My season!

We seem to have settled into the balmy autumn days, with temperatures around 20 degrees - perfect for a little pruning and tidying up in the garden, or a restorative stroll along the path to the lighthouse in the early morning or as the sun sinks into the glassy sea. Despite a heavy shore break, the lack of wind has meant that no ripples disturb the surface and seabirds can be seen bobbing on the swells from quite a distance.
The creepers have turned red and gold and dropped a carpet of leaves among the clivias and bromeliads, where they can rot gently over the winter months and form the ideal conditions for propagation of new plants from the seeds that have dropped. I have started a small home nursery for the excess seeds and hope to have at least 80 to 100 seedlings available for sale within the next two years.
Spinach, rocket and cos lettuce from the hanging gardens are keeping us in greens at the moment and the peas are flowering abundantly, although those are unlikely to actually reach the table. A close examination of the leaves every day enables me to remove any eggs laid by an errant butterfly or aphids that are inevitable.
The angle of the sun as it moves towards its northern position for winter means that my shade-loving plants are once more in the shadow of the garden wall and are no longer turning yellow and dying back in the fierce sun. By the time summer returns, the ivy and bougainvillea will have sufficient regrowth to provide natural shade once more.
A blanket of fog is creeping in from the sea and covering the mountains - time for bed. This is definitely my season!