Autumn in the Campi di Sotto at Le Ripe

Quiet Prospects

a handsome hawthorn tree in berry

 Clearing the lower meadows at Le Ripe is a yearly job, as described in 2013. It keeps the brambles and bamboo down, encourages grass and makes for pleasant walks. 

cut and uncut: the work has begun

nameless seed pods, striking red stalks

at this time of year the fields and bushes are filled with diaphanous webs woven horizontally like nets

 Each time we wander down to the river meadows we find something new (partly because we don't go very often but also because nature has a way of springing surprises).

 I used to think that spring was the finest season of the year, but then it is followed by summer which I do not enjoy particularly; autumn instead is almost as beautiful as spring. It has the additional benefit of leading into quiet winter with the prospect of a gorgeous spring still to come.

we plant pyracanthus but there it is, growing wild

three of many hazels thriving down by the river

the magnificent white mulberry, saved from obliteration some years ago by Paolo

the one which does the work

the mowing completed

the freshly-mown track which leads down to the meadows and the river