4 March 2013

Autumn, the best of all seasons

We've finally made it to autumn, my favourite of all the seasons. I start looking forward to autumn on the summer solstice, which was December 21 last year, the longest day of the year and the start of shortening days.  After that, even though we still have a lot of heat and humidity to endure, little by little I know it's trickling slowly down towards autumn, cool days, warm cardigans, flannel sheets, hearty homemade soups and lambswool Ugg slippers.


It's now the fourth day of autumn in Australia and the coolness has come early to our area this year. I think it's still warm north and south of us. On Saturday night Hanno woke up cold and had to put another quilt on the bed. So yesterday, I carried out one of my favourite annual rituals - making the first winter bed, with flannel sheets and an extra layer on top. It's such a defining moment when I think about the coming season, when we'll be working in the vegetable garden, cooking and baking warm food in the kitchen and closing the doors and windows early to keep the cooler air out.

The strange weather is continuing. We've had so much rain here - since the beginning of the year 42 wet days and 20 dry days. This is our wet season but usually we'd get a handful of storms in the afternoon and evening, not all day rain for weeks. I am grateful for it though. It's drenched the gardens and given the trees and land the boost they need after a six month drought. Our local dam is full again.


Ernie and I start our workshops this week and I'm looking forward to it very much. We'll get the update on the bookings tomorrow but last week the blogging ones were almost all booked out. There will be more writing workshops than blogging workshops and I have to admit, it's the writing sessions I'm looking forward to the most. I don't claim to be a master writer but I'm keen to share what I do know with my community and, hopefully, get others on the road to self expression.

I'm writing this on a cloudy Sunday afternoon and it's just started raining again. Soon we'll have dinner, and after I tidy up and do a spot of knitting, I'll have a shower and get into that fluffy winter bed and listen to the rain on the roof. In the meantime though, corn beef and cabbage are slowly cooking in the kitchen so I'd better get a wriggle on.

What is your favourite time of year?

SHARE:

46 comments

  1. An early good morning to you Ronda, I have the dubious luck of being the first to comment at this hour, I have been enjoying reading your posts while at work.

    I am also quite taken on the winter months, but being central qld, our winters are really quite tame. It is still quite hot here, and like yourselves, we have been having a lot of rainfall here that makes for great days reading or sleeping.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. The fact that my birthday is in Autumn may be why! LOL

    We are still in Winter where I live in the U.S.
    But Spring is just around the corner....I hope! After all the dark dreary days,I am ready to open up the house to warmer and brighter days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Darla, I didn't think about the birthday aspect. Mine is coming up too. Maybe that makes a difference.

      Delete
  3. I used to think I had a favourite time of year, but now as I get older I find I like the rituals we go through to prepare for the next season. My post was about autumn this week too!I love the look of your bed....one day I wish you would do a post just on making a bed- hospital corners elude me no matter how hard I try!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use fitted sheets, Kim, or do you mean the top sheet for the hospital corners. I'll do a post on making a bed. I used to be a nursing sister so I've had it drummed into me.

      Delete
  4. Good Morning Rhonda, Autumn is my favourite season as well. We already have cooler nights here ( rural Vic), our garden is looking refreshed from all the recent rain and we are planning to do some painting of our weatherboard house in preparation for our cold frosty winter. Today I am making a spinach and ricotta pie, then ginger nut biscuits! I like your quilt, did you make it yourself? I love the eco yarn cotton, I am crocheting a blanket with some pretty colours and also making a quilt for my daughter's birthday. We had a wood delivery so are looking forward to cold evenings, casseroles and puddings. Have a lovely day, Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Ann. Yours sounds like a very nice day. I bought the quilt at Ikea. I like it because it drops to the floor on both sides, so we both stay covered. I LOVE that Eco Yarns cotton. Aren't the colours gorgeous! I'm knitting a very plain shawl at the moment. I'll blog about it soon.

      Delete
  5. Hi Rhonda, Your bedroom looks so inviting. Such a wonderful quilt. I am looking forward to Spring at the moment. We have just had a cold, wet Winter and finally the days are getting longer and it is getting a bit warmer.
    I can imagine you are looking forward to Autumn. Spring and Autumn are my favourite seasons. Not too hot and not too cold ; )
    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have to agree with you Rhonda, it's my best time of the year to. We've also had lots of rain and extreme humidity which is unusual for down here. The birds are happy again though. I was putting water out under the verandah for them before the rains began because it was so dry. We are chasing weeds at the moment. They are growing faster than we can pull them.
    Blessings Gail

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was very surprised to read about flanalette sheets! I feel like our summer will never end. I'm hot, tired and sick of checking our fire authority's website. Mind you, in between all the heat we've been getting an ocassional day that has been unseasonably cold! I suppose the heat will end eventually and winter will probably hit quickly. I too love the changes in seasons and the different moods and activities that they bring. For now, I will just enjoy hearing about your autumn until ours decides to grace us. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ronda - My Favorite time of the year is all year. However there are times I look forward to a change in the weather.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fall and spring are tied as my favorite times of year. Both are very short seasons where I live, over very quickly but very enjoyable while they last. I love your quilt, it's just beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That bed looks really inviting, beautiful quilt! Much as I enjoy autumn, I am now sooo looking forward to spring. The days are getting longer and lighter, birds are singing and each day the heaps of snow are getting smaller and there is less ice to slide on while walking the dogs :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Autumn is my favourite time of year too, Rhonda. Some people get a bit depressed by it, with the shortening days and the colder weather, but there's something about the red and brown autumn leaves and the nights drawing in that gives it quite a homely feel.

    Spring has arrived here. The daffodils and crocuses are out. The temperature is around 7-10 degrees, so still fairly cool. Not yet time to pack away the winter coats and duvets.

    Have a good day
    Anna
    Sussex, England

    ReplyDelete
  12. How weird to read you are up to get you some more layers on your bed. We really, really want to put them away and we are so hoping to get some hotter days to come ;o)

    Have a lovely day!

    Love from Holland.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Autumn has long been my favourite season.
    It's been very wet here too, the temperatures are dropping, and I just wrote about making up a winter bed as well! It seems so early in the season to do so, however there's no sense in being uncomfortable at night if it's simply a matter of changing sheets. :)

    All the best with your workshops.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, how cosy that sounds! And how funny to think that over here we are just coming into Spring with all the awakenings in the garden that go with it. Wishing you lots of success and fun for your workshops! Kirsten x

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think I love the transition from one season to the next, more than each season itself. All of the expectations and preparations, so much potential ahead! Change is good. Have a very sweet day. Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  16. That quilt is just gorgeous, I love the colours. Way down in Lower South Australia we are in drought and have only had about 27 mls of rain in both January and February. Autumn is creeping in but we might not get rain unil May. ID love to swap skies for just one day and get a good soaking.
    My favouite season is Autumn with Winter a close second as with each passing year, the humidity is getting worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joolz, I wish I could send down some of this precious water. We had a six month drought just before all this rain and it was quite depressing walking around on crunchy grass. We've had well over 1.5 metres so far this year so it must end soon. Hopefully the sky opens for you and your neighbours soon.

      Delete
  17. Good Morning Rhonda....we are having beautiful Autumn days here....Summer is my favourite with Autumn a very close runner up although since moving to the coast Autumn could become my favourite I think! The days are just beautiful...today a lovely sunny one after many cloudy wet days. I'm also a bit like sascedar....I love the transition of the seasons as well and the preparation for them, including the food. Enjoy your day and I look forward to seeing your garden...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm craving Autumn! We still have at least a week of over 30 in store for us in Melbourne. Thankfully the nights look like they'll all get under 20 - it makes such a difference when sleep is possible! Autumn is my favorite season. I'll be spending the next few weeks watching the leaves very closely for signs of turning, dreaming of quinces and roast dinners, and being able to use the oven without overheating the house :-)

    Enjoy those flannel sheets!

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  19. For years I've been telling people my favourite season is summer, because I just love the warm weather and HATE the cold. But I've really been suffering this summer with the humidity.

    Now I've realised that I actually like the beginnings of every season - the time when the weather is changing. How boring it would be if the year was just one season!

    My day today will be spent potting out some seedlings I've grown (my first attempt at growing Australian native plants from seed), making some birthday cards for friends who have birthdays coming up, knitting some dishcloths (I'm using Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton, but my next lot I'm hoping to get from EcoYarns), and hopefully having a cuppa with some friends.

    A lovely day! I just love not having to go into the City to work every day!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm with the 'still dry and hot down south' group I'm afraid. We're conserving water like crazy to try to avoid buying in water for our tanks - our first summer without access to bore water and its soooo dry - not fun!
    But I do love autumn too - my birthday (yes it does impact!), Easter (chocoholic and hit cross bun lover) and the combination of days hit enough for beach visits and cold beers, nights cool enough to sleep well and the change in the garden as we start to get a bit more moisture (hopefully).

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Rhonda

    I live in Geelong Victoria I love the change of seasons. I am a little over summer now and am looking forward to some cooler days and cold nights. I love summer we go to the beach often and vegetable garden gives us our daily supply for months. Autumn cooler days, change in trees in garden. Then winter love wood fire going and cooking casseroles over the wood fire and eating warm hardy food. Then spring what a delight everything to do in garden and home, open the doors and smell the cut grass and fresh garden produce. Di

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Rhonda,
    I, too look forward to the end of our usually hot, humid summers and the first hint of invigorating coolness in the air, with the promise of all the rituals of the cooler months you talk about. (Maybe its a 'mother' thing - brings out the nurturing/protective side of us or something?) I especially like closing up the house early in the afternoon and the possibility of a fire in the wood burner, though our two cats always manage to grab the best spots before we get a look in.
    Love your bed, Rhonda, especially the slanted bedheads, which I've not seen before, and must be so handy when reading etc in bed. (I think I have bedhead envy now ;-). It's still raining here. Hopefully it won't be too hot and steamy again when it finally decides to stop.

    Maddie

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am from the deep south in the USA and we have had so much wet weather lately. And we are on the tail end of cold weather. Spring is bursting forth and we are all looking forward to some warm days. I love reading your blog. Isn't the internet amazing that we can all interact with our lives. Have a great day....Lisa @My Ordinary Country Life.....:)

    ReplyDelete
  24. i am nor a lover of our summer heat down here - although this year we only had a few days over 40 which was still too many for me. Autumn - cooler but still warm days and snuggling nights, soups and casseroles occassionally appearing, still able to work outside without it being too cold, getting the vegie garden ready for our favourite winter vegies, and my favourite is the days getting a little bit shorter which means the sun going down a little earlier which means the evening meal is a little earlier because we are inside a little earlier which means I can sit and do some more craft!!!! Yes, Autumn is close to the perfect weather and life for me!!!lol. Not fussy much!

    ReplyDelete
  25. We're looking for signs of Spring where I live. I can hardly wait for May, it is tied with October as my favorite month of the year. For here it is when Spring is in full bloom and October is what you are experiencing now... the true beginning of Fall (with colorful leaves and all).

    We were in a severe drought last year with more heat waves than normal. It ruined our veggie garden and I'm waiting to see if it did permanent harm to my herb garden.

    ReplyDelete
  26. sigh- although Spring officially arrives here March 21 ( the Vernal Equinox) we will undoubtedly have lots more winter after that. We are still hip deep in snow and squalls in rural Ontario Canada.I often visit your blog just to see what it must be like to live in an area that doesn't have snow 6 months of the year!

    ReplyDelete
  27. oh for me has to be Autumn without a doubt. Sunny days and cool evenings. Fresh, crisp breezes let me know I'm alive, they empower me. Wearing my jeans again(everyday). Beautiful flowers and the golden coppering of the autumn leaves. I love Easter and Mother's day, the weather is just so wonderful. You get all that spring has to offer plus more and NON of the nasty pollens that upset my sinuses. Autumn is my very favorite time of year.

    On another note I bought your book and started reading it over the weekend. Well I'm almost finished actaully. It's a great read. I love your straight forward, no non sense writing. You should write more books on the subject. Many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Naomi, thank you. I will start writing my next book in July. It will carry the theme on.

      Delete
  28. Autumn is my favourite season too - hands down. I made my first batch of homemade soup today with organic carrot, pumpkin and chicken stock from leftover bones and vegies. My little two-year-old devoured two bowls and told me it was her "favourite". My heart! We are busy in the garden, planted some mint today, and there are three loads of laundry on the line flapping in the cool breeze. All these little things make me incredibly happy.

    ReplyDelete
  29. oh yes, autumn by far! i love the cooler nights- although it hasn't really cooled down much here yet!
    i am so keen for the rain to stop here... we were desperate for it like you were, but our little town has been flooded twice in the past few weeks and hit by a cyclone like storm just a fortnight ago... we are all a bit over it... some homes have had so much damage it is so sad :(
    we've lost a lot of topsoil in all the rain, so we'll be working to improve that once the rain eases... i'm desperate to start my autumn garden, but i have a feeling i'll be starting my seeds over again... the extreme wet and humidity (and lack of sunshine) has resulted in a poor germination rate (the seeds were moulding up) and those that did germinate turned into long, strangly seedlings, desperately looking for some sunlight... so it could be back to the drawing board... unfortunately there's no end to the rain in sight here- so i'm leaving it until the weather improves... i may be forced to buy seedlings! i look forward to seeing your garden :)
    amy x

    ReplyDelete
  30. My favourite season is a toss up between autumn and spring. Autumn for welcome relief from the heat of summer, the deciduous trees coming into their glory and being able to enjoy using my Rayburn wood stove, and spring for new growth everywhere and all the potential of the vegie garden.

    Rhonda, I think that there is nothing nicer than lying in bed listening to rain on the roof. We were blessed on Friday night with just that - steady rain all night. Next morning the rain gauge registered just over three inches (83ml). Our best rain for ages! And both our big dams are full and overflowing. Joy!
    I hope that all you poor people in the dry south soon get useful rain.

    Like many of the others, I love the quilt on your bed, Rhonda. Hope to have a go at making something similar one day.

    Lyn in Northern New South Wales.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Even tho I have an autumn birthday (Oct 30), summer is my favorite season! We still have lots of snow here and my driveway is a sheet of ice (on the unpaved part). The sun was out in full force and 'spring' is in the air! #1 daughter and I even went to the zoo! Nearly half of the animals were unavailable to view due to the cold weather, but it was such a treat to be outside in the sunshine enjoying nature! And all of my favorite animals were very active!
    Good on you Rhonda getting out the cozy quilt and flannel sheets. It will be a couple of months yet here before I get my percale sheets out again. For now, I'm enjoying my cozy bed!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Gosh, that sounds like the best afternoon ever!!
    I have been a bit slack with my blog reading of late, but it is so lovely to come back to this space because it instantly makes me feel calm and inspired to be productive in our house xo

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oh boy I can't wait for it too cool down so I can put our knitted blanket on the bed. I don't use flannel sheets, I find them too warm, but do love to have the weight of an extra blanket at night.
    That time will be about a month away. Usually about Easter, depending when it falls.
    Spring is another favourite time. After such a dull and dreary winter being able to throw open the windows and door, air the house out and feel the warmth of the sun again, why that's just bliss!

    ReplyDelete
  34. I'm with Dillpickle - still very hot and dry in Melbourne with no end (or rain) in sight. Cant wait to feel the nip in the air, see the yellow leaves and listen for the first footy siren of the season! Melbourne is great in Autumn. Tania

    ReplyDelete
  35. Spring has always been my favourite. It is all about new beginnings. Warm days, with nights still cool enough to snuggle. Oh and it is my birthday month.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I just love that ritual of the first winter bed. I had to stop reading and let it soak into me. I love winter best of all for similar reasons - plus it is quiet as very few people come down this far when the weather is in a mean red sort mood, which is is for most of the cooler months here. I love that quilt too :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Definitely Autumn, I look forward to it all Summer. Still too warm for flannelette sheets, I have lovely soft cotton sheets that transition well into Autumn but time for an extra blanket or quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Your winter bed looks so inviting. Enjoy! In Austin, TX, I am watching new leaves appear on the trees now and the meadow green up. I'm ready for a season of swimming and porch living. The cold, gray days of winter can leave anytime.

    Happy Autumn to you!

    ReplyDelete
  39. There is something I love about every season but I love summer the most. From beginning to the end I love everything about summer. I live in the Northeast and the only thing I can complain about summer is that it is not long enough! With that said, when I finally cave in and admit that summer is over I do love the cozy part of fall and the comfort foods of winter to come.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I agree with you Rhonda - Autumn is my favorite season too. And this year in particular I've been counting down the days.

    I'm excitedly planning my Winter garden - a time for all my favorite veggies -cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas. i;d choose these over tomatoes and basil any day.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I am extremely impressed with your writing
    skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or
    did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog
    like this one today. hair loss provillus reviews

    my weblog :: hair loss review

    ReplyDelete

Blogger Template by pipdig