#39 - Acorns

This was my three year old's idea - I was trying to coax the once-white dog into the river to wash off all the orange clay and she was busily picking up lime green acorns and arranging them into a semi-circle. "Oh look," I exclaimed, coming up the bank, "you're making a circle!" I was wrong apparently, "It's a acorn rainbow," she corrected me. 

#38 - Common Ivy

We noticed this ivy in the hedge because of its flowers - it was flourishing, the leaves beautifully glossy and exuberant. The children and I collected a few of the leaves and I noticed that they all had a slight twist so they wouldn't lie flat but curled together like a rosette.

#37 - Sweet Chestnut Burrs in Clay

These feel as spiky as they look. Ouch. But doesn't that green sing against the orange clay!

#36 - Fairies in Mud

When we were children we always called these thistle seeds, 'fairies', now I have passed this deeply unscientific habit on to my children. I have been trying to think of a way to photograph them for a while, this little pool of mud, with a polish of clear water on top, seemed a perfect place to throw a handful. The seeds seem to glow ethereally against the matte background of the sediment at the bottom of the pool.

#35 - Grass Through a Beech Leaf

There is something wonderful about the way light comes through leaves but I think beech leaves are particularly beautiful. 

#34 - River Stones

I have found a new favourite place - a stream covered with trembling reflections of trees, with a bed of smooth, water-worn stones. This picture was so much fun to make, I've always wondered why my son picks up stones all the time but it is rather addictive, I was so engrossed I accidentally squatted down in the water and got more wet than I'd planned. Oops. I took this photo from all angles but this one is the one that shows the tiny point of contact between the stones.

#33 - Beechnuts

This Autumn is just so emphatically Autumnal. I can't believe I've never really liked this Season - I associate it with the nights drawing in but the clocks haven't changed yet so I am loving the sunshine and the trees and hedgerows which are bursting with life. Blackberries - scarlet and purple, dusky blue sloes, gleaming hawthorn berries, crimson and orange rosehips, everything is gorgeous. These beechnuts looked so bold in the afternoon sun, their rusty yellow cases glowing gold against the beech's glossy, dark green leaves.