Autumness

Autumn, it is my favourite, the Season comes in slowly and i just find the colours of Autumn beautiful. A real delight of deep blends and ever changing into something new and crisp. 

When lying in bed we look out onto trees and it makes my heart skip to watch them change, delighting in them over every Season, the growing of Spring, the joy of Summer burst, the leaving of Autumn and the frost of Winter. It's ever changing just like the month of Autumn.

With that brings clarity, Autumn is a time when i begin to retreat, this year has felt a 'retreated' year, however a lot is happening in the Austin household right now and it feels fitting with the Autumnal season. With that i have been getting my Autumn on and doing lots of enjoyable seasonal embracing. 

We got back from our holidays and instantly chutney and jam making was on the cards. Our neighbour had given us a Rhubarb crown when we first moved in, this had been down the bottom of the garden but it wasn't doing much, so i moved it into a pot and placed it at the top of the garden, it went wild and lovely red rhubarb stalks began sprouting everywhere, every time i went out i eeked with smiles at the tasty jam it was going to turn into. 

I had made rhubarb jam last year and failed miserably so i waited for Sam's Auntie to come and stay and she helped me. Finding my faithful Marguerite Patten book from the pantry we delved in. This book is great and was a Christmas gift from my Mum and Ron a few years ago, it's basically the main book i use and there are so many variations of simple jams and chutneys, it's an old trusty. Strangely when Sam's Auntie showed me her book she used it was an older version of this one, coincidence? that just proved how trusty it was. 

We threw all the ingredients in and watched it bubble up nicely, waiting for it to get to the correct temperature then doing some special test on a plate to see if it had set. I havent took any pictures of the making of it as our kitchen is not the dream (next year, eek) but for now it's about the descriptions. My thermometer doesn't reach the exact temp and i think this is what happened last year, i over boiled it. woops! Anyway this year i didn't and i got a nice haul of jam, i have already given some out, smashed one, doh and enjoying the tastes myself, toast and rhubarb jam with a steamy cup of tea, yes please.

I also made some chutneys, i do this every year them give them out at Christmas for gifts to friends and family for cheese and nibbles over the festive period. This year i made apple and elderberry, both hauled from the garden and blackberry bramble, hauled from our local golf course, i also made some spicy apple, my favourite, it has mixed spice in and is so Christmassy, sadly i cheated with this and used some left over apples bought from the shop. 

I have been crafting also, i decided my mantel needed a new garland as the Spring one went into Summer. I had decided i wanted to make an Autumnal leaf garland so started looking through my many craft books and found some lovely little ideas in this one. 

It has a number of gorgeous crochet and knit leaves and flowers in and the designs are simple and easy to follow. I have lots of acorns dotted around the house so made the decision i wasn't going to have acorns in the garland, however i knew i wanted oak leaves in and maple leaves, then some normal leaves. The garland has been up and down and taken on a number of different designs. Firstly i just made the leaves as they were, however then decided they were too dark and didn't give me the excited heart beat i wanted. I then decided to outline them...

However when i outline them, they kind of lost their shape, so down they came again and i decided to attempt to make the stem/veins of the leaf, aha, this is when i started to smile and feel that burst of yes, this is what i wanted. 

I have to admit it's not exactly what i wanted and some of the leafs don't look how i hoped however it will do and it's been complimented lots so i think i maybe need to stop being my worst critic and enjoy this bit of Autumn. 

Up or down, i am still deciding if it should just hang or be pulled up in the middle, hmm. 

I also made a little pumpkin hat for a friend at work who left to have her little girl this week. I forgot to take a photo but have stolen this of her blog 2mermaidz where Sarah writes about the lifes and adventures of her and her girl gang. 

Pumpkin season came upon us and we decided to rummage the pumkin piles in the supermarket for the best green one's, as they have the most flavour i am told. We found two good sizes and decided to put one in the porch for Halloween and eat up the 2nd.

My favourite curry is pumpkin curry, i remember days in Burma and Sri Lanka when i ate it at every possible opportunity and just knew i needed those tastes in my mouth again. Sam set himself away and boy he didn't disappoint. We looked through our many cook books and found a recipe however the ingredients were too wild so he looked online and found this one http://www.mysrilankanrecipe.com/roasted-coconut-pumpkin-curry/ ~ we enjoyed it so much we had it again on the Saturday. 

We were so happy to have pumpkin in our mouths again we have decided to build a patch in the garden to attempt to grow some for next year. This excites me muchly. 

We have been out as much as possible, enjoying some of our favourite spots - mostly the woods in Autumn, the light and colour is gorgeous and there are so many good smells for Socksy. 

I follow two blogs which i love and have been inspired to embrace the seasons more through the crafts and creations on their posts - go enjoy Lucy at Attic24 and Gillian at Tales from a happy house and marvel in their wonders and delights.