Autumnal equinox

Summer used to be a hard season for me to let go of but these last few years I have been coming round to the beauty of Autumn. Our backyard continues to provide in abundance and keeps me busy putting aside pears, apples, grapes, plums and ever more tomatoes for the Winter. Summer seems to slip away as we enjoy walks in the sunshine, fresh fruit off the trees, baking treats in the cooler weather as well as a last burst of busyness before a frost takes the remains of the garden. The coldroom starts to fill up and the freezers are bursting. Soon we will be collecting the walnuts and hazelnuts. It really is a gorgeous time of year. Last night we celebrated with a good dinner, yummy dessert (made by S) and a fire outside. We'd had an incredible weekend and as I sat out on stools and a bench (built by my lovely husband) with my family it really did seem to me that life just doesn't get any better.This has been an unusual year for my family - full of challenges but full of incredible learning experiences too. I happily say good-bye to this past year and look forward to moving on but I also really appreciate the lessons I learned this year. Here's to a wonderful Autumn.