Ideas to make the coming autumn lovelier ( or at least a little more bearable)

[Labradabradorable]

Looking out at the garden this evening I can see the light is a little more golden and the shadows a little longer. Autumn is around the corner, which I normally greatly look forward to on a hot late-August drive home through France, piled high with wine, well-read and dripping with idleness. I suspect this year’s bracing camping in Wales might just be a reminder of the rain and mud to come.

Any ideas to make the coming season a little nicer? So far I’ve come up with :

Blowing my birthday John Lewis voucher on a nice candle ( Diptyque Feu de Bois) and a couple of velvet scatter cushions
A houseplant for my bathroom window
Booking some riding lessons for all of us
Embracing the darker mornings and getting up early to walk the dog. Also, joining a beginners agility group.
Regular swimming and encouraging the kids to come too
A lovely bath foam ( I like L’Occitaine almond)
Buying good pyjamas and new boots
Planning some pretty woodland walks
Planning some good autumnal food (crumbles, stews)
If possible, doing a few days extra work and booking for DD and I to go to Paris. That might be wishful thinking as my summer energy ebbs.

Any other ideas welcome! 🍂

citygirlinwellies there’s Ali Smith’s ‘Autumn’ ( although I’m not sure it is cosy as such).

I live reading the autumn months in Nigel Slater’s kitchen diaries. Then I light a candle, dig out the Le Creuset, pop on a bit of Chopin and pretend to be him. Then my kids rush in demanding fish fingers and ruin the moment.

Collect some sloes and get some sloe gin on the go. It should be ready by Christmas, so you’ll have that to look forward to through the autumn.

I also personally enjoy the feeling of checking all the coats, rewaxing my wax jacket, making sure we all have our hats and gloves and things to hand and so on - it makes me feel prepared and ready. Making sure the woodpile and oil tank are both full so we’re ready to start warm. Making sure I have enough food ready in case we’re snowed in (it has happened to us in the past!). Things like that.

‘Season of mists and mellow soupfulness….’

We like lots of substantial main-course seasonal veg soups, with red lentils/pearl barley added. Added bonus, they’re cheap! (As well as healthy.)

Another colder-weather pleasure is my sheepskin house boots, from Celtic Sheepskin. First pair was the best present* ever, several years ago now.
*only after I’d pointed dh firmly in that direction, printout left on his desk with size and style clearly circled. Saved him having to agonise about what to get me.

I love autumn. We like to visit a local forest and see the leaves changing colour. Some years we go on bat walks or mushrooms walks. Every year we have a bonfire mainly garden waste and branches from our trees soit smells lovely. We make soup and jacket potatoes and hot chocolate. We invite the neighbours who bring their old bits of wood and food with them. We don't do fireworks because several neighbours have horses. But we do have sparklers and stuff that changes the colour of the flames. We have music.

FABULOUS thread! I normally look forward to autumn but I’m feeling a bit frazzled by the past year and not been in the zone for it.. reading these posts has changed my mind!

I’m looking forward to:

Picking blackberries and making crumble.
Decorating and dressing up for Halloween with my fancy dress-obsessed DD.
Collecting conkers.
Wearing my new Dr Martens!
Cosy Saturday nights with Strictly and a takeaway curry.
A brand new term (retraining and really loving it so far)
Christmas!

Thanks for making me see that there’s actually a lot to enjoy.. This thread has cheered me up no end

@Labradabradorable

There are some great ideas here. Thank you 🙂

I’m definitely planting loads of spring bulbs too. We moved house a year and the garden is wonderful in the summer but it turns out it’s pretty barren until April.

Love this thread can't wait for autumn definitely feels like it's on the way. When do you plant spring bulbs please?

Love autumn. Nice hot chocolate, leaf kicking. We usually have some kindling and use our bbq & make a fire so that we can toast marshmallows & make s’mores.

Ok, I'll join in. I would like:

• a job for when mine finishes in September so we can keep things together financially.
• for the multiple job applications I'm putting together not to result in immediate rejections.
• a permanent job after seven years on the job market and being told I'm an excellent candidate but someone else was more excellent.
• for someone to give me some money so I can do the research I really want to do that might make a different to women experiencing pregnancy loss.
• employment, so my parents stop guilting me for being the useless black sheep of the family.

Did I mention I'd really like to get a job?

Going to buy some nice lounge wear this year as my PJ's have taken a battering throughout the last year!!
New candles for the living room more spicy scents than the citrusy ones we have at the moment
I'm always up for decorating in the colder months so I'm planning on repainting my hallway ( huge job!) And my dining room,
New knitwear and hopefully a few evenings out in cosy pubs over the winter that would be nice

@Labradabradorable Thanks, I enjoyed reading his descriptions of winter in The Christmas Chronicles so will check out Kitchen Diaries.

@Labradabradorable kids are so good at ruining a great fantasy aren't they!

Sarah I think I might have worked out what you want from your very cryptic post. Is it a job?

Seriously hope you get one

@BunnyRuddington

Sarah I think I might have worked out what you want from your very cryptic post. Is it a job?

Seriously hope you get one

Thank you. At least that's cheered me up!

@SarahAndQuack thank you for wanting to research that area, it will always be so close to my heart.

And I hope this autumn brings you some positive job news!

Still enjoying this thread, although it felt too muggy here today to be Autumnal.

What is everyone's favourite Autumnal:
candle
bubble bath
lovely soap
food?

And to the poster who wanted fairy lights, try the White Company for really nice battery operated ones.

I have found my people! This autumn I'm looking forward to:

• baking gingerbread, cinammon rolls and mocha mufifns
• mulling any and all cider that sits still long enough
• making the Christmas cake in October and feeding it with brandy every few weeks
• rereading the Harry Potters from September 1st onwards and watching one film each weekend from the end of October
• drinking chai hot chocolates
• pumpkin picking with the family, making pumpkin/apple chutney for Christmas gifts and grilling the seeds to eat all by myself with a hefty sprinkle of salt

I'm saving everyone's ideas - keep them coming!

Remus glad you are enjoying the thread. To answer your questions:

Candle- Diptyque Feu de Bois. It smells like a luxurious bonfire.
Bath foam- I like L’Occitane almond but am open to suggestions.
Soap- I’m boring and use savon de Marseille picked up from French supermarkets ( stocks are running low!)
Food- all the food. Every last dish. But f I had to choose it would be Michel Roux’s boeuf bourguignon made by DH, taking all afternoon and using every pan. Or something delicious made with a pheasant or, if we are lucky, a venison joint that sometimes appear on our doorstep in thanks of a favour. With crumble to follow and a French Pinot noir.

I made smoky sausage casserole this evening. At one point the sun threatened to come out but I put a hex on it and all was well 😉

SarahandQuack I hope autumn brings good news. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you 🤞🏿

Children go back to school, weather gets better. The riding lessons seem a lovely idea.

@Labradabradorable

Remus glad you are enjoying the thread. To answer your questions:

Candle- Diptyque Feu de Bois. It smells like a luxurious bonfire.
Bath foam- I like L’Occitane almond but am open to suggestions.
Soap- I’m boring and use savon de Marseille picked up from French supermarkets ( stocks are running low!)
Food- all the food. Every last dish. But f I had to choose it would be Michel Roux’s boeuf bourguignon made by DH, taking all afternoon and using every pan. Or something delicious made with a pheasant or, if we are lucky, a venison joint that sometimes appear on our doorstep in thanks of a favour. With crumble to follow and a French Pinot noir.

I made smoky sausage casserole this evening. At one point the sun threatened to come out but I put a hex on it and all was well 😉

Glad the sun didn't spoil your Autumnal feast!

The candle sounds gorgeous. The 'poshest' I ever buy are Neom. Maybe I need to upgrade!

I'm making a rice pudding, even though it's a bit too warm for it really.

Also love Autumn but feel cheated of a summer. When does it begin? (I know there is a meteorological answer but when does it FEEL Autumnal)

Other things I do with brambles,
use some to make bramble whiskey, made the same way as sloe gin but only use a light touch of sugar.
Simmer a small portion per person with a little water till soft but holding their shape. Add a splash of fruit liqueur and serve hot over ice cream or lemon sorbet, or pancakes. Frozen brambles work well.
Float frozen brambles in glasses of Prosecco or winter berry cocktail.

Shameless follow. Fab ideas here.

Thank you, OP, I really needed this thread. Autumn always makes me feel incredibly sad. It reminds me of loss, yet all of the people I have loved and lost have died in the spring (and I love the spring)
I always get a bit meh in August, but I’m going to try and be a bit more positive this year!

@Parentingdilemmas definitely some snuggly socks and dressing gown. Some expensive indulgent chocolate hidden somewhere that’s just for you! An easy read book maybe that you can dip in and out of if you get 5 minutes to sit down, hopefully!