Autumn in Dorset

A family bereavement caused us to cancel our summer holiday, so now a week in Dorset beckoned. It is a lovely county, fairly unknown and forgotten by the hordes, but known and cherished by, amongst others, Thomas Hardy aficionados.

Our caravan settled down in a field on a small farm, with glorious views from the front window

However, there is a price to pay - to enjoy a view one needs a hill, which means a slope. Siting the caravan was tricky but accomplished, with the help of stone props.

The caravan is level, the angle of the awning gives some idea of the slope.

But the autumn days were glorious.We awoke to misty mornings

But by about 10 o'clock the sun had burned through, drying the hedgerows and burnishing the autumn fruits

and lighting sympathetically the views over the Blackmoor Vale (which Hardy likened to the "cottage garden of Dorset")

On only one morning did we draw the curtains to find rain obscuring the view

And that day we made good use of our National Trust membership to visit Kingston Lacy

All in all a gentle, relaxing holiday. No plans, no rush. A gentle nurse for fractured souls.