More autumn colour

Here are some photos I've taken over the last couple of weeks of the continuing colour in the garden. We had our first frost yesterday and a low of 1.1C (brrrr!) so the dahlias are blackened, but the nasturtiums and other not frost hardy plants have survived - for the moment - although I don't see any more frost forecast for the next week, just lots more rain. So at least I can look out of the window at some of the remaining flowers! 

This was on 25th October when my Forest Pansy still had lots of
leaves on it - now there are only about a dozen left.

A lone Coneflower opens amongst a mass of dead stalks and seedheads!
What a brave little flower.

I think I like this time of year for the Hydranges best - they still have
that great fading colour with the first hints of skeletonised petals.

Lacecap Hydrangea with the Mophead in the background.

Liquidambar with a crane fly.

The veg patch is a weedy mess even though I did manage a bit of hoeing - but if I get the
angle right you can't see too many of them and the kale looks great with dew on it.

It's also a great macro subject but I didn't have anything dry to kneel on
so couldn't get too close to those droplets this time. :-)

Some trees which don't have particularly pretty colours can still look great
when the sun is shining on them - this is my purple leafed sycamore.

Of the fruit trees, this peach, and also the cherries can look quite colourful.

The best of course are the non-natives like my Liquidambar.
If you look full screen you can see a sunbathing fly and a hoverfly.
This isn't a bug post, but they are often there....

What a difference between its dropped leaf and the boring brown ones!

The top of the Liquidambar is much redder than the rest of the tree, and blow me down, I had no
idea there was a damselfly in this shot (bottom left) until I zoomed in on my monitor -
4th November and it's a Western Willow Spreadwing. Not bad!

I do have some critters to share as there are still a few insects around. Hopefully I'll get my act together to post them soon, as from Wednesday, my treatment starts. I am facing 5 weeks and 3 days of radiotherapy 5 days a week! On those days I take chemo pills; thankfully these are taken at home so there's no hanging around having it via drip at the hospital. Having to go there so often is going to be pretty tiring and time consuming, never mind the potential side effects from the treatment. I'll keep you posted even if I don't have much in the way of photos to share. I suppose one good thing is that this particular chemo drug is not one that makes you lose your hair....although it might thin. Well, we'll see. I had quite fancied a wig..... :-)

Hope you are all well and again I'll try now to catch up with your blogs and see what you have been up to! :-) xx