Ah, November. The month I dislike the most. With the changing of the clocks the days become shorter with sun sets around 16:30 by the end of the month. I keep on thinking that it won’t be long until the shortest day and then the light will last just that bit longer each day. Bird food has been hung out and the garden is full of the little birds that seem to hide in the summer.
On 12 November I decided to pop over to Godrevy and have lunch in the little café there before having a walk on the beach at low tide. The sun was shining although it was a little windy and cool, but I was looking forward to the walk. However, in the space of 15 minutes the weather changed and big black clouds came swiftly in from the south bringing fat raindrops. I managed to get a couple of photos before deciding to give the walk a miss and head home. Ahead of me rain. Behind me rainbows. And on arriving home the sky turned an incredible orange beneath black clouds accompanied by thunder and lightning!
On Wednesday 21st I was woken by a noise at 05:30 and on getting up to investigate I noticed that a waxing gibbous moon was setting. I watched as the plump yellow disc, like a round of cheese, slipped below the hill. No photo I’m afraid. My camera is not that good! Later I awoke to find frost on the ground.
This month I decided to wander down to the woodland which is about a mile from where I live. I normally find it quite gloomy and there are no nice paths to tread. But I wanted to see if I could capture some of the turning leaves before they were all blown away.
On the way I managed to find a few bits and pieces in the hedgerow including Betony, lots of nettles, Red Campion, bramble flowers, ferns, Navelwort and several umbellifers including flowering wild carrot.
The woodland was carpeted in brown leaves from the oaks and beech trees and reasonably dry, much to my surprise after all the rain. Bark textures, copper and gold leaves, bare tree limbs and colourful lichens caught my eye. My favourite part of winter is seeing the bare trees, the structure of the limbs, the colours of the bark.
The sky was darkening and approaching from across the sea so time to head home. But one last look at Old Man’s beard or Traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba) whose fluffy seed heads scramble over bare branches like garlands of natural fairy lights.
The Changing Seasons | November
Cornwall in Colours 
It’s all out there, if you go looking, isn’t it? Definitely changeable though. Never leave home without a brolly and a warm jumper. 🙂 🙂 I think I probably dislike January/February more but maybe that’s because of my November birthday. I’m always doing stuff then. Jan/Feb dangle promises they don’t often keep. 🙂 Our stuff arrived yesterday and swamped me. Exhausted and with a bad back, I’m off walking in Spain today. Nothing like a change, is there? 🙂 Hope you’re surviving up there.
A brolly is useless in Cornwall, always too much wind! Jan/Feb usually produces signs of life. I am on the hunt for some new Hellebores! Walking in Spain eh? What fun! I have a bad foot again – and I had been pain free for months!
El Rompido. Very nice 😃Woman, you are a wreck! xx
I don’t understand why! But the ankle was definitely swollen last night 😦
And almond pudding for afters 😃😃 x
Just had Bara brith for the first time ever! Quite nice actually.
I seem to remember a nice Indian in Church Stretton. Punta Umbria is a bit weird. Good base for La Rabida and the Columbus stuff tomorrow. Us Poolies know how to live 😃🍷💕
We may try the Indian tomorrow. Off to bed now, shattered again!
Us Poolies? How many of you are there over there then?
Only 2 😃😃
Your Old Man’s Beard picture is wonderful! A good path through the woods makes all the difference, doesn’t it? I have found November a bit gloomy too – we have had some really cloudy days. And I’m exactly the same with the daylight hours – once we have the hump of 21st December, I feel like we are on the up.
I used to like walking through the broadleaved woodland in Ludlow – lots of nice paths to follow. I dislike pine forests.
Lovely pictures.
Thanks Sadje.
You’re welcome
You might not like November, but you’ve made it look beautiful!
I agree, Anabel!
It hasn’t been too bad this year, I am sure previously we have had much more mist.
I have to add my voice to that. You have such a great eye for detail and a nice way of weaving the images together into the narrative. I love the shot of the birch? trunks and am rather envious that I’ve never thought to shot from that angle.
**shoot**
My shots often come from whatever lens I have on the camera. On this occasion I was using the 45mm prime lens which forces me to find different ways of capturing a subject.
🙂 I should use my prime lenses more!
I like it as it makes ME move rather than being able to zoom and changes what you can focus on. Very good indoors too.
That’s an excellent point. 😀
That is some great nature photography.
I love November but I guess the weather is fairly mild in my part of the world.
Everything becomes a bit brown and mushy over here – and the mud…
It is often too easy to walk without looking. Then equally common to look without seeing. You have made sure to ‘see’ everything on your walks, and brought us the seasonal change so well.
Best wishes, Pete. x
It’s a good record of how things change throughout the months. Though I dare say if I carried this on then I’d see different things over the years.
Agreed, Pete!
A very fine ramble, Jude – in both words and images. A real making-the-most of an outing constrained by low light and the onset of disagreeable weather.
Got to get out when the sun shines. Though I don’t mind looking at a blue sky from the warmth of being indoors.
I share both those inclinations 🙂
November is known for being bleak and gloomy, but like you I do love seeing the design of the bare tree branches against the sky … not to mention all the ‘stuff’ that is normally hidden by the brush when out walking on a forest path.
I am being positive – only 21 days to go to the shortest day…
… and on the shortest day, I will raise a tipple to you and spring 🍷
Cheers Jo 😀
Well done on finding lovely November shots and of course your beautiful skies. And on talking about a gibbous moon. I only recently learnt this word and now I love slipping it in to conversations. It means I have to keep talking about the moon because I don’t know if other things can be gibbous.
Haha… I’m not sure you can use gibbous for anything else either and it is such a lovely word!
You may not like November, but you have captured some great images of nature at this time of year! I find Jan/Feb worse, as Jo does…I’m a definite SAD then….
I don’t mind it after Christmas as the days lengthen and bulbs appear.
The day’s lengthen…but usually grey, cloudy and wet….