Chestnuts in the Apennines

Chestnuts in the Apennines

Autumn arrived a few weeks ago and we were lucky enough to be in Italy just as the first chestnuts fell. They were the biggest I’ve ever seen, due to the high rainfall this year.

Orchid

Orchid

I’ve been finding the coming of spring very slow. Winter was so long, and a few weeks ago it seemed that spring had arrived at last. The fields in the valley were all suddenly green, and quite a few trees in the woods, but then the weather turned cold again (as it usually does..).

Last of the snow

Last of the snow

Here’s another old photo of mine, also from 2013.

It was taken in the Swiss Alps. I really like the texture.

Thistle

Thistle

Here’s a photo I took in August 2013, high in the Apennine mountains of Italy. It popped up just now as my computer desktop background.

The first daffodils

The first daffodils

I thought it would be nice to use this blog to track the coming of spring, my favourite time of year. So here are the first daffodils. They look a bit odd. Perhaps they are a wild variety.

Snow

Snow

At last we’ve had some snow here today. But it’s wet and thin. So here’s some Swiss snow from a couple of years ago.

Branch

Branch

Look what I found when I sawed through a branch of a tree I cut down.