The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
It’s the official start of Autumn in the northern hemisphere today, and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I’m no big fan of Summer. I don’t do well in hot weather, I don’t enjoy outdoor swimming pools, wearing sandals, or picnics in the blazing sunshine. I hate having to slather myself in sunscreen every morning, and feeling like my skin can’t breathe for the rest of the day. Okay, so I’ll be a little bit sad when all the ice cream shops close in October, but other than that, I’m an Autumn girl, through and through. To me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Here are 15 things I’m looking forward to in Autumn:
- Birthdays! Three out of the four of us have birthdays in Autumn. Let the party season begin!
- Colourful leaves. Yellow, orange, red. On the trees, looking pretty. On the ground, to run through. Great big piles. Leaves to make Autumn crowns with. Leaves for collecting, decorating and crafting with. Leaves to treasure.
- Crisp Autumn air.
- Conkers! For conker fights. And building conker animals with.
- Brambles, apples, plums. Made in to jam, crumbles, cobblers and cakes. A nice ‘Pflaumenkuchen’ (plum cake) for my birthday is my favourite!
- Knitwear! I’ve never cared for shorts or summer dresses. Give me some knitwear any day. Can’t wait to pull our all my favourite sweaters an cardigans!
- And as for shoes, I’m so glad sandal weather is over. I feel happiest in a nice pair of brown leather boots. Or, even better, wellington boots. I’ve been known to own more than one pair at once in the past. Red wellies are the best!
- Foraging for Autumn bounty – this year so far, we have found hazelnuts and walnuts. Yes, even in the middle of the city!
- Pumpkins. Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin pie. Oven roast pumpkin. Pumpkin curry. Pumpkin casserole. Pumpkin waffles. Pumpkin muffins. Yeah, I love pumpkin. I totally want to try out this pumpkin, beef and black bean chilli.
- Candles. Nuff said.
- Scarves and wooly hats. I *may* have just a few of the latter…
- Walks in the park and Autumn picnics, without melting in the sweltering heat or fighting off swarms of wasps.
- Hot chocolate. With big piles of cream on top. And pumpkin spice lattes. Oh, to heck with it – pumpkin spice everything!
- Cosying up with a hot water bottle. And wearing wooly socks to bed.
- And Hallowe’en, of course! BIG fans of Hallowe’en at our house. Obviously, being Scottish and all (though we’ve happily swapped turnip carving for the more manageable pumpkin). Dressing up, watching spooky films, eating lots of candy…what’s not to love.
Are you an Autumn person too? What’s your favourite thing about Autumn?