November warmth

We are still being blessed with warm, sunny November days and on a walk through Dereköy today, I passed these massive pumpkins in an orchard of citrus trees and couldn't resist stopping to take a photo.  The mix of oranges, greens and sunlight captured for me the essence of a perfect November day. 

Apart from feeling good, November smells divine as the loquat tree on our terrace is in flower. The blooms aren't much to look at but their scent is heady. It drives the bees wild and as I step out every morning I first hear frenzied buzzing before the perfume hits me.  It's a great way to wake up.

There wasn't much left in the garden and a bout of unaccustomedly energetic gardening has left the flower bed pretty bare.  I collected all the last blooms to make the largest bunch of the year only to find that I didn't have any big vases and had to leave the flowers in the sink until I found a bucket to accommodate them.
I'm sure that posting this is an open invitation to the gods to send us rain but at least I can look back in a week's time and remind myself how blissful November can be.