mist, oxford abuzz, finals marking, mellow fruitfulness, log fires

A beautiful walk to work on a misty October morning earlier in the week.

Oxford is suddenly abuzz with the new term and we are back in the frenzy of a fresh academic year. A wonderful energising experience!

Finals marking coming to an end this weekend. It has been fascinating and rewarding.

Took down the runner bean wigwams this morning and grubbed up the courgette plants. Sad to be doing this in one sense but I enjoyed digging this last patch then strimming the paths. The plot is getting tidy and ready for winter. And there are still beetroots, carrots, turnips, spinach and leeks to harvest - not to mention all the spuds in the old piggery at home. Also, the courgettes that were picked up to today will last us for a couple of weeks.

Haven't turned on the central heating yet, but we're into the second week of log fires. Log delivery tomorrow. AUTUMN!

leaves, memories, digging, finals marking, inductions week, relocation

Drifts of dry colourful leaves in the Bampton streets triggering memories of long ago, especially kicking though horse chestnut leaves at Stowe in autumn 1976. Vibrant, fresh far-off days!

Digging on the allotment early. Still some runner beans and courgettes to be harvested. The grass has not stopped growing!

Marking finals papers this weekend.

Pleased the library inductions week went well. Also, some lovely, and much appreciated, feedback about the Relocation.

happy memories, antique brass sunlight, tabs relocated, new roles, uncorrected proof edition of trust: a family story, slow process, getting feedback, getting messages across, tricky weather...

Very happy memories of walking in Somerset near Batcombe.

It was great to be away for a few days and the weather was wonderful. Antique brass sunlight during the last afternoon walk. Autumn's reaching us at last, albeit fitfully.

TABS is finally relocated, two days before the deadline. Such a relief, having lived with the project for eighteen months. An amazing team effort.

Enjoyed beginning of term drinks at Kellogg on Wednesday. Lovely to meet new colleagues.

Starting restructured posts at the libraries, as from today.

Some months after the Uncorrected Proof edition of Trust: A family story was typeset, copies have been printed. I'm looking forward to getting feedback from family, writing colleagues and close friends. It is so necessary to take the process of completing the book slowly. I want to be fair, while also getting messages that might help others in similar situations across.

Grounded as far as the allotment is concerned. I was just about to set off when down came the rain - a full two hours ahead of the forecast time. The weather seems to have caught the met professionals out quite a bit recently...

beautiful bindweed..., estima, how novels work, writers [on writing], trying to relax!

Another photo of a garden convolvulus flower, aka bindweed. Every time the flowers appear - apparently on the same stem - they are different. Sometimes brash, sometimes, like today, delicate.

Dug Estima spuds this morning - not a good harvest. Way less than the Desiree. Wonder what the Kestrel will be like. Probably lifting them tomorrow.

Two books on fiction arrived from Amazon yesterday - How Novels Work by John Mullan and Writers [on Writing]: Collected essays from The New York Times. The first has been out for a long while and though I have dipped into it in libraries, I've never read the whole thing. The other book I came across in the New York Public Library shop in May.

Trying to catch up after the TABS Relocation project stage two. Trying to relax a bit before the beginning of Oxford's term, which is approaching rapidly!

pearly linseed, lie in, tabs relocation, amazing effort, archers trial

Cycling not allotmenting this morning because of the rain.

Passed a field of brown pearly linseed.

A lie in earlier - up at 6. A whole extra hour. A lot of book and furniture moving was done this week, as the TABS relocation neared a further significant deadline. The end of stage two.

The Taylor will be reopening after its extended closed period on Monday at 9 am, as planned.

Everyone has put in such an amazing amount of effort!

A day of catching up with things - and of some relaxation.

Have to say that I am gripped by the Helen Archer trial and the prospect of the hour-long celebrity verdict episode. It's very charged emotional drama. At times extremely powerful.

runners, spuds, pear, autumnal, an experience, facing the strange by sb sweeney, my woman by angel olsen

Enjoyed working on the allotment early this morning. Picking an unlikely amount of runner beans - the luck of the season and nothing to do with me! - harvesting the Desiree spuds (no sign of blight) and planting a pear tree.

Glad to get everything done. This afternoon it's been rain, rain. And today the light has been so autumnal! Such a change.

Another busy TABS Relocation week. The end is in sight. Quite an experience, this.

Pleased to have decided on the publication timetable and pricing for Facing the Strange. Truly, a novel of substance!

Meantime, loving Angel Olsen's latest, My Woman!

wittenham clumps, sherborne, great barrington, upton smokery, millets, the maybush, time off, blight...

Brilliant walk around Wittenham Clumps earlier in the week. And terrific walks near Sherborne and Great Barrington before that.

It will amaze Hannah R that it has taken this long for me to do the Wittenham walks! They were amazing!

Delicious after-walk lunches bought from the Upton Smokery and Millets Farm shop. Also a great pint sitting out on the terrace overlooking the Thames at the Maybush, Newbridge.

So good to have some time off from the Relocation, which was carried on during the week by Management Team colleagues J, J and S!

Tomatoes have succumbed to blight but the fruits have been picked and put into a drawer to ripen. Potato haulms have been cut back to avoid blight.

rain, move, facing the strange by sb sweeney, olympians, shark alley by stephen carver

Got a bit soaked this morning when I set off on my cycle ride - although the rain soon stopped.

Lots of lovely rain yesterday too!

Just as well because the allotment was utterly parched when I was up there on Thursday evening. I've been trying to water whenever I can but it's not the same as rain.

A pity that today's rain never came to much in the end.

Allotmenting apart, it's been a busy week as the Slavonic library move enters its last phase.

In the evenings I've been doing some work on the forthcoming publication of SB Sweeney's terrific novel Facing the Strange ('One great long drunken rambling guitar solo of a novel!' Tim Pears) - see the updated StreetBooks website: www.streetbooks.co.uk.

Just amazed by Team GB's performance in the Olympics!

Reflected glory...: amazing Kellogg College alum Olympians: Paul Bennett winning a gold in the men's eight rowing and Tom Mitchell captaining the rugby sevens to a silver. Also, I remember coming across that Nick Skelton when I was working on the farm up in Shropshire back in 1978... He was a bit focused and a bit serious-minded and not all that keen on coming down the disco with us lot in Shrewsbury. Well, the dedication certainly paid off! :-) Amazing gold!

Meantime, check out this fascinating and exciting novel Shark Alley by Stephen Carver, which is published - with wonderful illustrations - both in print and as an online serial: http://jackvincentpapers.com. See also this article from the Eastern Daily Press.

spin-painting delights, summer school farewell dinner, peter kemp, catching up

Convolvulus, the weed, is, as I have said before, pernicious. On the allotment, the roots go on for ever and the tendrils strangle the vegetables. It seems impossible to eradicate.

But now we grow garden varieties of convolvulus, which are constant spin-painting delights.

Last night the summer school ended with the reception on the lawn of the Exeter College Fellows' Garden and the formal dinner in hall. Peter Kemp, chief fiction reviewer for the Sunday Times, was the guest speaker - and an excellent witty speech he gave too.

What fun the summer school was - from my point of view (hope my students enjoyed the seminars as much as I did) - and how quickly the days sped by!

Today is a time of taking stock and catching up.