Autumnal walk in Balbirnie

A couple of days ago I was walking under a maple tree when a teeny wee gust of wind appeared, for all of two seconds, and it seemed like about two hundred leaves fluttered around me and to the ground. I realised that it wouldn’t be long before all the autumn colour was gone and the trees would be bare. So it was lucky that a week earlier I had taken some photos on my phone, while taking some much-needed exercise.

acer , Balbirnie trees, Fife

autumn leaves , Balbirnie, Fife,trees

As you can see from the shadows it was a lovely sunny day, perfect for catching the autumnal shades.

autumn leaves, Balbirnie, Fife, trees

autumnal Tree, Balbirnie, Fife,

As ever, click on the photos if you want to see them enlarged.

autumnal Trees, Balbirnie, Fife

Normally at this time of the year the air is full of those I think attractive, dampish leafmould/fungi scents, but our unusually mild weather seems to have kept them away for the moment – more global warming probably. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed stretching your legs with me!

autumnal trees, Balbirnie, Fife

An Autumn Walk

Put your virtual walking shoes on and join me on my morning walk for the Guardian in rural Fife.

Autumn Trees

We’ve had so much rain recently, it’s very wet underfoot and my expensive wellies didn’t last long before the heel split so for me it’s a wet walk eventually as the dampness penetrates my two pairs of socks, at least virtual walkers don’t have that to contend with! I refuse to buy another pair of expensive but useless wellies.

Autumn Trees

The trees are probably at their best just now, soon the leaves will be battered to the ground by rain or wind.
Autumn Trees

Autumn Trees

It’s not only the trees that are providing interest at the moment, various fungi are doing their thing too. It has been a great year for them due to the very wet summer we had; puffballs appeared in my garden in June, they’re a pain in the neck.

mushrooms

I think these ones are Cantharellus cibarius, apparently edible but I’d be too scared to try them just in case they’re poisonous.

mushrooms , fungi

I think the one below is Grifola frondosa, edible but with a mouse-like smell!

fungus

I think the one below is a Coprinus comatus, edible unless the gills have started to liquefy! The camera didn’t pick it up but this one looked really beautiful as the raindrops encased all around it like diamonds and pearls, but even better.

mushrooms , fungi

Back to the path and the acers are looking grand.

acers

acer, Japanese Maple, autumn

acer, Japanese maple

Walking under the trees here is special and I can see why doctors have started to prescribe patients a course of woodland walks to help their mental health.

autumn trees

There aren’t quite enough leaves here to dance along while scuffing through them, I’ll have to wait a bit for that harmless but daft bit of seasonal fun. I hope you enjoyed your walk with me.

autumn leaves

Scenery in Perthshire, Scotland

Last week we pointed the car north to Perthshire, just because it was a gorgeous blue sky day and we wanted to grab it while we could, before the cold days of winter set in. Again I was looking for some autumn colour.

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I managed to snap all of these photos from the car, of course Jack was driving!

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The fields still have their rolls of hay in them, maybe not as romantic looking as a haystack though, if you’re of that turn of mind.

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You can see the beautiful Perthshire hills in the distance.

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And a wee bit closer.

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Some rather ancient and dilapidated farm buildings, quite scenic looking as you go past.

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Civilisation – after a fashion! This is the outskirts of a wee place called Logierait, on the way to Aberfeldy. We would go to Dunkeld later, but I’ll keep that for another time.

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An Autumn Walk in Fife

Whether it’s referendum or election results that get you down, you can always rely on nature to brighten your mood, so get out into the great outdoors if you can, and if you can’t then come on a short walk with me.

aTrees 1

Annoyingly you can see my shadow in the one below.

aTrees 2

aTrees 3

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It was when we were coming back from our usual morning walk for the newspaper on a beautiful day last week I wished I had brought the camera with me. But the good tree colour that I wanted to capture before it disappeared was just a short hop from our place, so it was easy to go home and pick up the camera.

The photo below is looking down to the Balbirnie burn, it doesn’t look it but it’s quite far down a steep embankment.

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aTrees 10

In fact these are some of the trees that I often photograph from a spare back bedroom.

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There are some old farm buildings nearby.

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It’s shame you can’t catch the lovely scent of autumn, but I hope the photos blew some of your cobwebs away – if you have any!

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