Medlar

Autumn produces two of my favourite fruits; the medlar pictured here, and the quince. The medlar I love because it is such a wonderfully quirky British type of fruit - after all you don't eat it until it 'blets' or rots (it tastes of caramel and is lovely with cheese); and the quince because quite simply it is a wonder of nature. How can such a sour ordinary looking fruit produce such a sublime range of flavour particularly when cut up small and cooked with a little sugar and apple. Divine.

Autumn?

I am not sure that autumn really came at all. But there were a few fabulous colours about - it is my absolute favourite time of year. These leaves of my maple epitomise the glories of the autumn. Berries too are abundant on the hollies around here - but they are not going to last long as the first fieldfares have arrived and will strip them for food, particularly now that most of the hedges have been cut.