An Autumn Ramble by the River Lerryn

October has been such a wonderful month regarding the weather - sunshine and blue skies almost every day and with little or no rain; I can't remember when I last had to water my garden containers regularly throughout this autumn month.  And even now, in November, I'm still having to mow the lawns!

On one such day, I visited Lerryn, a picturesque village with its stepping stones across the river and beautiful woodland walks on both sides; this time my walk was along the nearside bank and up through the woods. It's a shame the tide was low, revealing the mud-flats, because the best views of Lerryn are probably when the tidal river is running high, but all the beautiful Autumn colours are definitely looking good right now.

This huge hedge intrigued me - so high and thick, it must take real dedication to keep it so closely trimmed.

Just one of the pretty cottages with a small but equally pretty garden. 

Zooming in on the trees on the opposite bank.

The exposed mud at low tide offers tasty titbits for the wading birds; here a gull and a Little Egret forage for food.

 Just as the entrance to a private property appears, a sharp turn left takes us up through the woods.

At the end of a rather steep climb, the path split - one way curved enticingly round and upwards to the left but I had no idea where it led, or to the right the path started dropping slowly towards the riverside again. Hmmmmm . . I chose to take the easier path downwards - until the gentle slope changed to a steep descent which I decided would be too much of a challenge for my knees!

So I retraced my steps and walked back into the heart of the village where the famous stepping stones were exposed by the low state of the river. However, I resisted the somewhat childish urge to skip gaily across to the other bank, because I just knew that I would slip on the wet mud and end up on my backside in the water!

 And so on to the adjoining little hamlet of Couch's Mill - what a very pretty place it is, too.

 And finally - Caspar, my son and daughter-in-law's cat, who has settled very well into retirement in Cornwall! They are moving from Warwickshire to Cornwall and he is here with me while their new home is found.

This little patch of garden, in the sunlight, is his current snoozing spot!

If he looks a bit cross in this last photo, it's because he was sleeping peacefully until I called him for his photo-shoot.  Sorry, Caspar!