Autumn Bits and Pieces

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 And some fungi...

 I think this is an ink cap.

 Not sure what this is. It was very delicate.

 These are my feet, with, hopefully no fungi!

A Stinkhorn, complete with flies. I couldn't smell it but I didn't get that close. The latin name is, unsurprisingly, Phallus Impudicus-which translates as 'Shamelessly Phallic.' It was named in 1753 by    Carl Linnaeus. Apparently, some Victorians, such as Charles Darwin's granddaughter Etty, would cudgel the fungi at dawn, to prevent impressionable young ladies being shocked at the sight of such a phallic object. Poor Stinkhorns!

I thought that this was a puffball, but having read all about Stinkhorns, I think this is the egg of one. Appropriately for Halloweeen, they are called Witch's Eggs! The mushroom bursts up through it overnight, and is soon covered with flies, who walk in the sticky green 'gleba' at the top, and spread the spores via their feet. 

End of the Summer Garden

The sunflowers are as beautiful when they are over as they were when they were blooming. In fact I think I like them more as they dry out and curl up. I have saved a few of them and am leaving the rest up for the birds and squirrels. The other morning there was a group of five blue tits flitting around them.

 This is the only one I have brought indoors so far. It stands in front of a mystery portrait from the boot fair-bought for £1.

 I spent about three hours yesterday clearing this side of the garden. I am going to plant the fuchsias from the pots at the back of this border. The large shrub at the back is a forsythia. It had produced lots of long stems which had reached the ground and begun to root under the shed, the fence and the house at the back. I hacked a lot of it off but it is still warm so it should be OK I think.

 There are still a couple of sunflowers in flower. In amongst the tangle of dead stems. 

 The clematis has produced one more flower. I think I should put this in the ground too. 

Below is the beginning of a project using lots of free cardboard from school. A new smart board was installed in one of the classrooms last week and the boxes are massive. I had to cut it in half to fit in my car. Last time I got hold of one of these, we made a large house in the nursery, which the kids spent a few happy weeks drawing all over and hiding in. Can you guess what I am going to make? I shall reveal more next week.