Late September reminded me what a beautiful place we live in. Morning mists giving way to warm sunshine and golden light on the turning leaves and mellow stone were a stunning way to travel the length and breadth of the Yeovil constituency.
An intensive series of visits and drop-in surgeries over five days last week enabled me to meet many people and listen to issues and ideas which I can help with or feed back, and take fresh into the new Parliamentary session that will now run intensively right up to Christmas.
Highlights were too many all to mention. I particularly enjoyed meeting everyone involved with Future 4 Chard - a really great day facility for people with disabilities, with very committed staff and a great range of activities. Henhayes in Crewkerne was also impressive. It's so important to families and individuals with challenges that their quality of life is enhanced and respite given with peace of mind afforded by high quality facilities like these.
Education is an ongoing focus for me because ambition for our education system and the young people it produces is a crucial part of building a better future for our area and the country. It was a pleasure therefore to see great commitment and expertise at three very different schools: Fiveways in Yeovil, Manor Court in Chard, and Swanmead in Ilminster. I want to make sure our teachers and their pupils get the support they need and am working hard to try to get a better funding deal for Somerset's schools.
Healthcare is crucial too, especially as our population is set to age dramatically over the next decades and we need to move to having more joined up thinking with social care. I therefore enjoyed opening the Harvest Fete at South Petherton Hospital.
Meeting the expert staff and seeing the wonderful facilities and rehabilitation work, it is easy to see why this is such a popular and successful community hospital. I will do what I can to make sure that our community hospitals have ready access to high quality staff so they can go from strength to strength.
Getting our young people the right skills and making our area even better to live and work in is important to attracting and keeping talent locally.
It was good to meet local residents and discuss how to try to reopen Chard Junction Station and what could with the right thinking be a successful redevelopment of the adjacent Dairy Crest site that could bring something different to the area. And also what better connections could be made that way, including by enhanced bus and cycle routes, from Tatworth up into Chard.
By connecting our area up with infrastructure, whether rail, road, broadband, bus or cycle, and using development smartly to help deliver it, we can increase the range of activities people can undertake locally.
That is whether we live in one of our towns - Wyndham Park, it was great to see a new broadband cabinet has been installed by the way... fingers crossed! - or a small village.
Our villages really are diverse and special. They looked particularly resplendent in the sunshine. From Horton and Dowlish, to Wambrook, Shepton, Hinton, Seavington, Donyatt, Misterton, North Perrott, Haselbury and West Coker - all I could manage for this series of visits - there is so much life and history in them and so much to recommend them.
The rest of the country doesn't I think know quite what jewels we have, and while many appreciate not being over-run with tourists, there is definitely an opportunity to show them off more. I think a knowing word about undiscovered secrets is not a bad marketing idea!