October is Autumn Proper; if it were a colour, it would
surely be orange. From the colour of the
leaves on the trees at the beginning of the month, the piles of leaves on the
ground as they drop, the golden glow of the slow sunshine off the wet ground
and the lake on our morning walks and the pumpkins that mark Halloween at the
end of the month, there’s no getting away from Orange.
Starting with the last dregs of summer, hanging on by its
fingernails, by the end of the month it will be a dim and distant memory as the darkness and chills take over. The light 4 tog duvet will be exchanged for
its 9 tog counterpart and the annual central heating battle will have begun! The clocks will be going back to GMT at the
end of the month, heralding dark evenings and, for the commuters among us, a
long dreary dark homeward journey at the end of the working day.
This is when our cosy homes come into their own though. Lamps on timers make a welcome-home glow for
the weary worker, and lamplit windows against dark wet evenings always seem so
cosy and comforting. Even rainy dog
walks are cheered by the return to our cosy home, despite wet and muddy towels
draping the hallway radiator and muddy pawprints on the hall carpet! I don’t think there are many things more
rewarding than warming up after a cold, wet walk with a cuppa and my
towel-swathed companion asleep at my side.
In the kitchen, comfort food season is on its way. Soups are thickening and pasta bakes and
risottos warm us up from the inside. We
can even begin to think about proper puddings and hot custard. Rice pudding is a firm favourite and always
reminds me of the ones my grandmother used to make.
Out in the garden, by now the spring bulbs will all have
been planted and we can start tidying up and emptying out pots ready for next
year. As the leaves are falling, raking
and tidying is a never ending task, especially with a dog who likes to
distribute them as far and wide as she can!
