First autumn mist

Yesterday autumn came to the South-East, inevitably causing a massive pile-up on the M25 but creating nothing but hazy tranquillity in the garden. Twigs hung with tiny jewels. Leaves drifted down and glued themselves to the patio. I started thinking of Bonfire Night. Especially as last night I saw a hedgehog slurping up a slug on the lawn. (Only 63 million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand to go!) As a child, I was told to poke a bonfire before setting it alight in case any hibernating hedgehogs should get baked in their spines. Last week, two newspapers I read carried recipes for baked hedgehog. Not funny! Well, not if you're a hedgehog with a bellyful of slimy slugs to last you through the winter. But, on the other hand...