With increasing energy I have undertaken more work this month, clocking up 26 hours effort. If only I could do an hour a day in the garden life would be so much easier!

Although late flowering, some of my half-hardy annuals such as pink impatiens and the purple Verbena 'Imagination'(round the pond) have looked spectacular massed together. The Cosmos with lots of feathery foliage in the right hand herbaceous bed have failed to produce flowers and the same has happened with the Heliotrope. The Cleome were cut down in their prime by the slugs and my favourite Sweet Peas the purple and magenta 'Matacana' became waterlogged before planting out. This year I have missed the white annuals usually planted in the bottom bed as the white violas where nowhere as spectacular as white Impatiens. Win some - lose some, that's the name of the game. Thank goodness for the ubiquitous self-seeding Feverfew. I particularly like a pom-pom type that has appeared this year. The heather bed continues to be very colourful this month.

The sunflowers in the sweetcorn patch are going to be amazing and I press-ganged my neighbour's children into posing for the photo. I am hoping lots of birds will be attracted to the seeds over the winter. The brassicas are surviving despite looking very holey being ravaged by the slugs. However the butterflies haven't laid eggs there, although they have danced about quite a bit over the leaves after removing the fleece. Onions are big and safely gathered in for winter storage. We have had many Runner bean dinners, but they quickly turned leathery so not many for distribution. Courgettes have been tasty and those turning into marrows exchanged for 'bears' in the LETS scheme. Two empty beds have been set with green manure seeds, which will be dug in the spring to enrich the soil.

Birds There have been weekly sightings of a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding on the peanuts and the Nuthatch has been a regular visitor. A beautiful young Song Thrush stood at the side of the pond looking for a length of time before taking the plunge. It landed on the lily leaves held up by layers of pond weed and had a good bath. Just outside the garden in the communal garage area I watched a very hungry Sparrow Hawk devour a young Collared Dove. From the Computer room I have seen the Blackbirds starting to make meals from the abundant Rowan berries.

Butterflies The 2 Buddlieas have been visited by numerous Peacock butterflies and one Comma with an incredible jagged edge to its wings. Many Speckled Browns have flitted about in pairs in the shady areas at the bottom of the garden. Some of my friends have seen the rare Pearl-edged Fritillaries at the far side of the town.

Animals More frogs have been seen when tidying the beds and there has been noticably less slug damage around. My neighbour saw what must have been a black Mink in his garden and it didn't seem alarmed at his presence.

Averil's Garden This was my first visit to my friend's house in Mansfield. It was a lovely garden that seemed to go on for ever descending downwards. She had some interesting plants and shrubs and I particularly liked her maroon Hebes and Buddlieas.

Louise's Garden at Leek was organised for the Garden Forum group by Sue. This being her daughter's garden which she had helped plant up.The house had been an old coach house and was situated near The Abbey Pub, where we all had lunch together. It had undergone extensive renovation and the high rockface had been landscaped to include terraces with a waterfall tumbling down its vertical surface onto boulders. The pots and raised beds had a subtle colour scheme of mauve, purple and pink.

Brookside Nurseries at Hazel Grove I enjoyed very much being recommended by my friend Rowena. It was compact yet had a lot of special interesting features including a rideable miniature railway running around the perimeter. Here I was tempted to buy my autumn bulbs, garden sundries, a new purple heather, winter pansies and a pink patio rose. There were lots of ideas for water features and stone ornaments. The restaurant too was very good.

Julie's Garden We had visited her garden earlier in the year and she had put in much hard work painting her sheds in attractive two tone green and planting her pots. As usual she has more enthusiasm for more winter projects.

My Garden For a change it was a wonderful sunny afternoon for the group and there was almost a full house with 11 of us. We sat outside with some sunbathing until the shade covered the area. A large brilliant green Dragonfly graced us with it's presence around the pond and the Robin played to the audience, being rewarded with morsels of cake.