Most of my photos look better enlarged - just click on the photo to do this



Wednesday 31 August 2011

September song

One of the coolest and wettest summers since 1983 (apparently) is almost over.  Tomorrow it will be September and we can no longer kid ourselves that the weather we have been waiting for since May will actually arrive.  The nights are drawing in already and even on a bright day it is dark enough to need the lights on by 8.30.  This year autumn has arrived quietly - not the sudden realisation that it is here that we sometimes get but more a stealthy creeping with mellow fruitfulness coming early and berries on the hedges whilst the summer flowers are still blooming - quite strange really.

It has been more than 50 years since I last returned to a new school year in September and yet I still see September as a time of new beginnings!  A time to turn over a new leaf and to start on some of the indoor projects which have lain undone during the lighter months. 

It is actually very liberating to realise that all those things one had planned to do during the summer and not got done can now be shelved as it is too late! 


September brings thoughts of cosy evenings - no longer need we spend the long daylight hours gardening and trying to keep on top of the weeds but thoughts can turn to quiet evenings knitting or reading,  earlier bedtimes when the sound of owls in the black darkness replaces the final night-time chattering of the rooks in the soft grey darkness of midsummer nights.  Windows no longer wide open but just enough for some fresh air during the night.  Bedclothes covering us rather than pushed aside....
There is a slowing down - the pace of life is less frenetic during the autumn and winter and now that, for most of us winter doesn't mean real hardship and the possibility of not having enough to eat I look on it as a welcome interlude for Spring will surely come again and by then we will be well rested and ready to begin again.


I love our seasons here in the UK and would really struggle living somewhere where the days were always the same length and the sun shone most of the time.  I enjoy hearing about sunny winter days with temperatures as low as 20 degrees in Australia but we here in UK are made of sterner stuff and that sounds more like summer to me!!   I love the misty dampness of autumn days, the occasional clear bright day, when the sky seems an even brighter clearer blue than during the summer months, all the more appreciated because of its rarity, the wonderful colours of the leaves and berries and the general feeling of snuggling down for a pleasant nap! 
"Where are the songs of Spring?  Ay, where are they? 
Think not of them thou hast thy music too .."
(Ode to Autumn - Keats)

Here we rarely have the extremes of weather that some parts of the world have - I am thinking of those poor people across the Pond who are reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene - but our weather and our seasons are altogether more gentle affairs and whilst we often complain about the grey rainy days of February, the cold dark days of December and the lack of wall to wall sunshine in summer we don't usually have to deal with the devastation that these extremes can bring for which I am truly thankful. 

I leave you with a photo of our recent tomato harvest!!  We have been eating our daily portion of beans, have had several cucumbers and have been adding some of the nasturtium flowers to our salads (luckily no blackfly aagain this year) even had a couple of dozen apples from our little tree but our tomatoes have not ripened and when my husband said "I have picked 2 tomatoes - they will do for our lunch" I thought we'd be rather hungry!!!

27 comments:

  1. A lovely Autumnal post. Isnt it odd how we have such differing seasons, your Autumn has crept in, ours seems to have arrived all of a sudden.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your tomato harvest looks very much like mine, and I even had a crop in the glass house! The beans have been rather disappointing and we got next to no salad leaves, all in all a reflection on our terrible summer I believe. We never even took off our winter duvet

    I crave the sunshine and find grey dull days very difficult but I have a new project to embark on come September and will look forward to that as new beginnings as you say.

    Wonderful post Jane, beautifully written.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A lovely autumnal post - and as you know I agree with you on things meteorological. I'm back to two hotties again definitely!

    Pomona x

    ReplyDelete
  4. A lovely post - plenty to look forward too.

    I shall hunt my boot out for tomorrow - sounds like I might need it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Autumn is my favourite season, so I love the cooler days that are upon us. There were even leaves fluttering down from one of my trees this morning.
    Your little tomatoes must have been very sweet, but as my old nan would have said "They'd make a fool of your mouth", in other words not much of a mothfull LOL

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lots of signs of autumn here to, but I prefer spring and summer I have to say!
    My tomatoes are just getting going, and are very small ones too

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a beautiful, reflective post. My tomato harvest has been as yours. Sigh. I am hoping for a little Indian summer.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really don't know what to think at this time of year. I do enjoy the colours of autumn and a clear bright autumn day is beautiful, I just find it hard to let go of summer! Winter on the other hand is something I could do without, we had -20 deg last December and that is definitely not something to look forward to. What I really love is to get to 1st January and know that spring is on it's way!
    Vivienne x

    ReplyDelete
  9. I got swept away by the wonderful way you write and started dreaming of cooler weather and cardigans and snuggling under a blanket. The reality is we've got 33 degrees C. right now! I have to admit, though, it's cooler in the evenings.
    Lovely pictures; I like looking at pictures from your garden.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Firelighting time methinks and lots of knitting time! Cx

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a lovely post, evoking the joys of autumn. It's my favorite season, but this year, I'm having a hard time letting go of summer.

    Over here on Vancouver Island we have weather very much like England - perhaps that's why so many British people have settled here over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ha :) I have a glut of tomatoes and have spent the week making veggie sauces to freeze. I have never known a year like this one. Everything as ripened and looks good, believe me that is unusual for this garden.

    I could not live anywhere else Jane.
    My roots are firmly planted...

    A lovely peaceful, nostalgic post....tku

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a delightful ode to autumn you've written. I couldn't agree more, although I do feel it has arrived a little early this year.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Two perfectly formed tomatoes!!! A lovely autumnal post. I am actually ready to embrace the autumn now. Like you, I didn't get around to doing what I should have in the garden and now it is to late. There is always next year! x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Like many others, Autumn is my favourite season too. I just wish the shops wouldn't fast track us into Christmas mode (Christmas cards already in the shops)!

    Beautiful photos, all of them, although the one that made me smile is the one of those 2 dear little tomatoes! My tomatoes haven't ripened at all, just not enough sun. Never mind, next year maybe..........!

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. A lovely post Jane. I always loved walking to school on sunny but fresh September mornings.
    Don't over do it with those tomatoes!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely images in your post Jane and reflections to. I hope your tomatoes tasted good. What a shame your crop is small.
    I had a bit of a chuckle in regard to your comment about sunny winters in Australia with temperatures of 20C and how the Brits are made of sterner stuff. Honestly I do not know how you deal with your cold, snowy and icy winters but I guess it is what you get use to.
    I dislike the cold and much prefer to be outside in the sunshine in shorts and a t shirt. If I can go bare foot, that's even better.
    Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm regretfully saying goodbye to our coldest Winter in many years. Oh yes it does get a little cold here but it's mainly at night when you're at home. Of course the problem is our houses can be cold and people don't have much heating. I just say "put a jumper on for goodness sake, a bit of cold weather is good for you !!"
    Autumn is actualy my favourite season 'cos I love it when the nights get cool enough to want a blanket and the days are not too hot . Such a relief after Summer.
    One day I might get to experience a year of your seasons then I'll now which I really prefer.
    Cheers
    Helen

    ReplyDelete
  19. I must start to proofread my writing! Then I'd see that I meant know not now !!!
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jane,
    White rabbits to you!We're having lovely warm weather here and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Indian summer - maybe because I'm on two week's holiday from next week...when rain is forecast! There is a nip in the air early in the morning and the nights are drawing in but I'm trying to ignore them! Lesley x

    ReplyDelete
  21. Double white rabbits!! My other half always says we tend to get good weather in the first two weeks of September. This morning is looking wonderful from my window.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm a great lover of autumn and back to school time. Love the tomatoes - they look like mine!

    ReplyDelete
  23. At least your tomatoes are red! I don't mind going into Autumn but perhaps we might get an Indian Summer -it's nice here today.

    ReplyDelete
  24. A lovely post, Jane...you capture the autumnal feeling so well. I love all the seasons and the way they change and have their own special atmosphere. I smiled at your mention of the small tomato crop...after a similar one last year my hb decided to 'take a sabbatical' from growing them! It's very sunny and warm here today, hope it is the same where you are.
    Helen x

    ReplyDelete
  25. I so agree with everything you say about the particular promise that autumn brings ... my favourite season.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yes, I love the variety in our seasons and look forward to each equally. My tomatoes are still green including the greenhouse ones.

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a gentle relaxing post. I think you could write books! Fall is sneaking upon us here too in the midwest US. Cooler nights, the sun sets earlier, leaves are beginning to turn colors, yes, things are slowing down, but we still have things to do before winter sets in! Handyman still has not finished painting the house and I just started painting my living room today--but I'm going to finish this weekend!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have found what you read of interest. Do please leave a comment as I love to hear what you think.