Autumn in Blighty isn’t too bad either!
It is always with a touch of melancholy that I leave the autumnal warmth of Provençal France to return to the UK, with, seemingly, the only prospect of dismal, cold, dark, dank days ahead in rural Leicestershire……not so!
Despite hanging on to the delightful memory of swimming in the warm waters of the Mediterranean in mid October…I have accepted that, I have to let go of summer and embrace the colder months and indeed all the simple pleasures that they bring.
Change is important. As much as we would like to enjoy never-ending summers, plodding around in flip flops, feeling the warm sun on our skin and eating al fresco…there is something comforting about the colder months… the cosiness of winter clothes…putting on socks for the first time in several months, boots cocooning your feet, layering up with jumpers, cardigans and scarves against the cooler weather.
And the food…
And food… the comfort of a bowl of home made soup, casseroles, warm bread, pies and crumbles…not great for the waistline but good for the soul! All to be enjoyed again now the season has arrived.
“What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…”
“What is this life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare”
Rarely do we have the time to stand back and appreciate how nature changes and adapts to the seasons… on stacking the wood in the log store, one morning last week, I became increasingly aware of the sounds, smells and sights of autumn and stood a while and then grabbed my camera to record them..
There is something raw, earthy and autumnal about the aroma of freshly cut wood. The intricate patterns on the bark and the rings of growth that I noticed as I stacked the logs, made me appreciate the beauty of the wood and how nature provides for us. And as I filled the log basket, I was filled with the anticipation of a cosy night in, in front of the warm glow of a real fire.
Birds….business as usual in the garden
Whilst stacking the wood I could hear the rawcus call of a male pheasant in the field behind. I went to look for him, and there he was in all his iridescent copper coloured glory, perched on the garden fence…making himself heard!
Not only was Mr Pheasant gracing our garden but I also noticed the garden was teaming with other birds, finches, doves, pigeons and sparrows. The goldfinches… a whole family of 24… are still flitting from the silver birch to the damson tree to the roses… and as I walked round to the front of the house I noticed Mr Robin foraging under the hornbeam hedge…all of them preparing for and embracing the colder weather.
Sweet wood smoke and fiery sunsets…what’s not to like about autumn?
As the sun began to go down, the wood had been neatly stacked and the garden tidied, the chilly air was filled with the sweet aroma of wood smoke from a house nearby, one of the many sensory pleasures of autumn.
Across the field, beyond where the pheasant had stood earlier, the sky transformed into a mixture of deep orange, pink and purple hues, making silhouettes of the skeletal autumn trees…nature in the autumn….a real feast for the senses…and not as depressing as I thought!