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



Sunday 27 October 2013

Autumn


I am sure it hasn't escaped your notice that Christmas is coming!  For weeks now the shops have been filled with gifts, cards, chocolates and so on, the street lights are up (although not yet lit thank goodness) and glittering decorations abound in all the stores.  Every magazine I pick up recently seems to be filled with recipes, ideas for presents and stocking fillers (who fills stockings with gifts costing more than £30 each? - probably the same people who according to a recent weekend paper downsize and buy properties at over £1,000,000!)  Why this madness?  Christmas is more than 8 weeks away.  How long does it take a body to prepare for the 25th December?  I feel sad to think that with all the anticipation of the festive season Autumn is often overlooked.

Living in the moment rather than rushing headlong towards the future we'd appreciate Autumn in all its guises the gentle slowing down of things, the softening of the colours, the wonderful light when the low sun does deign to show itself, the clouds scudding across the sky, the shortening of the days - no long twilit evenings perhaps but instead we shut out the darkness and snuggle by the fire.


I love autumn - there is a kind of liberation in the fact that we can't be outside all the time gardening and going for outings sometimes the weather is against all that, the things we didn't do that we had planned to do must now be shelved till next year and there's time for indoor pursuits instead. They say a change is as good as a rest after all and there will be plenty of time to think about Christmas later nearer the time surely?


So I plan to make this a Christmas free zone here on my blog at least until we are well into December.  If you want sanctuary from all the madness that seems to take over at this time of year I promise there will be no red and green, no tinsel nor recipes for Christmas food, nothing telling you how to decorate your house or tree just normal daily living and enjoyment of the seasons each in its turn.



Front page headline in the paper   It seems that due to poor harvests the price of olives will increase by 50% and some olive growers will struggle to meet existing contracts and earlier this month agriculture experts said that there would be a shortage of goat's cheese too.  Whatever will we do?!!! Can we possibly entertain without olives or goat's cheese?!!

12 comments:

  1. what a refreshing post! I can recommend the Christmas moratorium system-just agree with everyone that if they promise not to buy you anything, you will do the same. End of all madness and shopping. Autumn is my favourite season too! C x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my goodness!! No olives? What will we do?
    I do agree about Christmas getting earlier every year. But this year I m trying to get everything prepared early so that I can spend time actually enjoying the real spirit of the season without the rush.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well I do like goats cheese and my husband loves olives...but I'm sure we'll cope.
    One thing I noticed when we were in France recently is that they are not 'Christmas mad' yet, they obviously are much more sensible about the whole thing!
    Beautiful photos..love the skies and hydrangeas!
    V x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd like to hold back 'till Christmas eve, but of course I can't get away with that, what with card writing etc. But December 1st is quite early enough. The last minute rush is part of the fun.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Noooooooo! I thought when I started to read your post - then, sigh of relief, you are saying exactly what I say too. I can do with leaving it all until the final week to be honest. Decs go up on Christmas Eve. Yes, they do. Apart from cards, they go up as they arrive. SO I shall join you in making my blog Christmas free until a decent time arrives! Lx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oooh , I think you might manage a little something. I don't think I heard of olives and goat's cheese until the 1970s...

    Penny
    x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Personally I can easily entertain without goat's cheese and especially without olives:) Like you I love the Autumn and want it to last as long as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I could easily (and happily) get lost in that first photo on the path among the trees.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well Jane, what a delight to know that I will be able to come to your blog for a respite from the Christmas rush and madness. I work in retail and absolutely dread the coming 'buy, buy, buy' season. I want to crawl into a cave and emerge Dec. 26. As for your photos, why, why, why, is it so beautifully breathtaking in your area? I am jealous.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What bliss, a Christmas-free blog, just as my home is, ever year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A great post Jane. I haven't been to the shops much so I haven't been exposed to all the Christmas hype as yet. I did notice freshly baked mince pies in the supermarket the other day though and they had to be eaten within a few days! I wish the shops would wait until December the 1st but by then they already have the Easter stock on the shelves! x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hooray for sanity. I don't want to read anything about the C word until December 1st. I shall visit here for normality!

    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.