Sunny afternoon at the end of October

Excellent Autumn blog Shelia and yes it's ever so mild 16 deg with no sense no sunshine but certainly very verŷ mild.

Enjoy your cuppa

Hi Sheila ...Yes... weather is warm and sunny today...
and your garden is looking pretty :o)

Many thanks Scotkat and Terra! 19 degrees here, so lucky.

Love the colours of the Verbena and the Cotinus ... so pretty. I have spent a couple of hours, with breaks in between working, removing the moss from the block-paved patio with a long-handled wire brush tool. No cardi. required as it's so warm!

Hasn't it just been a wonderful warm day Sheila and a perfect gardening one.....there are some lovely colours right now in your garden, I love your Great White cherry
how the leaves hang like plums just before they fall. If I had more room, it would be the first tree I would've planted here. As it is, I have to make do with my Snow Showers and Kojo no mai.....:))

quite colorful

Kojo no Mai is a cracking plant though Janey...spring and autumn, it's superb! I love it's almost purplish autumn tinges, and it's very early spring flowers. Then there's the excellent zig-zag stems during winter....a brilliant plant! Must agree though...Sheila, you do have some wonderful trees in your garden. :) the tree I don't have and would like is Acer Griseum. With Prunus serrula a close second! But who has that much space? To have all the trees I want I would need about 20 acres! I love, love woodland!!

Oh so do I, preferably with a stream running through it - we can all dream! Sheila you still have some real beauties there.

Lovely to hear from you Micky, Shirley and Bathgate.
Janey - Kojo no mai is lovely too!
Karen - you do have room for a woodland area! We have a Prunus serrula too . . . they don't grow too huge.
Thanks Sue - very kind - and wouldn't a stream just be the 'icing on the cake'?!

This is by way of a brief 'farewell' to you my friends . . we are about to escape November, and meet our two little granddaughters in Wanaka, New Zealand, where it will be Spring, and we'll hopefully enjoy the lakes, snow-capped mountains, and maybe even cherry blossom! x

You are leaving a beautiful garden filled with autumn colour behind you but you are in for such a treat!
Hope the travelling goes smoothly and hope you have a wonderful time with your family.

Bless you Chris - thank you very much :))

Enjoy Sheila! :))

Oh, yes Karen, I love Kojo no mai and snow showers and they fit my garden nicely...:))

Oh, have a fabulous holiday Sheila and enjoy your family time XX

Lovely blog Sheila, you have some great colour in there.Enjoy your family time in New Zealand. Safe journeys there and back....very envious!

Many thanks Karen, Janey and Gralew . . . I'll be fine once we get there, have started taking deep breaths already and trying to relax!

Lovely Sheila. Looking forward to pictures of many New Zealand plants . Have a great trip.

Thanks Klahanie. This morning we walked round Christchurch, and it was so sad to see all the ruined buildings - a huge amount of damage was done by the earthquake in 2011. Rebuilding is going to take years. The outskirts don't appear to be so badly affected.

In a day or so we'll visit the Botanic Gardens and I'll certainly do my best to take some good photos.

Sorry to hear about the extend of the damage Sheila. On one side the Nature is beautiful but on the other it can be very brutal and destructive, does not it?

That's right Klahanie. If there are any Goyers from this part of the south island in NZ, my sympathy goes out to them.