November weather a treat

This year's November's weather has been a welcome treat. Now, with the month drawing to a close, the time has come to remind members that volunteers are needed to hang the evergreen boughs and add the strings of Christmas lights that make the bandstand so attractive over the festive season. The fun (it isn't really work) will begin at 11 AM on Saturday, November 28th. Once the bandstand has been dressed, everyone who has helped with the decorating will be invited to adjourn to a neighbouring house for mulled wine and nibbles.

As a follow-up to the last blog, we are herewith posting a few photos taken in late November. The apples shown above are growing on a tree that is well over a century old. The many windfalls from this tree and its neighbours have proved popular with flocks of ducks who fly in from the cove waters for their refreshments every day. They are sometimes joined by a few crows or seagulls and, even occasionally, a pheasant. The shrub in the photo beneath is a Hamamelis virginiana. Its spidery yellow blossoms open late in the autumn as the leaves fall.

What began as a "volunteer" sapling in a bed crowded with hardy geraniums, located in the Chester Basin area, has matured into an unidentified species of crab apple (see below). This is the first year that so much fruit has appeared. To date the birds and the deer have declined to partake of the bounty. Perhaps they will be hungrier later in the season.


Please remember this date - November 28. Dress warmly and come to help decorate the village bandstand; the strings of lights and evergreen boughs will be provided by the club.
_________________________________________________________________