Monday morning - Autumn abundance (Coombe Wood)

I added a couple of extra layers and wore boots today and was a lot more comfortable than I was on Saturday (although I could only just do the boots up as my ankles and feet are very swollen).

A late and very vivid primula peeping out from among the foliage by the pond. Each flower centre looking like a pearl.

Lovely clear water today. 

A very orange fish swimming among the reflections. 

Cyclamens popping up everywhere. 

Mossy rock. 

Abundance of berries. 

Seeds.

Eryngiums turning rust coloured. 

 Looking closer at the grass seeds

and even closer.

There are still more little white daisy-like flowers coming out - completely covering the foliage of this plant.

Thready pale pink flowers.

Rich colours.

The middle opened in circles and are dying off in circles too making new patterns.

This one has dried up - I hope I get the chance to see the seeds forming on some of them. 

Papery Love-in-a-mist seed pods with their characteristic frondy bits underneath - they're very brittle now.

Pink Michelmas daisies?

 Most of these flowers are leaning over now.

Some of the seed heads are very strange shapes. 

Rings - and curls. 

When the petals fall off they leave middles looking like textured eggs.

Looking closer at these pods - fabulous shapes and colours. 

Bees making the most of the flowers. 

I can't resist having a closer look at the middles of the various flowers again - such wonderful shapes and textures.

Each of the tiny bits in the centre is a tiny flower and has its own stamens and pollen. The bees circle systematically to collect all the available pollen.

Some of the bees are incredibly fluffy. 

This flower head looks like one big flat flower but each bobble is the centre of an individual flower which has a little circle of petals around it and each centre is made up of lots of tiny flowers as well. 

No so many flowers left on these now - but still looking fabulous floating on their slender stems way above all the other plants.

A closer look at the pod that is turning into a berry.

Yellow daisy like flowers are still going strong. 

Hoverfly with a yellow underside. 

All these wonderful different shapes - each has a purpose.

I love all the colours and structures. 

Aquilegia pods

Delicate little flowers above those lovely leaves with deep pink central veins and pink stained areas.

While photographing the amazing Korean pine cones I noticed several spiders webs nearby.

The spiders have created a delicate veil which looks as if it's pleated in places.

Beauty berries (Callicarpa) 

I could hear the mower - and caught sight of the gardener through the trees - what neat stripes.

Ivy flowers. 

The shape of the petals makes a star in the middle - a lot of flowers have stars hidden (or not so hidden) within their structure.

Bright blue flowers underneath them. 

Another look at a starry middle. 

 More of the spindle berries are turning red now. 

The tree surgeon hasn't been to deal with the big branch that has fallen from the beech tree yet.

Teasels

 Plump Crocosmia seeds. 

Tall yellow daisy like flowers, zebra grass and shorter yellow flowers.

 Fluffy explosion of thistle seeds. 

Wide flat stripy insect (hoverfly). 

Floaty frondy Cosmos foliage 

Fluffy bee with pollen grains caught in its hairs. 

Cosmos flowers - buds are still forming. 

The vine-like plant scrambling all over the twiggy supports is flowering more profusely now.

Seed heads with delicate purple stems. 

These flowers are absolutely tiny. 

A fish broke the surface of the water sending ripples right across the pond, making wonderful patterns.

Thank you very much for joining me.