Wednesday, November 01, 2006

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

If global warming means the leaves stay on the trees – so be it!  I know only too well who is going to be sweeping these little suckers into neat  piles and then transferring the neat piles into my rubber container and thence  round the whole of the outside of the house, through the garage to the large green plastic container by the front gate.  By the time I’ve burnt up all those calories – after the week I’ve had - I reckon its double wine and chocolate tonight!  It’s an ill wind!

‘That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves. or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.’

George Bernard Shaw

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not many of our leaves have fallen yet, though I expect the temperature drop this morning will speed things along. Also, we have one of those garden vacs that the husband uses 'cause it's pretty heavy, so I'll have to think of something else for a choc treat. I do compost all the leaves into leaf-mould though which is lovely stuff to dig into the garden.

granny p said...

One of the advantages of living in a place without trees - only the odd evergreens. No leaves. Raking them up is not a task I miss. even if, sometimes, I miss real autumns. And, sorry Pat - that ain't GBS - it's a Shakespeare sonnet. Sorry to be pedantic - but this one kind of is my job... and "bare ruined choirs" is a phrase has always eaten into my heart. It makes me think of certain, ruined people I once knew.

Pat said...

Polly: composting is good. I hereby grant you dispensation and thus you have earned yourself a choc treat.

Grannyp: what would I do without you? You are completely right of course and I am an idiot. I'm preaently browsing a dictionary of quotations- which is one of my more pleasant occupations, and Shakespeare is on page 286 and Shaw at the bottom of page 287 which is no excuse at all. I've read enough of both to know the difference. Let's see if anyone else spots it. Tee! Hee!

Dr Maroon said...

I’ve been keeping up, just not commenting. They call it lurking, and it’s the perfect word for it.
It’s funny you mention the leaves, because up here a lot of trees didn’t go through the nice changing colours bit, but have sort of shrivelled and gone blackish and then fallen or just stayed stuck, which is odd. We did have a long good summer so the poor things probably don’t know where they are.

It could've been Shaw, which just shows what a plagerist the old beardy must have been.

Pat said...

Doc M: I must be thankful then, that at least our leaves are pretty. Years ago I found it amusing when I saw a grounds man shake his fist skywards as he was raking leaves in a Welsh wind. Now I understand!

apprentice said...

Yes it's Baltic here so they will start to chage now, something about the sugar in the leaves. But they ae largely being blasted off the boughs. Elm seem to be the best colour this year the few that survived Dutch Elm Disease. Front garden it littered with leaves from over the road, so far the path is relatively clear.

Pat said...

apprentice: I wass going north whilst you a were coming south. I'll wave next time.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

The one time I saw autumn leaves I scruched my feet through them, they had the smell of mint, mmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

They're called leaves for a reason.

If you want to burn calories, drink pints.

FOUR DINNERS said...

They might stay on't trees but apparently they'll be a bit soggy as we'll all be under a few fathoms soon.

Pat said...

andrewm: leaves - ah yes! Pints -calories - I don't think so!

4d; fortunately we live on a hill:)