The clocks go back tonight. This always brings to mind a surreal conversation years ago with my mother-in-law & her sister, as we drove them back home.

My m-i-l was watching a flock of birds flying overhead on their way to roost, which prompted this comment from her “Oh, the clocks go back tonight, don’t they? That must really confuse the birds – how do they manage?”

My husband managed to muffle a snort of laughter and as her comment sank in, I was close to biting the steering wheel whilst trying to think of how to respond when, as I thought, Aunty Lyd,  ‘the sensible one’ (or so we assumed) saved us by exclaiming “Oh, don’t be silly, Gwen!”. 

“Ah”, I mused, “a bit harsh perhaps, but Lyd’ll set her straight.”

“No, Gwen” continued Lyd, with great assurance, “you’ll see, they’ll get used to it in a few days!”
I don’t think husband or I were capable of coherent speech for the rest of the journey!

Today produced a couple of rather different memorable moments. We popped to a local gallery at Bevere to see a friend on her first day in her new studio at the Yew Trees Artist Studios there. Karen does beautiful and innovative fused glass work and we wish her every success with it. One of her lovely Kandinsky-ish pieces has been on the wall beside me for a while now and continues to delight. 

The other memorable aspect was just the sheer pleasure of the emerging autumn colours as we pottered locally on the way there and back. For once, I just absorbed them rather than taking pictures. I’ll need to summon up that internal autumnal glow to see me through the coming winter months!