I have always loved this time of year. As a child, whilst September meant the end of the summer holidays it also meant the start of the rugby season and I considered that was a fair price to pay for spending hours working my way through Chaucer or drawing Ox-bow lakes. If early spring is the hungry period then surely late summer is the period of full bellies. There is an abundance of food available at this time of year, some of it is even free (think blackberries). But September can be a month of contradictions. The two photos above illustrate this point perfectly: The tomatoes were picked from the tiny garden of Corner Cottage and they are to me the symbol of a fine summer yet it was so chilly last night that the only option was toad in the hole!
