It’s coming round to the time when we spend less time at the allotment.
Last week we didn’t visit the plot until Sunday afternoon. We have now had some rain and the beds have darkened from the pale grey colour. More rain was forecast, so we prioritised harvesting. This was just as well, as soon after we had gathered things together it started to rain and we loaded the car and headed for home.
We picked two more boxes of apples. What a fantastic year it’s been for tree fruit.
All the squash have been brought home. The fruits are very small this year, as are the beetroots.
I made a chicken fried rice dish using our cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, onion, green pepper, carrot and frozen peas. I also added red pepper and mushrooms.] 
We’d intended a return visit to Dunham Massey for a while but something always seemed to delay us. On a few occasions rain was forecast in the west and so we opted to stay on our side of the Pennines in the east.
The M62 motorway passes directly over Scammonden dam. The reservoir was built in 1969 at the same time as the motorway, to provide water for the Huddersfield area.
The reservoir was created by submerging the village of Deanside. I’m not sure whether the village is still under the water but if it is, it was in danger of making a reappearance as the water level was very low.
It’s not easy to appreciate how low the water level is from this shot from the car, but if you look around the edge of the lake maybe you can get some idea.
One aim of a visit in the summer was to see the rose garden.
We knew that by this time the roses would be past their best, but there was still a whiff of perfume in the air and the bushes still carried a few flowers. In midsummer it must have been beautiful.
We didn’t expect to find beds of vegetables at one end of the rose garden.
The beds were edged with marigolds that were being enjoyed by bees.
It would seem that weather forecasts had been correct as the lush growth seemed to testify that more rain had fallen on this side of the country.
Of course it could be that they have an efficient watering system, but the whole garden and deer park seemed to have escaped the ravages of drought.
Another garden area that we missed during our previous visits was the formal garden at the front of the house.
A path leads off to the left of the garden. The path loops through a shrubbery and back to the house,
The flower borders were still full of colour, another sign along with the immaculate, green lawns that they have had more rain than us.
There was still water in the rill too.
After a stroll around the garden, we had a more vigorous walk through the deer park. At first no deer were visible but then we came across a lone female.
Shortly after we spotted a group gathered in a sunlit patch.
We then came across three stags – there are only two in the photo – lounging against a wall. They seemed comfortable with each other whilst maintaining some distance between them.
Close to the house, by the exit a dark coloured stag was resting by another wall, but he seemed intimidated by yet another stag that strutted towards him so he stood up and put some distance between them.
With the deer having free range in the grounds it’s just as well that the garden area is gated.
That’s all for this week, so as always, until next time, stay safe and stay well.
Again, I am linking to Harvest Monday blog on Dave’s Our Happy Acres blog.
That is a good haul of apples! And the winter squash look great to me, as they were a total bust here for me this year.
The squash are just so small, Dave. To be honest they are probably more usable
Lovely photos. Especially the stags sitting by the wall, what a treat!
I have squash-envy – not much happening on our plants
It was a treat to get so close to the stags, Belinda. We always seem to see them there as they don’t just stick to the deer park area.