Home Again

I'm back home again after spending five weeks in Suffolk. Happily my son is recovering well and as long as he's sensible and does his physio exercises all should be well.

East Anglia is very flat so it's a marvellous place to see sunsets and sunrises. This was taken one evening from one of the lanes near my son's home.

Autumn is on its way but not as advanced as it is here a couple of hundred miles further north. In Suffolk there are still lots of wild flowers growing in the grass verges along the lanes.This pretty pink flower is field bindweed.

The hedgerows were thick with blackberries and they were really sweet too - I tested a good many during my daily walks:)

Suffolk and Norfolk are still very rural and the farming is largely arable. The farm next door to Neil and Cesca grows wheat, rape and sugar beet which is in the foreground of this photo. The fields further away have been recently harvested but not yet ploughed and I think it was wheat growing there.

The September Harvest Moon when it was new - a beautiful sight.

The huge acorns of the Turkey Oak with their long mossy bristles. It took me a while to discover what type of oak tree this is as I've never seen one before.

Shaggy Ink Cap mushrooms growing on the grass verge outside Neil's house.

I think these are White Bryony berries twining round the tree.

There were lots of lovely seedheads along the lanes,Cesca made a lovely arrangement using these and some Chinese Lanterns - I didn't think to take a photo of it though!

The highly poisonous but very beautiful berries of 'Lords and Ladies' - it's proper name is Arum maculatum and it's a common plant in the woods and hedgerows of England and Wales.

In the later part of my stay when Neil was able to walk a short distance we took the boys to Thornham Walks which has a lovely play area, lots of interesting woodland walks and plenty of places for Neil to sit and rest when he needed to. Gabriel and George love this Leaf Chair.

The local church is one of the round tower churches that are found almost exclusively in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Sadly St Andrew's was heavily 'restored' in the Victorian era so there is little of interest inside in spite of the fact that the tower and nave are Norman and there is mention of a church in this village in the Domesday Book. One of the few remaining medieval features is the 14th century piscina in the chancel.

This is the south aisle which had been recently decorated for Harvest Festival I think, this is by far the most attractive and interesting part of the church. On the left is the shaft and lower half of the bowl of the 15th century font which has now been replaced by a far less attractive modern version. Behind the font are the rood loft stairs. Since they start quite a way up the wall it rather looks as though either the floor levels have altered since the Reformation in the 16th century or, more likely in this case I think, there may have been a wooden stage giving access to the stairs.

There were two gravestones in the interior of the church one hidden by a piece of carpet, this one I found interesting as it is written entirely in Latin which seems to me to be quite unusual. My Latin is distinctly rusty but the grave is the final resting place of John Hobart born 3rd July 1605 and died in 1673. I rather think that his parents Sir John and Lady Barbara Hobart are buried in London in the church of St Botolph Bishopsgate - as it happens a great many of DH's ancestors are also buried there!

The view from my bedroom window - this was ploughed and harrowed during the time I was there and will now be sown probably with winter wheat. Hopefully I shall get round to commenting on blogs during this week and be back posting regularly. Thank you all so much for your concern and good wishes for Neil, it was greatly appreciated.