Please forgive the pun in the title. Once it arose, it could not be resisted. Here is a view from a garden in the countryside last weekend:
*
More leaves, same garden:
*
This blue tit spent a lot of time flitting about in the tree outside my window yesterday. Plenty of green-leaf cover for this time of year!
*
Edited to include this (cropped) photo of a seal that watched me watching it in Galway Bay a few weeks ago:
*
Finally, a church window that seems to be wearing headphones after a recent shower:
*
I have a few longer posts half written, but their completion will have to wait: I’m currently bedevilled by a head cold that has left me incapable of thinking properly. Luckily, though, my ability to see imaginary DJs on the sides of buildings has not been impaired.
Although my writing has been severely curtailed, my Twittering has not. It will take more than an eruption of sniffing, sneezing, snuffling and snorting to stop me micro-blogging. So if you want to pass a few idle moments, you’ll find links and more on my Twitter page. What passes for normal service on Sentence first will soon be resumed.
Sentence first 
OH!! How truly lovely!!
I so miss Ireland. I haven’t been there since my honeymoon, and no garden in Texas is a lovely as the gardens in Ireland…
lovely photos.
Coincidences, coincidences.
1. For a couple of days I have been pregnant with the title “Summer leaves”, and only the fact that there was already “Winter in the Air” kept me from giving birth to it.
2. Well, and I caught a cold; or rather a cold caught me. This is the more annoying, as I do not need a scratchy throat to think improperly.
So, let’s get well, soon, Stan.
Oh, did I happen to praise the photos? Opulent colours, the Irish Winsprumn offers. Beautiful.
Beautiful scenes. Thank you Stan. Much needed. This time of the year is dreary in a city. Dull, gray and cold. Contagious for the mind and heart. Grateful when a blog offers interesting views.
All the best to both of you, Stan and Sean.
Stan, you have some interesting links on your Twitter page.
And now it’s “Good Night!” for me, and I guess “Good early morning” to you.
Take care!
Thank you all for the kind comments. The first two photos are from my father’s garden, which could effortlessly provide material for a dedicated photoblog, had I the time.
Stephanie: You could renew your vows: that would give you the excuse you need to revisit Ireland’s gardens!
magnumlady: Thanks. Your own photos are beautiful. I hope to begin using Flickr before long, and to spend more time exploring its riches.
Sean: It seems we suffer in sympathy! Coincidences indeed. Hopefully my blog post and its title have not left you suffering the after-effects of a figurative phantom pregnancy. (Another slight coincidence: male pregnancy has been in the news recently.) I wonder if the same cold caught us both, or whether it was a relative. Bacterial family trees are so much less distinct than human ones — even the royal variety. Yes, let us both recover in good time for the next phase of Winsprumn.*
* For the benefit and pleasure of curious readers, Winsprumn refers to a blend of autumn, winter and spring. It is a common phenomenon in Ireland, where we are frequently treated not only to four seasons in one day, but to nine or ten of them before tea time. Or, for the sake of convenience, three of them in one word, which Sean coined here.
Claudia: Thank you, my dear friend. And you’re very welcome. Your last comment registered at 04:59 here, so it was a good early morning that saw me sound asleep and probably dreaming. I’m glad the photos offered you respite; I must try to find time to upload more, elsewhere. Even in the dreariest of cities, there are countless pockets of natural and accidental splendour. It is a pleasure to capture and share at least a few of them from my own local corners. And I am lucky enough to live on the coast, where I frequently wander in happy aimlessness.
Beautiful photos! I like your eye for composition and color. And I can definitely understand that feeling of wanting to blog but feeling under the weather; Twitter really is perfect for those moments.
I haven’t seen the leaves change color since leaving Pennsylvania 5 years ago. Your pictures are so nice and remind me of times gone by.
Thanks for sharing them.
vocalised: Thank you! The first two I deliberately framed somewhat similarly, the better to draw attention to the garden’s exceptional autumn colours (for which I can take no credit). You’re right about Twitter; it does fill some useful niches.
I am most taken (they are all beautiful!) by the photo of the seal. There was one in Baltimore that was known as “Sam The Harbour Seal” who would pilot the ferry boats and pop up and amuse the passengers all the way over to the islands. They are so intelligent.
All good healing thoughts go to you with your cold. Miserable old things.
XO
WWW
WWW: Sam sounds like a fine fellow. The one I saw was probably more shy than that. Curious, though — it looked over at me for quite a few seconds before moving on.
Thank you for your good wishes; I am over the worst and steadily normalising! It seems half the country has a cold these days, or has just recovered from one.
Lovely scenes :) I particularly like the window with the headphones. It’s listening to the mass being sung indoors, no doubt. Get well soon.
Raymond: You’re very welcome, and thanks for your comment. We’re lucky this magic happens every year!
Anne: Thank you for your visit and kind wishes! You’re right about the window. It probably needed cheering up after the rain.
I’m almost at full strength again; it is a relief to be able to think and write properly.