Autumn

My 7 year old granddaughter recently asked me what my favourite season was. I had to really think hard about it and everyone else said it would be summer, of course. Well yes I do love summer, when we get a decent one and that brief return visit last week was lovely while it lasted. However I love all the seasons for what they bring in terms of weather, colour and activities, but I'm always ready to move on at the end of each season to new things.

I do especially love autumn. I think of it as a cosy season, a time to snuggle up in a warm sweater, drink hot chocolate, go for walks in the woods,  start a new knitting or craft project, cook warming casseroles and do lots of baking. I love it for the rich colours of the late flowers, the changing colours in the trees. Perhaps I like it  because my birthday is towards the end of October.

So now that autumn is well and truly here I shall be doing such things as :

• collecting, conkers, acorns, leaves and twigs with the grandchildren and making a nature display in the porch
• thinking about things to knit and sew for  forthcoming Christmas fairs
• making blackberry, raspberry or sloe gin, something I've never done before and want to try out
• using up our glut of baking apples to make mincemeat, apple butter, pies, crumbles
• sweeping up the leaves in the garden and putting them in the leaf bin to compost
• doing lots of clearing up and cutting back in the garden and allotment
• planting up some containers with things like cyclamen and evergreens for autumn and winter interest
• planting hyacinth bulbs to force for Christmas displays
• baking the Christmas cake
• cleaning and tidying out the shed

There are rather a lot of things to do, I'll let you know how I get on with them.