September was such a lovely month here this year, an absolutely perfect mix of summer and autumn. This seasonal shift has caught me by surprise in the best possible way, and I have to say that one week into Autumn and I am really loving it.
Early September still felt very summery with warm, dry weather and many days of sunshine. My toes were certainly happy :)
Little B went back to school in the second week of September and setting an alarm again after the ease of the summer holidays was a bit of a shock to the system. I do enjoy the school routine though, and once the youngest, noisiest child is out of the house for the day a rather delicious quietness settles on the home front.
The kitty has wanted to be close to her humans just lately and in the quiet of the morning I really enjoy her cosy company. She's not a cat that you can entice onto your lap very easily, so these kind of snuggles are always very much on her terms and it's lovely when she decides I'm the place to be!
I bought summery flowers for my table and gave our downstairs living room a bit of a tidy up and a refresh. I don't mind telling you that I was very lazy over the summer months when it came to housework, but there is something about the back-to-school vibe which returns the focus to home routines.
I continue to really enjoy my weekly yarny meet-ups at the café and in September I was obsessed with knitting these socks. I managed to finish one sock down to the end of the toes, and the second sock is ready to start with the heel I think. I had to put them away while I concentrated on creating the Fireside tutorial, but with the colder weather snapping in I really want these socks off my needles and onto my feet. It's firmly on my to-do list.
Middle of September I was gifted some beautiful produce from my friend's allotment plot which almost made my cry with gratitude and delight. A punnet of the most delicious sun ripened tomatoes and a bunch of flowers for drying so that they'll last right through the winter months.
Such beautiful late summer colour wrapped in newspaper, a nostalgic reminder of my childhood too as my Mum used to grow these flowers on her allotment.
I made a caprese salad for my lunch with some of the tomatoes and ooooohmygosh it was ever so good. Such simple, fresh flavours and a real taste of summer.
This was a sunny Saturday afternoon walk around local fields and lanes because it was just too nice to stay indoors.
I stood for ages watching that tractor ploughing up and down the side of that huge hill, it was crazy satisfying to observe the slow but pleasing toil of it somehow. I remember also thinking that the colours of the landscape in mid September perfectly matched the seasonal shift from summer to autumn.
I love this view as we get near to home after our walks out to neighbouring villages. We live in quite a hilly area of the town and I love to see all the old Victorian terraced streets following the contours.
We had some really beautiful weather once we'd passed over the autumn equinox, the sort of bright, clear skies that invite you to walk just for the pleasure of it.
I found myself wandering through the park and up to the farm shop one morning, just to get a feel for the season and see what was fresh and inviting. Lots and lots of baby pumpkins greeted me as I walked in the door, leaving no doubt about the season we are now in. Bye-bye summer.
I didn't buy baby pumpkins, but I did buy chocolate. This is one of my favourite local chocolates made in York and I just love it. I love the packaging and I love the gorgeous flavours they come up with - dark chocolate is my preference and this Blood Orange Gin flavour did not disappoint. Crikey it was insanely good.
Some days have felt very much more autumnal than others, and although September was a pretty dry month we did have our fair share of the damps. Low, low cloud pressing down on the landscape....
....spinning teeny, tiny droplets of water into the hedgerows and over everything, us included.
Other days were just amazingly golden and gorgeous, I mean, look how StUNning this light is!! Seven o'clock and the sun is just rising over the hilltops at this time of year, my goodness it really is something special to be out in the world at that time of day.
A gorgeous reward for those early alarms and a reminder that a brisk morning walk is so, so, so good for the mind and soul as well as for the body.
I am still wearing my sandals on days when it's dry and not too chilly, but I often find that by mid afternoon my toes need a little snuggle time. So far we've managed to keep the central heating off and have been making very good use of the crochet blankets and woolly layers as the temperature continues to drop. I light the fire most evenings now, and am truly embracing the cosy vibe of the autumn season.
So here we are into the beginning of Autumn and summer is most definitely over for another year. I've got an exciting trip coming up though, and I'm hoping for some wonderful, warm sunshine which will be such a treat. On Monday I'm going to be travelling south, all the way down to south west France in fact to spend a week in the medieval walled city of Carcassonne (pictured above). This is a working holiday for me - I'm travelling with Stitchtopia and will be teaching on a crochet retreat with a lovely group of ladies, and I'm pretty bloomin' excited I can tell you.
I'll look forward to catching up with you all once I'm back here in Atticland, I will probably have one or two photos to show you from France.........! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx