Autumn Is Here…

Hello Autumn...

Autumn has always been my favourite time of the year.

The days grow cooler, our garden spider friends spin their webs across pathways, seed heads tangle and spindle in the hedgerows and we wait for the countryside to begin the slow transition to gold. Leaves have begun falling and our thoughts turn to searching out our cosy clothes and warming recipes.

I always feel a little sadness too at the passing of summer and our beloved trees beginning their long winter’s rest.

‘Where Autumn, like a faint old man,

sits down

By the wayside a-weary.’

Longfellow

The changing of seasons brings a comfort. Whatever else is happening in the world or in our own lives, the seasons continue to change and the leaves will drop, just as the snowdrops later will bloom. There is a constancy and a reassurance. We are part of a bigger picture and nature gently nudges us to improve the role we are playing. We feel the need to both be in nature and to cherish it. Connecting more to nature is good for our mental health- that is clearly understood now. A simple walk can restore our spirits and birdsong is uplifting to our soul.

But it’s easy for the seasons to pass us by fleetingly. That’s why I keep a nature journal, both written and stitched. I don’t always remember and it doesn’t matter if a busy time stops me. It’s something I can come back to. To notice that the wisteria seemed to flower a little earlier this year or that the temperature this September is warmer than last year. I come back from walks in the countryside or along the beach with my pockets full of fallen treasures. Sometimes I sketch them, sometimes I will press the leaves or flowers, others are dried and kept in small bud vases. If my skills are up to it, I’ll stitch them on my nature journal.

Autumn isn’t loved by everybody. Many struggle with the cold and the change of light, the shorter days and the leafless trees standing so bare.

For me, the longer evenings mean somehow that my stitching and reading, knitting or painting has more of a place. A set time. When the curtains are closed, another moment begins. A creative time where I head to my favourite seat and surround myself with the comforts of ‘making’.

So welcome Autumn. I love you. I love the misty rain as well as the squally showers beating on my window at night, I love your golden hue and the sense of hush you bring with you. I love the time you give me to be creative, to cook nourishing soups and harvest the pumpkins we’ve grown. Harvest was traditionally a time when people came together to bring in the crops and set themselves up for the hard winter to come. Autumn brings with it that same feeling of nesting and preparation for the winter days to come. Autumn is here…