped leaves when I was here last. Most of the leaves had turned brown and fallen off

only a few crinkled leaves remain. What a difference a few days make

Lime green leaves stood out against the evergreens

Looking closer - the stems are red

So many more red spindle-berries opening and showing their orange contents

Contrasting leaves

From a distance these look as if they've been crimped

The red grassess are ridiculously red

Love-in-a-mist pods have dropped most of their seeds

The gardener mowing

 wheelbarrow-cart getting full

Oval berberis berries (I think)

I have no idea what these are or why I haven't noticed them before. They're just next to the yew arch where the sweet peas were - and they're a lovely orange colour with yellow edges

These purple leaves are dying - but what an attractive way to do it. The veins remain dark while the areas in between lose their colour

The prepared flower beds at the top and in the middle are criss-crossed with animal footprints - some look as if they could be badgers - they have long claws, some are small prints of fox or cat. Some may be deer prints

 Red leaves against moss and corrugated roof of the long shelter

Starry Jerusalem sage pods 

New and old together. The old bulrushes from last year are still shedding seeds which are sticking to the new bulrushes

At first glance I thought the seeds had landed on this curly plant but these are their own seeds

They form very neat rows 

Flag iris seeds squashed like sweetcorn kernels

Crazy shapes as they open wider and drop their orange seeds

Thank you very much for joining me