A day of Gifts

It's been a lovely, sunny autumn day here, so in the afternoon we got a bit of gardening done.


In the midst of a bit of weeding, I gasped when I saw this




I only planted the bush in June, and thought it would do well to produce fruit next year! But the weather has been unseasonably warm, so nature has given us this most wonderful bonus bounty.

And then I moved to the other side of the garden, and discovered another stash!




I've already made my green tomato chutney, so I'm leaving these on a plate at the window for a few days, hoping they'll ripen enough to eat. And if not, another little pot or two of chutney won't go to loss!

And tonight we were at the opera. And this was another gift. The Sunday Times has been offering some free tickets to a live HD cinema screening of performances from The Metropolitan Opera.



Tonight's performance was Mussorgsky's Boris Gudnov. A marathon 4 and a half hour performance, which included two intervals: it was brilliant! There were also some lovely behind-the-scenes interviews during the intervals


Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain"was the first music I played on my first night in band, so I'll always have a special place in my heart for him.


So, at this late hour, as I'm about to head to bed, I give thanks for a bountiful, beautiful day.