72 micro-seasons 40

Janey...

Last night's unaccustomed storm blew through, leaving devastation in its salt-blackened wake

Kit...

... and here, after a night of heavy rain, a new watering hole for the cattle in the field opposite. A bag of foraged brambles from the hedgerow beyond means first 

black 'n ap crumble of the season beckons.

Jane...

Purple vetch is king in the hedgerow, crowned in golden hogweed.

Helen...

Heather is smudging the hillsides purple - in the valleys crops ripening yellow. Tonight a wild wind blowing from the west.

Beverley...

Acorns flash bright green between dark leaves; sycamore seeds dangle in clusters like ornaments of old gold.

72 micro-seasons 39

Janey

The meadow grasses on the cliff, cut down last night, warm in the morning sun. Lowering clouds...

Jane...

The first few golden leaves of autumn lie beneath the lush green August trees.

Kit...

From lacy white umbels to clasps of tumbleweed, Queen Anne's tiny dazzling ruby gets lost in seasonal translation.

Beverley...

The big chestnuts on the Green are darkening, as well as rusting at their edges; bright baubles are seen.

Helen...

Climbing roses are fading now - thorny stems break free and sway in the wind.

72 micro-seasons 38

Janey...

The late-summer sounds and scents of harvest. Finally the first blackberries 😊

Kit...

Mid august on Elba 

Hydrangeas are over ... flame red bottlebrush takes to the floor ... and we forage the hedgerows for figs.

Beverley...

The wheat stalks batched in oblong bales are strewn like ritual stones around the field.

Helen...

Sharpness in the early morning air and grasses bent down with dew.

72 micro-seasons 37...

Janey...

Already the late-summer scent of salt and seaweed blowing in...

Helen...

White clouds cling to damp fell tops

Like fleece on fence posts -

Down here, bright rowanberries.

Jane...

Clump upon clump of old nettles stand in proud rows along the lane, their dying flowers drooping as they sway in the wind.

Beverley...

Crows ink blot the shorn barley field; the wheat stands ready for its turn. Elderberries in abundance now.

Kit...

My June-sad runner bean teepee has turned a corner. Those rickety jaundiced limbs now leafy, strong & bean-bearing. Hallelujah!

72 micro-seasons 36

Janey...

'Coed Hedd'

Shy tormentil among the reeds and grasses drifting in the feather breeze

Helen...

Himalayan Balsam - I ought to frown and shake my head at you. But your tunnel of candy floss colour shifting in the breeze lifts my heart.

Kit...

Now cleared of windrows, the field has turned 

opal-fruit-green; cows lie about like liquorice chunks, loving their fresh new blanket.

Jane...

Peace hangs in the thick grey clouds, billows through the trees in the summer wind.

Beverley...

From small tangled basket heads, the Queen Anne Lace stitches itself through the high stalks of blond grasses.

72 micro-seasons 35...

Janey...

What can be spoken of this land of soft greens and grey that is transformed overnight into bright blue and gold...

Jane...

Crocosmia, self-proclaimed new queen, reigns over lupins and astrantia.

Beverley...

Waiting for butterflies. Two Small Whites only. But there are birds in the ash trees and bees in the fading lavender.

Helen...

White rose campion lights the dusk. A dark red Salvia broods quietly.

Kit...

Hogweed heads harden to seed, brambles start to bruise, nettle foot-leaves fade to yellow.