Autumnal changes :: Time out to reflect

Hello everyone, it has been a little while since I posted here. I just needed a little breather and time away to embrace autumn for all that it is. As the leaves change colour and begin to fall I use this particular time of year to contemplate the changes that I want to bring about next in my life. Change is always going on however this autumn I needed a little headspace whilst I got myself organised once more and plans put in place.

Autumn is now drawing to a close, the leaves have blown away by the recent storms, and the trees are standing bare. Winter is now firmly on its way. With the wind changing direction today, bringing with it cold northerly air, I thought it would be a good time to come back to this space and tell you what I've been doing and to let you know about the change in direction that I've finally decided to make in my life...

I’ve been wanting to tell you for sometime but finding the words to do it has been a little bit of a blocker to posting on here. There have been a few big exciting new projects that have engulfed my time and my mind for the past month and a half. I’m now ready to share them with you.

Firstly I’ve made some really delightful progress with my book content and have started putting together the outline of a creative workshop that I’ve had buzzing around in my head for sometime. I’ve had this little dream hidden on my About Me page for quite a few years but during late summer I really started to push forward with trying to get what was in my head out onto paper.

Sharing my plans with my family and closest friends has given me a burst of enthusiasm and a desire to keep going with the concept I have. I’ve started writing my book and planning the content for each section and I’m enjoying taking my time to write and think. I decided to work gradually on the project to ensure that I can feel uplifted by the writing journey and not feel too pressurised. For me after the initial flurry of writing on my Mac, I’ve recently sat down with a pretty notebook and have handwritten even more ideas that have popped into my head. A mix of handwritten notes, typed notes on Evernote and documents on my Mac are gradually being pieced together but at last I feel I have an outline that I'm happy with.

Secondly I have taken the plunge to start another dream of mine. I have enrolled on a life coaching course for the next 9 months. I was inspired to venture into coaching following a mentoring and coaching module that I had taken during a post grad course that I completed in 2009. It’s been a big decision for me that has been lurking inside me for over 6 years and at last I'm making it a reality. It is only now I feel ready to take it on and can see where it fits with me and my future plans.

After a long search I have finally discovered a course that I feel really engaged with. There’s an achievable amount of study time needed to cover the material, a good location which is only an hours drive away and a great balance between information and practical application. So for one weekend each month I’m joining a small group of people on our learning journey together. Initially I had signed up for a shorter course but decided to extend my learning as the group is really wonderful and is making the learning experience a real pleasure.

Despite the cold dull weather that we are now experiencing, it feels like a warm bright light has arrived, lifting my mood and giving me more direction than I have had in a while. I can't wait to see where these plans take me.

My simple pleasure - Watching Autumn colours

Over the past month or so I've been savouring one of my favourite seasons of the year. I love the arrival of Autumn and watching the leaves on trees and plants change colour, it really is one of my favourite simple pleasures at this time of year. For me the moment the leaves change means swapping the contents of wardrobes for cosy clothes, getting to wear my collection of scarves, putting on warm boots and a coat. It's is a comforting signal to start winding down, spending more time indoors and snuggling under cosy blankets.

Over the past month or so I've loved watching the leaves on trees change from green to yellows and reds. From our attic I can see trees in the distance in each direction and have loved seeing how the view changes week on week and noticing the gradual change happening in nature. It's our first Autumn in our new home and having garden with seasonal plants. I have noticed every few days our acer change colour and gradually drop its leaves. This weekend all but a handful of leaves were still clinging on. Watching the leaves fall can feel magical, like confetti and snow falling and making a gradual decent to land, creating a blanket of bright colours where not one leaf is the same.

The shades of autumn leaves and the contrast they bring is so much more appealing than green leaves during the summer. Walking through our local park last week, a grey and foggy morning was brightened only by leaves on trees, some turning a vibrant and golden yellow with pops of bright red berries.

Blankets of leaves cover the space under trees, a mix of yellow green and some light tan brown leaves, matching my favourite boots.

Earlier this week we had a hard frost, I love the way the frost picks up all the details on the leaves.

Watching the autumn colours arrive is one of my favourite simple pleasures. If you haven't already get outside and seek autumn colours, take photos, and marvel at natures signal that winter is on its way.

A busy month :: Autumn is here

Autumn has well and truly arrived. My scarf collection is making an appearance on a daily basis, my boots are out, my winter coat on, and I get to wear my favourite hats for the next few months.

 My morning walk to the train station is getting prettier by the minute, the trees are slowly changing colour and crisp golden leaves are filling the pavements. I love how the way my walk to work changes throughout the year. However on the flip side, the walk home is dark and I’m missing the daylight and the view of the sun setting on the way home. With the dark nights comes the excuse to hunker down, snuggle in blankets and not feel guilty about getting crafty. 

I haven’t been posting on my blog for a while as I’ve spent the past month planning projects I’m hoping to achieve by the end of the year. I always set myself so much to do, with a full time job and a hour commute to work, and then an hour back again, the days are so much shorter than I would like! The dark evenings mean the light isn’t great, so I don't get to see how things look in the daylight and I am unable to document my progress in photos. 

During last month I was off sick for a week and in bed and whilst I was waiting to get better I had time to think, relax, look through my favourite interiors books to get inspiration and watch some of my favourite movies. 

After being unwell I wanted to kick start things and make the most of my free time, I think you realise how little you achieve when you are feeling under the weather and how much you want to do when you stop and think. I decided to pick up my knitting needles and continue knitting the cosy cable cushion cover I started last year. I put the project down at the beginning of the year but I'm loving the feeling of yarn in my hands and watching my knitting grow. It's a perfect project for after work as I snuggle on the sofa and feel that I'm achieving something line by line of the pattern. It has also got me thinking about attempting to crochet again, (I'll write more about that in a few days time!).

With the dark evenings I have also started to notice small things that would make a difference to the comfort of our home. One of the projects is to make Roman blinds and curtains for our flat. I have two windows I want to make curtains for, and a back door and window that I plan to make Roman blinds for as all the windows are longer or an odd size. I want to create a more insulated and cosy home to ensure we stay warmer this winter. I've been looking at fabric samples, deciding on the style of the curtains, selecting curtain poles and getting my head round how to make Roman blinds and curtains. I had a perfect excuse to go to John Lewis and swoon over the fabric section, even Mr C didn’t seem to mind! I'm still deciding on the fabric but over the next week or so I hope to be able to choose and to make a start on measuring and cutting the fabric. I'm still waiting for a few fabric samples to arrive.

I've also been planning to make new cushions for a while to make our sofa more cosy. I've made one cushion cover already but I want to make one more that is unique and something new I haven't done before. Over the past month I have started to plan the design for the new patchwork cushion cover and I've made a start on making it, so I'll update you shortly.

I have also spent time thinking about Christmas in our home. I have decided to treat Mr C and I to a few new Christmas decorations this year. I have a real passion for all things scandi style. All my decorations are made out of wood and are painted white and red, I’ve collected these over the years and I love them.  For over 5 years I have had a wish list of Christmas decorations I’d love to have. A few weeks ago I took the plunge to make the investment and buy them. I have wanted them after all these years so I know the investment will be worth it. 

I am planning to make a few things on the run up to Christmas, including Christmas appliqué bunting, festive cushion covers and Christmas cards. I’d love to create a Christmas quilt for Mr C and I to snuggle up under but I just don’t think I'll have the time. I'm hoping to also do December Daily/Journal Your Christmas to document the run up to Christmas too. I’ll start posting my Christmas related posts during December so keep an eye out then and you'll get a little insight into Christmas in our home. 

What projects are you working on at the moment? Have the dark cold evenings made you pick up some hobbies again? I'll update you on the things I'm making, doing and what is inspiring me over the next few weeks, in the meantime keep warm!

Autumn begins :: Harvesting crops

October arrived this week bringing with it a mix of weather. The rainy and stormy days cleared the muggy air and then some sunshine and unseasonably mild weather. I love Autumn especially when the leaves start turning to the beautiful reds and yellows and leaves dance around the pavements in the wind. With the seasons turning came with it a signal for me to start to tidy up our courtyard garden and harvest our final few crops.

I spent time in our garden sweeping up, moving garden furniture and pots, tidying the dead plants and picking our small crop of tomatoes, chillies and potatoes left in the garden. It is quite therapeutic pulling up dead plants and preparing the space for planting bulbs and preparing the soil and our space for spring. Lugging things round and moving containers was satisfying and great exercise! Overall the garden is delivering a good crop of herbs, we had some unsuccessful radish crops and the strawberries didn’t produce much of a crop this year but it was worth trying.

Three different tomato plants delivered some lovely tomatoes, most of which I had to ripen most of them on a windowsill. 

The chillies started turning red by themselves and are waiting to be used to add to a pasta dish. I’m looking forward to seeing what flavours they produce!

I grew potatoes for the first time this year but started really late. I was unsure when to dig up the potoes as it didn’t flower. I didn't plant many seed potatoes and thought perhaps I had just grown long trailing plants! I did a bit of digging around and came out with a small crop! Mr C and I had these in one sitting, boiled with salted butter and chives from of the garden. It really was one of life's simple pleasures. I will definitely try growing potatoes again next year.

One of my fuchsias is still flowering, which started quite late this year. I love these pretty petals, they are almost like pink and purple frilly skirts. 

While I was digging around and sweeping up I spotted a few final flowers on the strawberry plant. I do love looking close up at these flowers they are so delicate.

Our garden will be quite an empty space over the next few months but I'll keep you posted on any changes or things I'm trying out in our courtyard garden.

October in our garden

Spending time in the garden during October involves getting the garden tidy before winter and preparing the garden for spring. I spent most of this weekend tidying up the garden, sweeping up leaves, planting bulbs, restocking the bird feeder, adding new plants to my window boxes and rearranging a few things before the winter kicks in.

I emptied my window boxes, keeping the geraniums and planting them into small pots to keep over winter in my cold frame greenhouse. In their place I planted red cyclamen and ivy into my window boxes, creating the same arrangement for each front windowsill. These new plants will hopefully last into the new year and add a bit of colour during the grey and dreary months ahead.

I love the combination of delicate cyclamen flowers and the trailing ivy. They are so pretty!

I planted a pack of violas in the window box on our windowsill in the back garden, the flowers look like little faces! These should last during the winter as long as I dead head the flowers and keep them watered.

It is that time of year when you need to plant bulbs for spring. I planted two different types of pink tulip bulbs, one with a white edge and one deep pink. I love daffodils and bought two types of daffodil bulbs, Tete a Tete and Pheasants Eye, both new to me before my trip to the garden centre but I loved the pictures shown on the bulb packets so went with these. I interspersed blue and white Grape Hyacinth bulbs in amongst the other bulbs to mix up the arrangements a little. I haven't planted bulbs in Autumn before so I think it will be a bit of a trial...I hope to have a spring garden full of pots full of colourful flowers! 

Here's our little courtyard space this October...

I spent time sweeping up and moving a few of the pots around, re-potting a few plants and separating the lilies into different pots. I'm hoping I have done it correctly and that they will survive being split up!  

And look who spent most of the afternoon with me...

A very friendly robin enjoying all the worms and slugs that I found when I moved the pots around!

I had a great weekend enjoying the fresh air and making the most of being in the garden. Have you started planting any spring bulbs yet? What have you chosen to plant?