October 14 - Day 146 (145.5) - 'October, crisp, misty, golden October, when the light is sweet and heavy' Angela Carter

The colours were amazing this morning and although this picture doesn’t quite capture them, I hope they give a sense of the autumn oranges that are so distinct at this time of year. There is something about early morning light that. transforms the landscape a bit like the sunset.

Talking of unusual sights - On this day (October 14) in 1969, the 50p was introduced and was the only heptagonal coin in circulation in the world. It was the third decimal coin to be introduced, following the new 5p and 10p coins introduced the previous year. If you could just check your lose change, you might discover one of the collectable 50p pieces, worth much more than 50p. The rarest is the Kew's Garden 50p, designed to mark the 250th anniversary of the gardens in 2009. Only 210,000 coins were ever minted with this design and each one is thought to be worth over £700. If you do find one, or one of the other most valuable coins, I’d be very grateful if you could use it to sponsor one of the five days remaining. Remember every 50p (and certainly every £700) makes a real difference to the work we can do.