A Fall from Grace

If there is any consolation in having another damp day of mist and gloom, and it is hard to find one, then it is seeing the variety of perfect water droplets like tiny jewels festooning the spiders' webs slung between the leaves of the vinca ground cover, or the freshly fallen leaves, wet and prone on the ground and host to the last drops of the night's rain.

Our Japanese Acer in its tub on the patio is a tender thing of russet beauty but with leaves that can shrivel and die if the west wind is too nippy or the temperature too low or too high. It has to be cosseted by sheltering it under the balcony and remembering to water it regularly.

This year with the mild winter and cool spring and summer, it has behaved well and all the leaves have lasted without any shrivelling at their tips. This is the first one to fall as Autumn begins to take hold, but its fellow leaves still look robust enough to linger for a few more weeks.