I love this time of year, the garden is winding down, Autumn is upon us here in the south… It’s a time to move inward, both outside in the garden and within ourselves. A time of introspection, a breathing in so to speak. The air is cooler at the end of the day, not a freezing cold but a definite reminder, though gentle, that we are heading ever closer to our winter months.
The garden needs attention, veggie beds will be harvested and manured and we will start planting our winter seedlings and seeds. Our Souties Squash are almost ready to be picked and I can’t wait to taste them, they are rather large, so I’m not quite sure of the best way to cook them, I’ll let you know what we do. I’m sure they will delicious:)
I must say, after all the hot days of Summer, I am rather looking forward to log fires in the study and lounge fireplaces. To be able to sit there and knit is one of my favourite things to do. It feels cozy just thinking about it… We still need to order and pack our wood and also plan ahead for possible power outages. We have had a couple in the last few weeks, a town about half an hour away from us had no power for a week! We have a borehole and a solar geyser but we need to figure out a solution for electricity sometime soon, instead of being totally dependant on our electricity company.
Kye has been asking which festivals we celebrate around Autumn time, he can remember so much from when he was little and I can see how celebrating Advent, Spring, Michaelmas etc… has enriched his life. I can see, when he talks about these festivals, the happiness he feels comes from deep within and holds great meaning in his heart. We will be preparing to celebrate Michaelmas soon (we are in the south so our celebrations mirror the north on opposite sides of the year) and also the Autumn equinox in a couple of weeks. Do you celebrate any special festivals around Autumn time?
Oh, wow, how I envy you–here in New England (Massachusetts) we’ve already had a blizzard that dropped two feet of snow, and several other storms, and are expecting more snow this weekend. So we are entrenched in winter. And yet, autumn is my favorite season and I am always drawn to its colors–I am in the midst of a bulky lace scarf in a deep, rich cinnamon color. And I have just ordered some Malabrigo chunky in sunset. Check out that color, it is a glorious orange blend that really does capture the colors of a sunset! I’ll use it to make a third Girasole blanket (Jared Flood’s design–SO much fun to knit).
I hope you have a wonderful autumn, I’ve always thought it is really a great time to slow down and start nesting and doing cozy indoor projects (like baking!) with the kids.
Dear Linda, thank you for asking;) we are all well! hope you as well!? its always a little miracle for me..today I´m so so happy about the first warm sunrays of spring but I can imagine that you’re glad about autumn..every season has its beauty..
sarah
Here in the South Spring is trying very hard to kick out winter! Fat robins have arrived which is a sure sign, the maple trees are tinged with red about to bloom and the weeds are waking up! Before long, we will be coated with yellow pollen. It gets so thick you can actually taste it at times. Not a fun part of Spring. We will have a couple months when the weather is perfect. Then the heat and humidity of summer will set in wearing you out by the time it finally starts to cool again. BTW, we have some pretty big storms in summer and Fall here…electrical, tornadoes, hurricanes, ice which also takes out our electricity. We have a gas generator which will run the essentials in the house. We don’t live in the city so without electricity we have nothing.
We celebrate two events in the Fall…Halloween and Thanksgiving. Halloween I think is a worldwide celebration but Thanksgiving is American. It is always the 4th. Thursday of November. It is celebrated with too much food and too little thankfulness…lol, but families enjoy being together to celebrate.
As April gets closer, we are so sorry we had to cancel our trip to Africa. We were so looking forward to seeing a tiny bit of your country and it would have been really wonderful to meet you.
I forgot to ask…how did you do with the mountain bike race/ride?
Thanks Pam, it was wonderful, I finished in 40 minutes, Jen in 20 minutes. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do another race:)
it had rained and sleeted on and off during the day. Around 10:00 p.m. it started to snow. It is so bright outside from the heavy snow and the lights on here and there in the neighborhood that I couldn’t sleep. I’m glad for that because now the trees is the woods are outlined in white and it looks like a fairy land. I have been sitting and looking out at it and can’t drink in enough of it.
Difficult to believe that Autumn is upon us already, although it really is the rainy season here at the equator. It has been very hot in the last weeks and we has a small shower last night. . . maybe the rains are finally coming? They are much needed to turn the dry and brown into lush and green again.
We have no special celebrations and are also challenged to celebrate the opposite of the Northern Hemisphere influenced calendar. However, at school the kids will be celebrating the rainbow festival to welcome the rains. . .
We have had so much rain and now I think we are at the end of the rainy season. Our winters are dry and cold, I will miss the rains.
I love to hear about your part of the world. It is so different here in the desert southwest of the US. Spring is here (although we did have a “snow-storm” – 2 inches only, very exciting just a couple weeks ago). I love March – except that is also when the snakes come out of hibernation, have to start watching out for the rattlesnakes. The weather is starting to warm, but it’s not the awful endless boiling heat of the summer…yet….
I always forget that it’s not almost spring in all parts of the world. We are just getting into spring here in the northwest part of the United States, although we did have a snow storm last night that dropped an inch or two of snow. It has been getting warmer during the day though and we are getting ready to start gardening again very soon. We made our own compost last year that we are going to work into the garden this year and I’m excited to see how much better our garden will do. Last year we just purchased compost and I don’t think the quality was that good. Happy autumn! 🙂
In Romania we are waiting for the spring to come 🙂 And I really, really hope that this summer will be rainy and chilly. Bad memories about the last summer, with indoor temp. of 36-37 degrees Celsius, and without A/C in the tiny appartment we live in 🙂 But we will survive! Then, you’ll have snow and I will be so envious!
I like so much your blog! Although I’m a lazy commenter 🙂
I also thought Autumn was finally kicking in and then today hit! It has been dreadfully hot and humid here on the east coast. Hoping for a bit of coolness this weekend. Lovely pictures, your squash looks delish!