This week has seen the Autumn equinox come and go so now the days are officially shorter than the nights. As I was thinking about the seasons yesterday when out for a walk with my OH and JR it is obvious to me that Autumn is my favourite season. The leaves are turning beautiful warm colours and soon, in the right shade of golden syrup light, the trees will be on fire but in a good way. We are lighting the Rayburn on most nights and it makes the place cosy. My little quirk in naming inanimate objects has risen to the fore and the Rayburn has been called 'Mrs Jones' as it heats the home, heats the water and it is easy to cook in the oven or on the stove top so it is practically a housekeeper and what would be a good name? Why, Mrs Jones, of course!
I'm not crazy just differently minded.
There is always at least one plastic bag or empty drinks bottle in my bag when I go for walks now as I can never quite tell when I will find a huge cluster of gleaming blackberries and the gin has been needing topping up. Fruit pies and crumbles are a big hit in our home this time of year and later today I will be stopping by a friend's house to pick some plums at her invitation. There are some family favourites in the recipe books that we have at this time of year and my two children love a classic apple and lavender tart which is on my list of things to bake tomorrow. My store of jams and preserves is quite full now and the pressure barrels are full of ale which will be ready to drink at Christmas. Yes. I am thinking that far ahead already. My project bags that sit by my side of the sofa are filling up with little knitted stockings in red and white also tiny crocheted snowflakes are collecting in drifts.
My first year with a greenhouse is drawing to an end and although there are things I could grow over the winter, according to books and things, I am not sure as there are a couple of panes missing so things might get a bit chilly. Hardly any tomatoes ripened on the vine which was really disappointing so they are now sitting in bowls on the side in the kitchen to ripen a bit before I slow roast them and make a basic tomato sauce to put in jars for the winter. Next year I am trying some italiam tomato varieties at someone's recommendation. The chillies are ripening to fire engine red at a few per day and there are so many more than I had hoped for so they have been going into our dinners already although a slight miscalculation on my part led to some discomfort on my OH's part but let's gloss over that for now. The squashes are growing slowly and all that is left to harvest is some beetroot and carrots...oh, and some runner beans. Okay, maybe the greenhouse is doing better than I thought! My ginger experiment seems to be working better than I had thought and I am getting impatient to empty out the bucket to see how much root ginger I have managed to grow from the original three inch root that I planted a few months ago. Some of the online sources have said to leave it a year before digging it up but I really want to know how much it has grown so far...argh! Decisions, decisions.
Looking out the window I can see that the snow patch that was still on the hills in August has finally melted which would be good if they weren't starting to forecast snow on the hills. It's time for me to head outside to pick bunches of herbs for drying and if I am quick I might be able to give JR the slip as he has left my side long enough to fall asleep on the sofa. His self confidence has been dented by yet another large spider which scared him so he is hiding somewhere high up.
Hugs from Haggis Land
Jx
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