Sunday 28, September 2014.

Dear Mummy, we’ve gone bonkers for conkers this year! Our annual conker hunting trip to The Vyne ended in a huge success when we stumbled on a hidden Horse Chestnut tree off the beaten track.

We can’t disclose the exact location of the tree at The Vyne Estate as we need to preserve the treasure for future expeditions…however mummy tells me it’s very close to the wooden moth by the river!

A little boy came running up to us to share his discovery, he was very pleased with himself as all the other Horse Chestnuts had been pillaged.

We ducked and dived under the branches, over the large tree roots and old stumps and the ground was littered with these honey brown nuggets of joy.

Beautiful bronze smooth round lumps of natural foliage gold….we’d hit jackpot!

Others saw us and joined in with the fun, filling hats, t-shirts and buggies with conkers. My mummy got hit on the shoulder by a falling conkers which made her  grimance in pain and daddy laughed. We had great fun collecting the conkers in daddy’s hat.

Rumour has it the Horse Chestnut seeds (conkers) are said to repel spiders, as they contain Saponin, so when we got home we scattered them around the house. We will attempt to make an autumnal display with them. My mummy and daddy are scared of big house spiders you see, and we’ve had a lot of them in the past couple of weeks. One even dropped in to say ‘hi’ while mummy was watching X-Factor and scared her right off the sofa!

When we visited The Vyne at the weekend we also saw lots of beautiful Dahlia’s and big pumpkins in the walled garden and it was looking very autumnal! It’s my mummy’s favourite time of year, when the nights draw in and the leaves start to turn 🙂

We went into the woods and built a den with branches and twigs. Chased robins and menacing black crows off the stony footpaths and gazed at the berries in the hedgerows. The leaves aren’t all red and golden yet so we may need to pop back in a couple of weeks for the Autumn Festival at The Vyne to really enjoy the stunning autumnal displays. Plus my mummy wants to drink some fresh pressed cider!

Today the weather is mild and the air is muggy, so walking lots is tiring. I stop every few minutes to have a drink or take a rest in my buggy.

But it’s not long before I want to get back down walking with the adults. Maybe I’m getting fed up of the Jane buggy and just need a pushchair for quick getaways?

Whatever you plan to do this autumn have fun and enjoy the last of the mild weather, we’ll be going on woodland walks and playing in autumn leaves. National Trust places are a great way to spend time outdoors and keep everyone amused, even daddies! My daddy had a lovely cream tea while I was playing with the tractors, as he has a big sweet tooth and I think I’d knackered him out with all my walking. Poor daddy.

Bella x