AUTUMN DELIGHTS

I am embracing the start of autumn and this has to be one of the best yet, being uncharacteristically  warm even into late evening in our neck of the woods.  We've been sitting out until about ten, albeit under a crocheted blanket, just making the most of being out of doors.

An we're still using the barbecue for most of our evening meals, lots of grilled meat and fish with griddled veggies.

A plan to go on a camping last weekend was cancelled due to a dubious weather forecast. Prior to this decision being made and because it was so chilly at night the last time we went, I beavered away making a little jumper for Pearl to wear to bed.  I'm not a fan of dogs wearing clothes, but poor Pearl has so little fur at the moment and last time she was under canvas, she crawled under the bedclothes and slept next to Mr all night. 

 She was about as impressed as Elsie was with hers, but I'm sure she will feel the benefit on walks in the colder winter months - as long as I can wrestle her back into it of course! It's the same pattern as Elsie's, which you can check out through the above link, if you have a yen to crochet a dog jumper for a whippet shaped dog! The colour choice reflected the season and the fact that I'd had these colours in my stash for some time and wanted to use them up.

There are still  pretty things in the garden.

Our little Piroutte rose is still pushing out the blooms too.

I desperately want more Chinese anemones in the garden. Most of ours have disappeared, probably Pearl digging holes again. I keep seeing huge clusters in people's front gardens, differing shades of pink blooms on long delicate stems and so want ours to look like that.  A work in progress, with possibly the inclusion of more dog proof fencing.

Of course, fruit has featured heavily in the last couple of weeks, both foraged and home grown.

This small bowl went into a crumble (no pics as too greedy and scoffed the lot!) but a larger amount is now sitting in the freezer for future delights.

I always thought I hated plums, the skins always tasted so sour.  Our Italian plums are divine and I have to stop myself over indulging.....I know where that leads and it's not pleasant. When washed, they are a beautiful colour, almost like plum jasper and their amber flesh is so sweet. I have approximately ten pounds in the freezer now, which I can process into puds, chutneys or whatever we fancy later in the year. For me, they are perfect served with a nice blob of clotted cream ice cream and squirt of maple syrup.

There are so many, we're giving them away left, right and centre and they seem gratefully received. Of course, Mr has plans for his rumtopf.  The rum has been purchased and there will be delicious, warming tipples for Christmas.

I still haven't made a decision on a dehydrator, instead I'm  now procrastinating about water bath canning as many of the homesteading blogs I follow preserve their fruits this way. All their jars of beautifully preserved fruit look so comforting as we head into the colder months and to be honest, all our freezers are now full so it'll be worth considering next year.

Sorry about all the plum pics, but they were the stars of this year's fruit, the pear crop being rather frugal. We were so hopeful, but ten wasn't bad and they were whoppers.

The apple tree, well, that was a disaster.  When we cleared the rampant lemon verbena and marjoram from underneath it, we found quite a few that had fallen and rotted. I must be more vigilant next year, as I might have been able to salvage some of them.  Strangely, I do find the process of rotting quite fascinating....am I weird, probably. The little spores of mould appear quite pretty to me.

Seed heads are another fascination at the moment. I've been busy collecting seed, mainly flower, but couldn't resist bringing the leek seed heads back from the allotment. The tallest one is just under three feet tall. Aren't they lovely...a slight onion aroma, which I couldn't place when I sat on the sofa next to them. I kept sniffing my armpits, assuming my deodorant wasn't cutting the mustard. I checked when I picked them that there wasn't a pong, but I guess they don't smell as much out of doors. 

I collected seeds from my calendula flowers and hope to have a huge bed of them on the allotment next year, with a view to soap and salve making. Heady ideas, that probably won' t materialise, but watch this space, you never know!

I have also become addicted to overnight oats, a latecomer I know, but they are out of this world. They make me feel so pious, with all those healthy, wholesome combinations - fruit, nuts, chia seed, hemp. I have always had a problem eating breakfast, but overnight oats seem to be the exception.

I've been feeling a bit bleh about preparing food so checked out the Food Network for a bit of foodie inspiration.  Happily, I found that Ina Garten was back on the network ( I love a bit of Ina) and promptly took her lead and made her whipped feta tomato crostini for my lunch, replacing baguette  with sliced sourdough as it's all I had.  My humble greenhouse toms replaced her heritage ones, but overall, it was a lovely light meal which I can have every now and then (tomatoes don't really agree with me, but I love 'em anyway). Sometimes a cookbook doesn't do it for me and seeing someone actually preparing a meal has more appeal.

I had another stab at taking statins, which was a disaster, despite trying a new one that was supposedly less likely to have side effects.  It took about four weeks for symptoms to occur the first time I took them last year, but only seven days this time.  I call it 'zombification' as that's how I felt. I struggled staying awake during the day, or string a sentence together and my muscles and joints ached so much, it kept me awake at night.  Coupled with existing hormone problems, I was completely knocked for six.  My lovely sister found a probiotic/Omega 3 combination that's supposed to lower cholesterol, so I'm now on them for an eight week trial.

Hope all is well with you in your part of the world and that you are enjoying all that these wonderful autumn months have to offer.