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Autumn

129 replies

C1239 · 29/08/2023 20:55

Even though the weather has generally been pretty pants this summer I sort of feel ready for autumn now. Do you set goals for yourself going into a new season? What’s on your to do list for this autumn?

OP posts:
Herecomestreble1 · 30/08/2023 13:04

I love autumn. I love the shit weather, the bright days, cold days, wet days, all of it. I'm up in the dark regardless of the season because I have a baby, so bright mornings aren't a concern. But mostly I like the not umming and awwing about whether I'll need a coat/ jacket 🤣

cardibach · 30/08/2023 12:54

electriclight · 30/08/2023 12:15

I agree that you can do autumn stuff in summer.

But most of it is just more enjoyable in rainy, chilly gloom.

And if you do it in the summer someone is guaranteed to tell you to stop doing it and get outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Ignore them. I do.

cardibach · 30/08/2023 12:52

@Blanketsburg the only thing I said was mad was preferring cold hands to warm, while simultaneously trying to warm them up with a hot drink.
I don’t do sundresses or wafting. And all the other stuff autumn people say they like I also like - I just do them in summer too. Hot meals, hot drinks, candles, puzzles…they don’t need autumn.
I’m suggesting people could enjoy the things they like all year round. It doesn’t need to be grey, damp and expensive for the heating first.

slowsundays · 30/08/2023 12:50

I love Autumn. Around bonfire night I go downhill for a little bit and then Christmas helps but Winter is so awful for me and makes me feel so depressed and sad.

Autumn is that beautiful, cosy, perfect season.

Iammetoday · 30/08/2023 12:49

I love Autumn, the cooler days, crisp walks, leaves changing to beautiful colours. Do need some candles and lights going up by November.

Food wise I love crumbles, roasts, stew, casseroles in autumn.

Blanketsburg · 30/08/2023 12:44

cardibach · 30/08/2023 11:38

So much of this supposed ‘autumn’ stuff is nothing you can’t do all summer. I eat casseroles in summer - the cuisines of Italy, Spain and Morocco for instance contain those kind of dishes and it’s famously quite warm in those places. Also India…
Chai is a drink from a. Warm country - just drink it.
Why can’t you stay in and do a puzzle in summer?
I don’t get it.
All autumn brings is (more) grey skies and rain, long dark nights etc.
Some of the ‘nice’ stuff is mad too - steaming hot drink in cold hands? I’d rather not have cold hands, ta very much. And I drink hot drinks all year round.

Why is it "mad" that people like different things than you? Why does that bother you so much?

I understand that some people prefer wafting around in sundresses and eating salads in their gardens and so on (see? You lot have cliches too!). That doesn't bother me at all, why would it?

It's honestly so weird. Almost as weird as the notion that people are unaware they can drink hot drinks all year round.

And I see the old saw "wishing it away" has surfaced. Look, even if everyone in the world wished as hard as they could, it would have zero effect on the seasons. This really shouldn't need to be said.

DrCoconut · 30/08/2023 12:39

@RampantIvy you are right. Especially about winter. What's romantic and snuggly about scraping ice off the car in the dark and lashing rain so you can get to work? Give me a warm bright morning where I can just jump in and go.

FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 30/08/2023 12:36

I fucking love autumn.

flumposie · 30/08/2023 12:35

Mixed feelings for me. I love to be out in the garden so spring and summer are my favourite months. All I mainly remember of last Autumn is worrying about putting the heating on etc so I'm hesitant a little. I've hardly sat out of an evening this summer, that's what I've missed the most. However, I love candles, twinkly lights and I've finally had some blinds fitted in the conservatory and so I won't be staring into the darkness that puts me off using it in Autumn/ winter evenings.

DrCoconut · 30/08/2023 12:32

Still waiting for summer. I've only had my shorts on for about a week (if you add the days up) this year. Last week was better and I felt my mood and energy lift. I'm worried how little potential for warmth and sunlight there is left now, I don't like how early it's starting to get dark. If we'd had a really good summer I could accept it in a nothing you can do way but there just hasn't been the respite from crap weather that I need to power through to spring again.

Moonshine5 · 30/08/2023 12:19

ilovesooty · 29/08/2023 21:59

I haven't given up on the hope of some kind of decent summer like weather in September.

Me too 😊

Moonshine5 · 30/08/2023 12:17

@Sorryiexist
Do you have any recommendations for the chai tea latte syrup?

electriclight · 30/08/2023 12:15

I agree that you can do autumn stuff in summer.

But most of it is just more enjoyable in rainy, chilly gloom.

And if you do it in the summer someone is guaranteed to tell you to stop doing it and get outside to enjoy the sunshine.

ManateeFair · 30/08/2023 12:07

So the cosy steaming mug brigade can shove their pumpkins up their arse!!!

It's not so much that people cant enjoy it but the constant wishing life away is quite depressing.

Er... you do realise that just because some people prefer autumn to summer, that doesn't actually make autumn happen more quickly? The Earth doesn't orbit the sun more quickly because someone says the word 'cosy' or expresses a love of hot drinks.

People 'wishing life away' doesn't actually make anyone's life pass any more quickly, and I don't really see why looking forward to something is any more depressing than clinging on to something that's slipping away. Absolutely fine if you hate autumn, but the fact that someone else might enjoy it has zero impact on you, so it's really fucking weird to get so cross about someone liking hot chocolate and cardigans. I don't like summer very much, but I'm perfectly happy for other people to wax lyrical about it.

Anyway, to answer the OP's perfectly normal, pleasant question - my favourite thing about autumn is when you go out in the morning and there's a bit of a chill in the air and it's sunny, but there's also some mist about. I enjoy going for a run in autumn and winter much more than I do in summer - an evening run when it's dark and cold is one of my favourite things, I find it much more satisfying and invigorating than running when it's warm. I also like it when it gets dark earlier, as I'm not a big fan of light evenings. Light evenings just feel a bit unsettling and harsh to me, I don't know why. Dark evenings seem much more atmospheric and interesting and I like the general eeriness - I'm a big fan of reading ghost stories and gothic fiction and that tends to lend itself well to autumn and winter.

chillidoritto · 30/08/2023 11:53

It could also be that I have 5 children. They don’t care it it’s a bit dull, they can all play outside when it’s daylight!

chillidoritto · 30/08/2023 11:51

Despite SAD, I actually turn a corner on 21st December. I find late November especially tough. Xmas is a distraction in December (although it’s not my favourite time of year). Usually by Feb I start to notice that it’s a bit lighter on the commute home from work and by March we start to see the snowdrops and the daffodils.

Maybe because I’ve had 6 weeks off I don’t feel the summer has been as bad as others are saying - the rain seems to have happened mainly at weekends!

The only positive I can come up with for the A word is I don’t have to shave my legs as often. If spring came straight after it, maybe I could cope

RampantIvy · 30/08/2023 11:41

So much of this supposed ‘autumn’ stuff is nothing you can’t do all summer. I eat casseroles in summer - the cuisines of Italy, Spain and Morocco for instance contain those kind of dishes and it’s famously quite warm in those places. Also India…
Chai is a drink from a. Warm country - just drink it.
Why can’t you stay in and do a puzzle in summer?
I don’t get it.

I agree. I eat a lot of salad in summer because I love it, and I eat it in winter because I love it. I drink tea all year round - just like they do in India.

BlueBlubbaWhale · 30/08/2023 11:40

And there's nothing wrong with taking joy in the small things we might enjoy about autumn.

BlueBlubbaWhale · 30/08/2023 11:39

LodiDodi · 29/08/2023 21:56

Mixed feelings. I love autumn, it's so pretty. And the produceof the season is lovely too. Also love Halloween which is coming up. But the winters in the UK are so long and I feel a bit of dread going into that. Once we get past New Year and all the twinkly lights go it's so bleak.

We kept our twinkly lights up this year as we couldn't face the thought of a depressing January with no cheerful twinkly lights.

I love autumn, I also like spring. Summer is too hot for me normally (I've loved this summer 😂) and jan-March is just depressing.

cardibach · 30/08/2023 11:38

So much of this supposed ‘autumn’ stuff is nothing you can’t do all summer. I eat casseroles in summer - the cuisines of Italy, Spain and Morocco for instance contain those kind of dishes and it’s famously quite warm in those places. Also India…
Chai is a drink from a. Warm country - just drink it.
Why can’t you stay in and do a puzzle in summer?
I don’t get it.
All autumn brings is (more) grey skies and rain, long dark nights etc.
Some of the ‘nice’ stuff is mad too - steaming hot drink in cold hands? I’d rather not have cold hands, ta very much. And I drink hot drinks all year round.

WholeWorldsPivot · 30/08/2023 11:35

chillidoritto · 29/08/2023 21:45

I have SAD so autumn feels a bit like a Sunday. It might not have been the best weather in the UK but I have had plenty of days in the garden (and was overseas during the weeks when it was especially bad). I have been in shorts since June. Hate the day when I have to put jeans on. Hate the dark evenings, they make me anxious. I'm OK up until Bonfire night but after that I enter a very dark place. Roll on 21st December when we begin the climb out!

Yeah I think I have SAD too - I live next to a lightbox during January and February. I'm normally okay until then, what with warm autumn colours and then Christmas coming up and everything. However, this year, I feel apprehensive (? best word I can think of) about autumn coming. It's dark now when I get up around half five. Only just getting light when I take the dog out at six.

I wonder whether that apprehension is because we've had a poor summer? Not been able to stock up on my vitamin D like usual, as there's not been as much sun? I'm still digging around in the garden and doing some clearing at the moment, determined to make the best of it for as long as possible! After that, it's back into the warm slippers and watching as the leaves fall from the trees I guess.

PinkCherryBlossoms · 30/08/2023 11:27

Doingtheboxerbeat · 29/08/2023 21:46

I love summer but I absolutely adore autumn and the nights drawing in 🤗 . But mostly, I like the wardrobe because it's just easier to prepare for weather, you are 90% sure is going to be arse- as opposed to the unpredictable 'summer'.

This! Much easier to dress.

autumnlights · 30/08/2023 11:26

I love all things autumn, but September is still late summer. It's normal to get mild days into mid October so I save all my autumn activities for then.
I admit I'm a bit of a geek about seasons and love seeing and feeling the changes they bring, but summer turning into autumn is my favourite.
I'm not a 'snuggly' person, I enjoy cool and crisp walks out in nature seeing the leaves and leaving my patio doors open to freshen the house.

Scaryghost · 30/08/2023 11:08

whatdidshedotogetahillnamedafterher · 30/08/2023 10:18

@Scaryghost its funny you mention early nights in your list as I have found this past two weeks my body seems to be adjusting on its own to wanting to go and feeling ready for bed earlier than normal. Its interesting to me that this is happening this year. I am liking this!!

Me too! I normally go to bed about 10pm but have found myself yawning come 8pm as I’ve closed the blinds and turned the lamps on. I must admit, staying in when it’s howling outside, cwtched up in bed warm with a good book is heaven to me.

SunnieShine · 30/08/2023 10:53

Clafoutie · 29/08/2023 22:55

It only took one post for hot chocolate to be mentioned, and three posts for cosiness…

Yes! Just need ‘snuggle’ now to complete the bingo card! 😄

Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, snuggle, snuggle...

Thank me later, bingo lover 😜