a quiet week

For me anyway, though it was back to work and then some for Martyn, who has had to cover for a missing colleague, losing his usually free Wednesday daytime. His car has now gone in for repair, and he is swanning around in a rather smart VW Passat, paid for by the insurers of the bus that wiped itself along the side of Egg2. When I drove the Passat, which has much the same engine and transmission as my car, I noted a hint of the same odd noise that mine makes under load. It wasn't altogether a surprise, then, to get a call from the garage to say that they had tested another like mine and found that it makes the same noise. So it seems not be be a fault so much as a design error. I shall fire off a note to the Obervolkswagnerei and see what they have to say.

Next door's ash tree has shed all its leaves now, I think, and most of them on our back grass as usual. The other neighbour's oak has a bit more dropping to do. I tried the leaf blower/vacuum sweeper on the fallen leaves with some success, but was not unhappy to stop when the rain came on. Once the oak has done its stuff, I'll take a stroll over the grass with the lawnmower. Otherwise, the garden is starting to look rather tired. The echinaceas have all died back, though the last of their rudbeckia cousins are still showing colour. The penstemons have been a bit feeble this year: I think they are protesting at the poor soil. Must get some muck in there next spring, when I may cut them back a little less severely than I did last year. Indoors, Jane's New Guinea busy lizzies are doing well - when I remember to water them. I've taken a few cuttings and put them in water on the kitchen window ledge, and if they show signs of rooting, I'll take a lot more. I know it's only early November, but I'm already starting to ache for the spring so I can start coaxing plants and seeds into life again. True, this year's autumn colours have been unusually spectacular. But to me they just signal the end of the show and the beginning of the long dark months to come.