The autumn winds have been rustling through the garden and feeding the embers. Glimpses of red, orange and yellow are sparking into life across the landscape and also in  some of my potted shrubs that haven’t been watered quite as regularly as they would have liked and have decided to call it a day early (sorry Oak-leaved Hydrangea).

On the first weekend of October the nation went barbeque mad! One major supermarket reportedly sold 3.5 million sausages and 10 million bottles of beer and seaside towns like Skegness were inundated with day-trippers determined to make the most of the Indian summer. Well, Indian weekend at least! The slightly manic feeling seemed to reflect the frustration of a nation still waiting for summer and knowing that, actually, we were well on the way to the next season.