Welcoming ...

Benmore Gardens are growing darker by the minute. The men who had been cutting down a tall tree on the hillside have returned to base - they waved as they passed in their tractor and now I can hear them beyond the lit windows of the offices in the courtyard. The air is still and damp, and only a few distant birds are still calling. 

A very different place from the summer gardens, but ours nonetheless - for that's what it feels like once the gardens are closed for the winter.