‘sorry, but i wasn’t feeling it’

Does the abundance of rowan berries really forecast snowy days and a hard winter, muses Tessa Waugh , as a home meet draws people of all ages, stages and pre-dawn routines

Autumn trail-hunting has arrived, but Tessa Waugh is more concerned with matters closer to home as her husband is “replaced” with a terse stranger on her first morning back out

Tessa Waugh wonders whether lingering in Downton Abbey waking dreams might be more enticing than rousing two teens for autumn hunting, but finds herself pleasantly surprised

Middle age throws up some surprising laughs for Tessa Waugh and friends hacking home from a meet, as they grapple with “phone-based practices” usually employed by younger generations

An early-morning dog walk through the woods sees John Lewis-Stempel coming face to face–or skin to spider silk–with the industrious magic of a September dawn

Anticipation builds to fever pitch as the prize-winning gimmer, flapjacks and sloe gin are prepared for the autumn show, while Tessa Waugh mugs up for some collie judging