Gorgeous Autumn colour

It's been one of those glorious 'warm enough without a coat' kind of days.  Or maybe we are just a tough breed up north. The sun has shone pretty much all day. We got up quite early and headed over to the farmers market in Northallerton to buy some cheese and good sausages off the market stalls.  My cheeses of choice were Lemon Crumble and some more sticky toffee.  Tony chose a sheep's cheese and a fancy cheddar.  We ate the lemon crumble cheese as soon as we got home. I'll certainly buy that again.  While in Northallerton I bought loads of fresh veg off the market stall. I've never eaten bulb fennel before so we bought one to try.  Any suggestions on how to cook it would be gratefully received.  On our way through Northallerton high street we called into a proper butcher's shop and stocked up on some rather lovely meats and a couple of  individual  'three bird roasts'. I am fed up with buying meat and chicken that's been pumped full of water and chemicals at the supermarket and from now on we plan to buy our meat at good butchers.  It's considerably more expensive but it's a cost we are happy to pay. It's not like we eat huge quantities of meat as I always stretch it till the pips squeek. We picked up a 25kg sack of potatoes for £7.  The man selling them had three different varieties and he suggested that the tastiest ones had a creamy yellow flesh so that's what we chose.When we got home we had a quick bit to eat and then popped out to get some bark chippings. This afternoon has been spent working outdoors in the garden. It looks so pretty with all the Autumn colour.  I finally gave in a dug the dahlias out as we don't know when the weather will be decent enough to garden again this year. I've covered the area with cardboard and bark chippings and it looks really neat and tidy.   

This gorgeous Acer shows the most beautiful colour this time of year. The leaves turn even redder than this before they all drop off. It looks stunning against the yellow leaves of the new variegated privet that I planted in November last year.  I can hardly believe that almost a year has gone by since I planted it.

I've stopped feeding the fish but they do still come to the surface and beg. We have eight fish in total and I can spend hours just sitting gazing at them in the pond.  The pond pump will be switched off for the winter as soon as we get a frost warning

My friend gave me a piece of her gorgeous silver leaved soft as velvet plant that had broken off in the wind.  She thought  I might like to see if it would root... it has.  I think it's called Angel Wings... you may tell me otherwise.

Look at the way the Acer contrasts with the hedge.  This time next year that hedge will be starting to look like a proper hedge as it thickens up

Last year I left the seed heads on the sunflowers so that the birds could feed on them.. they didn't so I have cut them off and will put the seeds on the bird table once it dries.  I'll keep a few back to plant next year as this was a really sturdy plant with huge heads.  I didn't actually plant it, it just popped up in the garden. I do love a free plant