The Retirement Newsletter: The delights of autumn (fall)
Issue Number: -69 — is it or is it not autumn?
Welcome
Welcome to issue -69 – the autumn edition – could this be my penultimate autumn before I retire?
I plan my newsletters a few weeks in advance, and a couple of weeks ago, I decided that this week would be the autumn edition.
At the time, it looked like we were heading into autumn, but I later discovered that this was a "false autumn" due to the exceptionally hot and dry summer we had in the UK. So, all the changes I saw in nature were not due to the approach of autumn but were due to stress caused to the plants from a lack of water.
However, in the past week, the trees have started to turn in the UK, and there are definite signs of autumn.
Autumn (fall)
If I think about it, there isn't a season that I don't like.
In the spring, we have all the new growth and new life.
The summer has the long warm days.
The autumn has the fruits and the autumn colours.
And I even enjoy winter, as long as it's a cold crisp day and not a grey, drizzly, damp one.
So, what are the signs of autumn for me?
Well, misty mornings, the nights drawing in, a certain crispness in the air and on the ground, the summer visitors having flown away, and the winter ones arriving.
I like to see the changes in the seasons. And with autumn, you get the appearance of fungi.
You get the bright yellow of the Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus).
The large Puffballs (Calvatia gigantea) appear in the grass.
And various Bracket fungi in the woods.
And every year, I see something new. I don’t know the name of the fungus below, but it was impressive.
The woods take on a different look and feel. The leaves fall, and paths become hidden and crunchy underfoot.
The undergrowth dies back, and as the trees shed their leaves, views that you haven’t seen since spring open up.
When I was a kid, one of the highlights of autumn looking for conkers from Horse Chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastanum).
These days, conkers appear to be harder to find, and this may be due to Conker Trees (Horse Chestnut trees) becoming infected with Horse Chestnut leaf blotch.
Horse Chestnut leaf blotch is caused by a fungus (Phyllosticta paviae) introduced into the UK from North America in the last century. The fungus causes brown blotches to appear on the leaves, and the leaf dies. The fungus overwinters in leaves on the ground and then, in the spring, releases spores that infect the trees.
You start to see the fungus in the leaves in mid to late summer.
By autumn, the leaves are dead and falling from the trees.
The leaves falling from the Conker Trees feels like an early start to autumn, as they will start to drop in late August/early September.
Current thinking is that the fungus doesn’t harm the trees. But I can’t see that as the trees lose their leaves early and have reduced leaf coverage for photosynthesis over the summer. Surely, this weakens the tree, reduces growth due to less available energy, decreases energy stores and weakens the tree’s ability to deal with other infections.
The humble conker, so plentiful in youth, may now become scarce.
Another sign of the approach of autumn is the appearance of Sowbread or Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium). Always a welcome splash of colour in the gardens as the summer plants die back.
One thing of concern this year, and something I can’t recall seeing before, is the drying up and rotting of fruits in the hedgerows.
Due to the ‘false autumn’, many plants produced their fruits and seeds early. Only a few weeks ago, there were plentiful supplies of blackberries in the local woods, but these now seem to have shrivelled up on the plants. This could make it a tough winter for wildlife.
So, here we are. It looks like autumn is here or on its way.
Next stop — Christmas! Now there’s a thought.
Money
I am not a financial advisor. I am writing about what I have read over the years about money and preparing to retire. This is not financial advice.
On September 23rd, the UK government had a ‘mini-budget’, but the government wasn’t allowed to call it a ‘budget’ as ‘budgets’ trigger a level of official scrutiny that looks at the numbers to see if they add up.
Anyway, the ‘mini-budget’ (or whatever it should be called), if you are in the UK, does have some implications for our pension pots, and I will have a look at that next week in my Quarterly Review — yes, it is the end of the quarter and time for another review. I can’t do it this week as it will take me a while to run the numbers.
Please note I am not a financial advisor. I am writing about what I have read over the years about money and preparing to retire. This is not financial advice.
Nostalgia corner
If you have read any of my previous newsletters (see issues -73, -97 and -104), you will know that I am a bit of a fan of the streaming service BritBox which streams old TV shows and films from the UK TV channels — BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
My latest ‘dive into the past’ was to watch ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’.
If you are unfamiliar with ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’, it was a satirical comedy programme based in the fictitious newsroom of Globe Link News (GLN). The main writers on the show were Gus Jenkin and Andy Hamilton.
The show ran from 1990 to 1998 and consisted of six series. The early series tended to focus more on satire and current affairs, with the later series focusing on the characters and their backstories.
While now dated, because of the current affairs angle, the show is still worth watching. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the show, and I am sure I have heard some of Gus Hedge’s ‘business speak’ now in everyday use.
Useful links
UK Government Website:
Next week
Next week, in issue -68, it will be time for an end-of-quarter review of how my retirement plans are progressing.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.
I really enjoyed this stroll in the woods.
I had to look up the word 'conkers' and found out that apart from the seed of the horse chestnut, it is also the name of a traditional game. Did you play it as a kid?