My Autumn Favourites

My autumn favourites are many, autumn being my favourite time of the year. Every year, summer gets longer so that autumn brings welcome respite from the heat.

Here is a list of only a few of my little autumn favourites:

Dry Leaves
It is mesmerizing to watch dry leaves falling to earth one by one. Once they make a thick carpet on the ground, it is such fun when they crunch and crackle underfoot. Bonfires made from these leaves give the autumn breeze it’s particular smoky fragrance.

Do you like to watch autumn leaves blowing in the breeze?

Apples
Apples, to eat and to look at.
A colourful bowl of glossy apples makes a great centerpiece for a coffee table or dining table. There are so many Apple related foods :apple jam, apple jelly, apple sauce, apple pie, Apple crumble, apple fritters and doughnuts; the list is endless.

What is your favourite apple treat? Do you like it with tea or coffee?

Autumn hues
Burgundy, plum, auburn, cinnamon, mustard, pumpkin, russet, rust, spinach green, olive green. These are just colours but somehow they seem to have a depth and richness to them. Rust, especially, has a warmth and cheerfulness about it that red or orange can never achieve. Amazing isn’t it that subtle differences in shade can mean so much.


Comfort Food
Bingeing on apple pie, walnut pie, carrot cake, rich plum cake, scones and cream and jam. Any of these paired with a good cup of tea or coffee is my idea of luxury.


Autumn marks the end of the harvest season so that you have an abundant supply of fruit on hand. What you can’t eat, you can turn into jams, preserves and chutneys. You can then be sure of something nice to go with your scones (now you see what I am driving at).

Closet Update
Sorting through my clothes and accessories for winter, and maybe buying something new (but not before I donate some of what I have). It is such fun packing away summer clothes that you are sick of by now and rediscovering all your autumn/winter pieces. I sometimes forget what I have in my out of season storage so for me this holds the same rapture as unwrapping presents.
Do you enjoy the seasonal change of closet or does it seem a tedious chore?

Winter Reading List
Autumn is a good time for stocking up on books to read cuddled up in bed or near the fire on long winter evenings. Although I am trying to make the best of the mild weather these days and reading on the veranda or in the garden, this is a good time for pre-winter shopping. This also means stocking up on my reading material. This is a good time to go through old favourites too. Some books improve vastly on re-reading; the first time around you are focused on the story while reading again you can appreciate the language, descriptions and dialogue etc.I think this is true of all classical literature, but F.Scott Fitzgerald and E.M. Forster come to mind.

What are your favourite authors? Which ones would you like to re-read? Which new ones would you like to sample?

Long walks
Autumn weather is just perfect for lazybones like me who cite extreme heat or cold as reasons for staying indoors. A long trudge with a friend provides a good excuse for a gossip session.If you prefer your own company, however, you need not get bored : a pair of headphones can relieve the tedium. You can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, TED talks etc.
Where do you like to walk? Do you walk alone or with friends and family? Do you like to listen to any music or books or lectures as you go along?

End of summer sales.
Things that I have had my eye on all summer long but have resisted buying may be marked down.The bargains in the sales can tempt you to buy what you don’t need. You might not use these bargains ever, so beware.
What is your experience of the end of summer sales? Are you prone to impulse shopping?

Spicy Scents
It is time to put away floral and citrus scents for next spring/summer. Somehow perfumes with heavier, spicy, somewhat oriental overtones seem to go better with cooler weather and warmer clothes. Fragrances like the Oudh or rebooted versions of old favourites like Opium, and Poison are a good idea.
Which perfumes do you like to use? What are your autumn favourites?

Barbecues and picnics
It’s good to make the most of them before it gets too cold. Al fresco eating can make the most mundane of foods taste better. Sunday brunches outdoors or Saturday evening barbecues on the patio or deck are so much fun.

Golden sunbeams
The Sun’s rays filtering through the tree tops have a special colour in autumn : the colour of liquid gold. Everything illuminated by these special autumn sunbeams assumes a special magical hue.
Have you ever noticed this ethereal effect of the autumn sun?


What are your autumn favourites?