hello October

hello October with all your 

blue skies, foggy walks, berries, wood stacks, cobwebbed gorse

sunrises, sunsets, woollen jumpers, 

smoke scented air, fires, 

books, 

pears, apples, pumpkins, soup, fruit cake, damson jam

& leaf swirling goodness!

hallowe'en

Last day of October. The leaves are turning and falling and the clocks have turned so the darkness falls faster than ever. The pumpkins are carved and later we'll light the fire outside and toast marshmallows. We'll eat lentil ragu and pecan tart. There'll be baked apples with fruit soaked in sloe gin and served with brown sugar and whipped cream. It's the night of ghouls and ghosts. There's a wolf boy in the sitting room and an un-dead cowboy playing Lego upstairs and a teenager (scary in its own right) and I've just spooked myself listening to Short Cuts on Radio 4 - the Witching Hour... happy Hallowe'en!

goodbye october

October, you have been very good to us and today, the last day, especially so. The sun was warm and we sat out with the cawing rooks and drank tea soaking it up. Right now the light is fading and the house smells of onions sizzling in butter as it's mushroom and sage risotto for supper. We had a Halloween birthday party for William yesterday complete with masks and sparklers and chocolate cake and 'vampire blood' (Ribena) and games and screaming nine year olds... tonight will be calmer with a glass or two of wine, candles to keep away the ghouls and maybe a DVD. Wishing you a very happy Halloween!

gathering in

This month is a good time to do some gathering. The two smaller boys and I walk up the lane in search of sloes. The day is heavenly- blustery with fallen leaves eddying at our feet but it is warm and the skies are blue. Leaves are picked up, examined and discussed as we make our way along and the boys play lion and zebra, taking turns to be the hunter and hunted.

We walk to the top of the lane and then pass through the overgrown hedges and come out onto an old track or lane-way. The sloes are plentiful. I improvise a basket out of my scarf and we start picking. William wants to pick them all but I say no, take some and leave some for other animals.

We're like apes, says William as his little hands dart in around the thorny branches. Yes, yes we are, I reply. Although I'm pretty sure the apes wouldn't be making sloe gin with their fruit, like I'll be doing with ours.

wood pile

October has meant some warm sunny days, plenty of misty nights but also lots of cold wind and heavy rain. It's time to start stacking the wood. We try to keep the timber that's ready for burning close to hand at the back door- no running out to the drying shed on a blustery wet afternoon for me. It's a very nice job stacking the wood- I had helpers this time and we'd it done in a flash. I love the thud of the axe splitting the wood and the clang as we load it into the wheelbarrows and then it's stacked relatively neatly and there it waits for a not-very-nice-day when we need warm bums!

night sky

I do love October and its mist filled evenings and starry night skies. I like the dark when I am tucked up safely indoors but I'm thinking I should be braver and embrace that inky black, especially when there are stars to be seen. We are lucky to live in  a very quiet place with no light pollution so as soon as we step out into the garden and look up we can see them glittering and we can remember our place in the wider universe.

I love these oil paintings by Amanda Blake. Her astral night skies are wonderfully speckled with just enough light to be atmospheric and I'm wondering what the boys would say to a night-time picnic and a little star gazing... 

You can see more of Amanda's work here.