A World Where There Are Autumns

Gentle Reader ~~~ I am an Autumn girl through and through. I love everything there is about Autumn ~~~ the cooler days, the lowering sun, the gentle breezes, and all the jewelled colours of the slowing year ~~~ I even love the wild storms that lash the coast as they pound in from the Atlantic Ocean turning everything grey and salt kissed ~~~ and

~~~ I love the fun things to do ~~~

~stomping through fallen leaves~

~watching the colours of the land, sea, and sky turn with the changing year~

~wrapping up with my favourite fingerless mittens and scarves~

~sipping mugs of steaming hot chocolate~

~toasting crumpets, thickly slathered with butter and jam~

~decorating the cottage with Autumnal flavours~

~cooking and eating the warmer, richer, soups and stews of Autumn~

 ~gathering berries and nuts~

~walking in the woods~

~Hallowe'en~

~Thanksgiving~

~Pumpkins ~

~~~ and so much more ~~~

Oh! and Downton Abbey ~~~ but worry not, my lips are sealed ~~~ it is on as I write ~~~ and I can keep a secret {or ten} ~~~

~~~but most of all I love that Autumn gives us hope for the following year in the form of seeds that slumber through Winter and burst forth in the rebirth of Spring to the full blown beauty of flowers that follow in Summer~~~

For me, Awe~tumn is truly the most Awesome season of them all, and to misquote one of my favourite authors,

"I'm so glad I was born in a world where there are Autumns"

Earlier this week we had the Autumn Equinox ~~~ one of just two days each year {the other being the Spring Equinox} when the day and night are of equal length. From now until the Winter Solstice the days shorten and nights lengthen and the world of the Northern Hemisphere is slowly winding down and preparing to sleep ~~~

In The Shire, we are blessed by some truly lovely Autumn weather. After a Spring that failed to spring, and a Summer that was more like a damp squib, Autumn is bringing very pleasant temperatures with little or no rain, and quite a bit of sun.  The days are comfortably warm, with cooler evenings for snuggling under warm quilts and blankets ~~~ the projected forecast for the next ten days seems agreeable and there should be good opportunity to do any necessary tidying up and preparing the garden for Winter ~~~

Here is a little poem from one of my favourite childhood books, "A Child's Garden of Verses"

Autumn Fires 

by Robert Louis Stevenson 

In the other gardens

  And all up the vale,

From the autumn bonfires

  See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over

  And all the summer flowers,

The red fire blazes,

  The gray smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!

  Something bright in all!

Flowers in the summer,

  Fires in the fall!
~~~~~

The colours are changing, the leaves are falling, and the last fruits of the year ripen on the boughs.  Here are a few images from around the Garden to capture those last magical moments, the jewelled colours of the year before all is touched by Winter's frosty kisses ~~~

Jewelled Lusciously Juicy Jewels of Black, and Red Ripening, Blackberries

Turning Leaves

Red Turning Leaves

Glossy Red Apples Ripening on the Boughs

A Cascade of Apples

Purple, Velvety~covered Clematis

Clematis with Wind Flower

Clematis

Autumn Fruiting Raspberries ~ Yum!

The colours of the evening skies are changing too, being more muted, subtle shades of the scorching colours of a Summer sky ~~~ the world turns, and everything changes ~~~

A final note of birdsong in the Autumn Garden ~~~

Until next time
Sincerely yours
Deborah