Golden Autumn in Normandy

 The colours of Autumn never stop amazing me. As well as the good maintenance of country lanes, presumably a favour to the farmers.

This is a petit chemin between Saint Christophe de Chaulieu and Pont d'Egrenne.

A Young Couple under Golden Arches.

A young couple walking through the golden gallery of Autumn trees near the Vire railway station (Gare SNCF) in Lower Normandy.

Here, I liked how the sharp yellow line on the road was playing with the soft yellows of autumnal leaves.

 

A Late Cep

 Around us, in Lower Normandy, mushrooms keep going longer and later than anywhere else.

Here is a cep I found on a walk near the end of October.

A Misty Morning

A misty morning in October, near Maisoncelles la Jourdan, Calvados

 

October bounty!

Ceps! 

At last, after a long  Summer and Autumn with no mushrooms at all, a great find — a bunch of juicy ceps! 

Having a sumptuous meal tonight.

 

Blackberries and brambles.

Actually, I was clearing brambles around the garden.

And it produced enough of blackberries for a sumptuous pudding!

 

Armistice Shadows and Black Dog.

 

On a country road near Chaulieu.

Near October 2020 Halloween

 

In the evening, I thought I saw two faces in the cloud formation, as though furiously shouting at each other.

 

Why do the nations so furiously rage together, from Handel's Messiah — 

Late Autumn Mushrooms.

I picked this crop of red-cracked bolets on 28 November! They popped up in a place where I don't usually expect to find many mushrooms, not the good ones. And so late in Autumn.

Many mushroom pickers ignore them in favour of ceps and bolets. However their caps, while young, in my opinion are almost as good as ceps.

These went into a quick fry-up!

A Snail and a Sunset

A sunset after a rainy day. They come out in numbers —

Normandie en automne. Un cèpe du jour.

At last, a few days of rain and sunshine and the mushrooms have appeared. Here's a cep (penny button) from today's catch.

Enfin, la saison de champignons est arrivée! Les Cèpes d'hier sont déjà consommés, voici celui d'ajourdhui. Et vous n'enviez pas! 

Наконец прошли дожди и появились первые грибы. Вчерашние белые уже слопали, вот сегодняшний. А вы не завидуйте!

Photo ©A.Anichkin

Golden Autumn (2014)

On a walk at la Fosse Arthourm near Sain-Georges-de-Rouelley, Southern Manche (50720).

It's a beautiful day today but I am too busy to go out for plein air etudes, and decided to publish a few photos from last year. Fosse Arthour is a small park/nature reserve with a picnic area and a few nice walks.

King Arthur is somewhere there, but he's everywhere, isn't he?

Flying Snails.

Right, snails flying around. Perhaps it's time to wash the windows.

Golden Autumn.

An evening walk near St.Christophe de Chaulieu. You can see me walking by the first tree on the left.

The light in Normandy, it's fantastic.

In the second picture, my retriever Strelka faces off a stray cow.

Les vaches de Normandie — Norman cows.

Yesterday on a country road. Cows marching for the morning milking session, around 10 o'clock. The farmer's wife is at the back, urging the cows on. He is somewhere at the head of the procession. 

Note the huge udder in th first photo. Stone crosses with crucifixes are at every crossroad in our parts.

Normandy: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

A country road in Normandy, near Chaulieu on the Manche-Orne border. 

As Keats was writing two hundred years ago —
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, 
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun...

A Morning in September.

A view of the valley near the river Egrenne, Normandy.

'Morning,' by Edvard Grieg  -

A Church spire in the mist.

The spire of eglise Saint-Anne in Vire, Calvados, is covered in the morning mist.

Photo by ©Alexander Anichkin.

A Dog Walk in the Bocage.

A typical sunken lane in Norman Bocage. 

Farmers look after them. They protect fields from erosion, give timber and firewood and provide habitat for wild birds and animals.

And they are simply beautiful.

Dogs from left to right: Strelka (a Golden male), Nala (Golden female) and Leroy (English Setter cross.)

First fire of the Autumn.

Lit the fire today for the first time this Autumn, it's not really cold, but so grey and rainy, wanted to cheer up a bit.