Ladybirds are something I'd usually associate with high-summer but it's been a bumper year for these beguiling little bugs and they're still hanging around now, thrown into relief on the black wood of our garden studio, deep into November.

• Illustrations are by Ed Emberley from Judy Hawes' embarrassingly good Ladybird, Ladybird, Fly Away Home (Adam & Charles Black, London, 1967/1970)