August, die she must

When I drew the curtains this morning there was a definite hint of autumn out there.
The last day of August - and this evening I noticed that the hawthorn trees in the wood next to us are now bearing berries. It seems way too early.
I've just Googled "hawthorn berries" and found a site which lists 12 uses for them, ranging from making an aperitif to hawthorn vinegar, to hawthorn berry ice-cream. Mmmm - shame I'm too busy really.