Thursday 3rd September 2026 - Contented, Two More, AI and Fine

Very pleased our car got through its MOT this week.  This will be followed early next month for some minor recommended repairs and new tyres.  Providing we can keep it ‘on the road’ we feel this will be our last car.  No real point in changing as it does very few miles a year.  We mainly use it for our weekly shop in Mundesley and other local trips.  We haven’t ventured out of the county for six years!  Now what does that say?  I’ll tell you, quite simply; we are contented with where we live.

We did our usual Thursday walk, over to the car boot sale, this morning.  Not many more car boots to go now and after asking the stewards, currently there will be two more (weather permitting), with the last one on 17^th.  I was surprised to see so many sellers, this late in the season.  After not having bought any plants for a couple of weeks, (not sure how I managed to resist some impulse buys!) I purchased two for the area of garden which is undergoing a revamp.

I’m not sure about AI.  I do know one thing; although AI is available for my website, I have no plans using it.  AI was used to create the Harvest Festival and Cream Tea poster, which is on the Village Calendar page as well as various noticeboards and fences etc.  The poster is very colourful and eye catching.  Our youngest son and son-in-law have used AI for suggested planting in an area of their garden along with planning new furnishings in their conservatory.  I mustn’t forget a friend who used ChatGPT to create a wall hanging for the end of her garden.  I’m a member of some gardening Facebook pages where I’ve seen, what are obviously AI created gardens but not acknowledged as such.  This has caused a massive headache for the admins of these groups who have been blocking those who are falsely claiming the garden shown is their own.

As we move into autumn the berries on the hollies are starting to turn from green to red, the elderberries are black and juicy plus the blackberries are in various stages of ripening.  We picked some of the latter from the hedgerows the other morning, just enough to go in the freezer for blackberry and apple pies.  Recently the media reported, it’s an offence to pick fruits and fungi etc. from private land, with a potential fine of £300.  What a load of old tosh.  People have been picking fruits from hedgerows, bordering on private land, for centuries.  This is almost always done in moderation, and given our experiences, the best fruits are usually out of reach. They're either in the depths, or protected by stinging nettles, or too high; there is plenty left for wildlife.  I gather there is no proof that anyone has been fined.  Today’s photo is of a spray of pyracantha berries in our garden.  These have plumped up and ripened following the recent rains.  They will provide food for the local blackbirds, along with opportunist pigeons.