0 comment Sunday, May 25, 2014 | admin
I love autumn, but it comes with melancholy. The end of summer and the return of the cold, dark months which I honestly loathe. Even so, the leaves turning and the chill in the air does thrill me and I always feel at my most creative, my most inspired, and wanting to be Making and Doing.
I'm been filling my eyes to the brim with watercolour paintings lately, checking out different styles from the romantic to the abstract to the kitch to the "I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here..." I love the ethereal nature of watercolour; slightly fae, almost dreamlike qualities. I have never worked with watercolour but I'm looking forward to dabbling in it.
I did some garden pottering yesterday, bottling up the first bit of elderberry cordial and thinking about maybe freezing some today as I want to make more, as well as rosehip sirip. The garden got what I feel will be its final cut, but I need to go round with the strimmer, rip out some rather insistent brambles from sproggo's flower beds, and also cut the heads off a few sunflowers to allow the seeds to dry out for bird-seed over the winter.
Along with the cooler temps I have been drawn to stodgier food! Much richer than I would normally eat, with fresh Guernsey milk and proper butter, roasted and steamed and very little raw, cold foods. I had the last salad of the year last week - I enjoyed it but now as I eat with the seasons, I'm more interested in my chard, which goes into nearly every dish. I remind myself to eat a bit better, getting at least two meals in, and maybe something light at night. I'm eyeing my leeks now and while I was hoping to keep them in the ground as long as I could, the cats have discovered this lovely new litter box known as my raised bed. Sigh. So I might find myself pulling the leeks sooner than I had planned, and I'm now just trying to figure out where I'd put them if I had to.
I'm hoping this winter I'll be able to recover my strength but to keep my mind active and occupied - always a struggle during the dark months. The classes will help, certainly (provided I can get to them, if I'm frozen in like I was last year I'm not so sure!) Still, I have got techniques to work on and define myself in and I'll be hoping to use the winter to gestate and nurture ideas so I can come back during the following year and return to work and productivity - not just to hit some obscure "targets" through benefits promotions but because I want it for myself. We'll see how we do.
Tomorrow, sprog is off to school and I'll be taking some me-time, some tea-time, and gathering and mowing the lawn and doing a bit of the tidying required to nest ourselves in. I'm looking forward to hearing my son tell me what he's learned that day, and to see his happy smiling face when he comes running up on the path, bursting with stories of his new discoveries about life and his own path within it.
Bring it on, and a happy September morn to everyone
I'm been filling my eyes to the brim with watercolour paintings lately, checking out different styles from the romantic to the abstract to the kitch to the "I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here..." I love the ethereal nature of watercolour; slightly fae, almost dreamlike qualities. I have never worked with watercolour but I'm looking forward to dabbling in it.
I did some garden pottering yesterday, bottling up the first bit of elderberry cordial and thinking about maybe freezing some today as I want to make more, as well as rosehip sirip. The garden got what I feel will be its final cut, but I need to go round with the strimmer, rip out some rather insistent brambles from sproggo's flower beds, and also cut the heads off a few sunflowers to allow the seeds to dry out for bird-seed over the winter.
Along with the cooler temps I have been drawn to stodgier food! Much richer than I would normally eat, with fresh Guernsey milk and proper butter, roasted and steamed and very little raw, cold foods. I had the last salad of the year last week - I enjoyed it but now as I eat with the seasons, I'm more interested in my chard, which goes into nearly every dish. I remind myself to eat a bit better, getting at least two meals in, and maybe something light at night. I'm eyeing my leeks now and while I was hoping to keep them in the ground as long as I could, the cats have discovered this lovely new litter box known as my raised bed. Sigh. So I might find myself pulling the leeks sooner than I had planned, and I'm now just trying to figure out where I'd put them if I had to.
I'm hoping this winter I'll be able to recover my strength but to keep my mind active and occupied - always a struggle during the dark months. The classes will help, certainly (provided I can get to them, if I'm frozen in like I was last year I'm not so sure!) Still, I have got techniques to work on and define myself in and I'll be hoping to use the winter to gestate and nurture ideas so I can come back during the following year and return to work and productivity - not just to hit some obscure "targets" through benefits promotions but because I want it for myself. We'll see how we do.
Tomorrow, sprog is off to school and I'll be taking some me-time, some tea-time, and gathering and mowing the lawn and doing a bit of the tidying required to nest ourselves in. I'm looking forward to hearing my son tell me what he's learned that day, and to see his happy smiling face when he comes running up on the path, bursting with stories of his new discoveries about life and his own path within it.
Bring it on, and a happy September morn to everyone