The woods in Autumn are one of my most favourite places to be. It's such a sensory experience – a wonderful rich smell of damp earth; a rustling sigh as hundreds of leaves part company with the trees at the slightest breeze and a sparkling quality to the light as the low-angled sunlight is shimmered through all of the leaves still clinging fast. There are good things to eat too. I'm not confident enough to gather mushrooms but a handful of sweet chestnuts or blackberries instantly evokes childhood memories of autumn Sunday afternoons spent foraging in the woods with my Mum, Dad and brother. I do love being out in the woods on a bright autumn day.
Sadly though Toby seems to have gone off wood walks at the moment. He's been getting rather agitated when I've shown him the PECs card for the woods and biting his hand a lot (you can see it's badly calloused in the picture below). I did manage to coax him out with custard cream biscuits for one rather short stroll over this half term break but he was keen to get back to the car.
Amy walked with me on wednesday afternoon, both of us with our cameras in hand as she's preparing her coursework for her photography GCSE. We took a lot of pictures because there's lots going on in the autumn woods. We saw mini beasts; snails, butterflies and beetles, tiny fairy-tale porcelain fungus and toadstools and out on an open stretch a muntjac deer was crossing an autumn-sown field and stopping every now and then for a quick nibble of the fresh, green shoots. There was a fair bit of good-natured elbow barging between us over the best position to photograph from and lots of her shots came out better than mine. It was a memorable afternoon out with my lovely girl.
Back at home the late afternoon skies have been crossed with migrating flocks of birds. I love watching them heading south to keep ahead of the colder weather and wonder how far they are journeying.
Autumn is in full flow here and I hope to make it out to the woods lots more before the leaves are all on the ground. Hopefully I'll be able to keep tempting Toby to come out with me and he'll re-discover his woodland mojo.
Pictures taken at:
Amwell nature reserve, Hollywell Lake with the dragonfly meadows and Amwell walkway, September 26th
Bencroft wood, Hertfordshire, October 26th
Panshanger Park and Osprey lake, October 28th
little cotton rabbits 
LOVELY PLACE,NICE PHOTO, HOPE TOBY WILL GO SOON MUST BE HARD FOR HIM.
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amazing photos!!! I miss the seasonal changes a lot!!!
happy weekend, xxxxx Ale
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What gorgeous photos, especially the close-ups, the mushrooms, the beechnut and the butterfly are fantastic, and the winged creature is an absolutely phenomenal picture. Sorry that Toby has gone off the woods a bit, I hope you are able to tempt him back. They really are looking sensational at the moment. CJ xx
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Don’t you think the autumn colours are extra pretty this year. I’ve been tempted out too with my camera several times, and the children despair of me pointing to yet another beautiful fiery tree! Your photos are beautiful. So sorry that Toby isn’t enjoying the walks as much as he used to and hoping he gets back into them soon!
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such lovely photos. I hope Toby’s love of the woods will return x
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These photos are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing them with us xoxo
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Oh my, such beautiful photos. My daughter is also taking gcse photography this year. She claims she can’t do coursework outside of school.
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The pictures are stunning. You are so talented!! Thanks for sharing them.
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Thank you for sharing these gorgeous, stunning and super amazing photos! Love the snail!
xoRobin
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Wonderful photos. I live in Texas in the USA where we don’t have fall color. I am originally from a far northern state where fall color was abundant. I miss it. Your photos help to fill the gap.
Thank you also for sharing with us aspects of your son’s life. It helps all of us to be more caring and understanding of families with special needs family members.
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Wow, Julie, what fabulous photographs! You (and Amy) are talented! We recently moved to Bath from London and are enjoying the countryside and the changing seasons. I love autumn too. So beautiful. Hope Toby rediscovers his woodland mojo soon and that his hand gets better.
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Absolutely beautiful photos Julie! What a shame Toby has lost his love of the woods but so glad you had Amy as your companion. Hopefully it’s just a phase with Toby and he’ll get back there soon!
Have a lovely weekend,
V X
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Beautiful photographs, Julie. Who took the dragonfly one – you or Amy? It’s a stunner. I love the bright green new grass against the dark earth in the fields and the lovely little muntjac. Sorry to hear Toby hasn’t been so keen to walk this Autumn, hope it’s only a blip and he’ll want to do it again soon.
Julie :o)
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Your pictures are amazing, beautiful! I imagine your walk with Amy as my daughter is the same age. It’s so good to have such time together, and you are sharing the same talent of photography – that’s really great. Best wishes for Toby!
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Beautiful photographs of stunning countryside – the colours really are fabulous this year.
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Those photos are amazing and love the autumnal colours. Many parts of Australia experience the colours of Autumn but where I live we never see that visual change. It just gets cooler! At the moment we are in the middle of Spring and I so love the Jacaranda trees in their full lavender beauty. We had some storms this week and lots of the blossoms were blown off the tress creating a beautiful purple carpet underneath! So pretty! (Hope you got my emails on Bowie’s safe arrival.)
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So beautiful. Thanks for the visual treat and sharing your special moments with us.
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Absolutely beautiful!!! And…your area looks just like East Tennessee!!! Thanks for sharing your walk. Hugs to Amy and Toby.
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Great photos. You really have an artistic eye.
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Loving the Autumn photographs, particularly the teazels.l hope Toby feels able to reconnect with the woods, for his sake and for yours as it obviously gives you so much peace and pleasure.
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Beautiful pictures and I do so love those woods……
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Fabulous photos Julie. I hope you can tempt Toby out soon. It cannot be easy for you.
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Such beautiful photos, especially the first two – don’t beeches just go the most gorgeous colours? I took a similar walk myself a couple of weeks ago, and took loads of photos leaves and light and berries and mushrooms, conkers and snail shells. It made me laugh a little so see how similar our subjects were, although I must say your photos are much better!
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Oops! That link didn’t work. This one should https://goo.gl/photos/nWN6jnuReS8t3RuH7
Those wonderful rolling fields too – I do love autumn.
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Sorry – me again!
I wondered what camera you have? I only have the camera on my iPhone but as I enjoy taking photos so much I want to get a proper camera. Yours looks like it copes very well in lower light as well as in good light – the woodland photos are all so beautifully colour saturated, whereas mine are dark and washed out.
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Wow Julie. Your photos are just gorgeous! I love this time of year and you’ve captured it beautifully!!!
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Beautiful photographs. I especially love the little mushrooms and the butterfly.
My daughter has just completed her GCSEs and so any time spent with her feels quite precious as she has friends that she would far rather be with.
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Such beautiful pictures. They made me feel as if I were there. Thank you for sharing with us.
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Beautiful photos. I hope Toby gets out to enjoy the autumn.
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Amazing photos Julie! X
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These photographs have cheered me so much this morning Julie. It’s lovely to have the time to visit your blog again (I’ve given myself an easy-isn week this week). That picture of the muntjac! What an exciting few minutes it must have been watching him cross the field.
It must be tough to have fewer walks now Toby’s finding them hard.
I do hope we can meet in the next few months
Emma
x
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Your pictures are so moving…I’m inclined to think that all this beauty is in the way you look at things . Thanks so much for Sharing !
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Gorgeous photos and you have such an artistic eye! Thanks for sharing and I hope Toby joins you on your woodland walks again soon!
I messaged you awhile ago but not sure if you have messenger on Facebook?
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Super photos – I agree, woods are always wonderful but particularly in the autumn.
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I am sad to read that Toby doesn’t like walking in the woods any more. Poor boy, he must be suffering a lot for biting his hands that way. I hope you will manage to make him decide to go with you another time as the woods are beautiful, your photos and your daughter’s are gorgeous! Anne
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So beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
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Lovely colors in all the pics! Very enjoyable.
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Lovely photographs! Gorgeous Autumn days!
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