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! 🍂

I've ordered the Dualit milk frother from Amazon for (hopefully) incredible hot chocolate. I'm going to do a Whittard's order soon too as I love their salted caramel hot choc!

I love this thread. I'm going to check for rhubarb down the garden today and make a crumble if there's anything useable.

Check your coats and boots situation OP. I've just remembered I've got two lovely coats I put away months ago for winter, must dig them out and see if they fit etc.

A heating engineer is here and currently fitting a new combi boiler. The old one finally gave up the ghost and I'm so grateful it was now and not in the depths of winter. I'm looking forward to long autumnal walks before coming home and luxuriating in a deep bubble bath, sipping .

What a gorgeous, uplifting thread. Autumn is the most exquisite time of the year for me. I am so looking forward to getting my hygge on. We are privileged to live rurally and the countryside that surrounds us is so very beautiful bathed in pale autumn sunshine. Helps that DH is also a big autumn fan, he loves getting cosy as much as I do. I can’t wait for

• Long walks with DH and our two, inadvertently, autumnal coloured dogs, followed by lunch in a country pub, with the requisite open fire blazing, of course!
• Boots, tights, woolly sweaters
• Horse riding
• Halloween and going to town on the house decoration
• Lighting the fire, lots of candles everywhere (I love lots of cream pillar candles placed together in varying sizes, I achieve this without spending much money and the look is v tasteful + effective)
• Autumnal scents, i.e., Clinique Aromatics Elixir
• Autumn sunsets – the most beautiful of all sunsets
• My living room, it doesn’t work in the summer, it’s all heavy velvet and jewelled colours with dark navy walls, it comes to life in the autumn / winter!
• Hot chocolate in Emma Bridgewater mugs
• My Le Chameau Vierzonord boots, they barely come off my feet September – March, they are pricey but they are so warm and hardwearing, and, as I told DH when he baulked at the price, they will last forever (and they look great with skinny jeans and a thick woolly sweater!)
• Shiraz, lots of lots of good stuff (I especially love ‘The Hedonist’, Waitrose stock it, just the most delicious full bodied, big, juicy, autumnal wine!)
• The smell of logs burning on the wood burner.. just means autumn happiness to me
• Chanel Rouge Noir nail polish (Boots No. 7 do a great dupe, or at least they used to)
• Fairy lights on the trees on the drive, such a lovely sight to come home to
• Cooking big hearty meals (and eating them of course!)
• Playing chess with DH by the fire, shiraz in hand
• Wrapping myself up in one of my lovely velvet throws and reading a book, The Unexpected Joy of Ordinary Things by Catherine Gray is a cosy book, it’s even an autumnal colour, orange

For those of you who have expensive candles, how often do you replace them? I have some but don't light them v often as I am too tight find that they burn down so quickly, so after one evening's use, they are gone!

Thanks to this thread I've just bought an autumnal garland for the top of my fireplace Wish we had a better summer....but will be embracing autumn nevertheless. My favourite time of the year is when shops start stocking new knitwear...cosy. My best buys last year were cashmere socks and a heated throw - oh and I swear by my heated mattress protector. Love being warm on crisp days. Will definitely need to invest in some new boots this year - my day-to-day warm jacket is also looking a bit rough. Exciting

How is this entire thread populated by only people who live in houses covered in brand-name hot chocolate gadgets, overpriced branded pots and candles which cost more than a food shop, set inside gardens full to the brim with apple trees, courgettes and co?

Here are my budget autumn loves:

• Walk on the beach and flask of fennel tea
• Watch Hocus Pocus
• Collect conkers in the park
• Chestnut stuffed cabbage rolls
• Fluffy pyjamas
• Evening bath
• Charity shop book finds
• Baked cinnamon apples
• Walks through lovely fallen leaves

Ooh this thread has reminded me, I'm going to treat myself to secondhand Cashmere this autumn as I can't afford it new. I got some lambswool last year but it's a bit scratchy so I think super soft cashmere will be much better.

Love this thread! Its inspired me to buy autumn bits from the range to make a wreath - twiggy plain wreath, maple leaf little lights and dried oranges and berries in a decoration pack all for about a tenner. I may be kidding myself about my wreath making skills but im going to give it a shot! Also they had tons of autumnal candles in Tk Maxx x

Hot buttered crumpets for breakfast tomorrow!

I'm going to make an Autumn playlist.. a little trickier than making a Christmas playlist, and decorate the house a little for Autumn. I haven't read the this thread yet, but both these things may have already been mentioned.

I mean obviously the decorating for Autumn is a thing...I just meant I was looking forward to reading for inspiration more than anything.

@Lanique, yes that was it! Thank you.
Like curling up in a plush leather armchair, in a panelled library, with a woodfire going

Some lovely ideas here. Autumn for me was always my Nan making a huge pot of rice pudding. The whole house smelt of nutmeg, then she would get the bake stone out and make enough Welsh cakes to feed the street.

Autumn always has a nostalgic air about it .

Hi ladies may I join in autumn and winter are my absolute favourite time of Yr and coincidentally I've just this morning dug out from my stash of loooonnnggg collected toiletries (a whole other thread or another day the body shop frosted berries shower gel and body lotion which I've used this morning and the whole of downstairs was,left smelling very autumn/wintery it was blissful (tho doesn't have the same effect when the sun is cracking and it's 20 degrees outside haha) but hey ho the best time of Yr is on the way

A lovely bath foam ( I like L’Occitaine almond)

Will you be getting the body lotion as well OP or is it just me that likes to match them up?

BunnyRuddington I do also love the body lotion. And the almond oil spray. Mmmmm….

I’m placemaking if that’s OK. Fabulous thread.

I usually only swap over my candle holders from glass tea light holders etc to lanterns, and add some fairy lights to the maple tree.

So many great ideas. Will pop back and read.

Really fancy the Nigel Slater books mentioned. I love his writing and whole vibe.

I do also love the body lotion. And the almond oil spray.

Sounds absolutely divine. It was cool here last night and I'd had a bit of a rough couple of days at work. Had my first hot bath of the season and it was utter bliss

@DarlingFell I want your life!!

Love this. Autumn always has been my favourite season. I love the smell of it, so cozy somehow. Nothing quite like closing the curtains on the night after a lovely crisp Autumn walk and lighting the fire, cuddling under my lovely jewel coloured blankets with a hot chocolate and DDs snuggled in. Our velvetiser certainly pays for itself in Autumn!

Flyinggeese1 I love the idea of lanterns. I have a nice storm lamp ( think that’s what they are called) that gets little use which might suit my mantelpiece. Maybe a bit of greenery too?

I think I’ll pop some fairy lights in a couple of trees too. That’s nice to look out onto. Last Halloween we swathed the garden in Lottie lights and it looks lovely.

DarlingFell your description of life in autumn sounds idyllic. Are your autumnal dogs red setters? I do hope so! You’ve given me lots of ideas. We have a Labrador who is summer coloured, being the exact height and size of ripe wheat!

I love Diptyque candles. It’s an expensive habit ( but much less expensive than fags or cocaine, Is how I justify it). I buy a Tuberose candle for my guest room which lasts all year. The drawing room, snug and my bedroom each take two candies a year. Tuberose/Figuier/ Baies for summer. Feu de Bois/ Ambre for winter. They scent the room even when unlit. It’s extortionate but there are worse sins.

I loathe autumn and winter. I'm still waiting for summer this year, it seems to have failed to install again. The cold and dark of autumn and winter are horrible. The relentless grey and rain. My vitamin D tanks (I don't absorb it properly through my digestive system), my energy saps and DS2's asthma and autistic behaviour are worse. Bedtime issues spike with less exercise and early nightfall. I hate being shut in the house from 4 (or after work) instead of being able to go up to the park or whatever with the DC. No more days out for months (not worth the illness that always follows being out in the cold and damp). The clothes are horrible and make me feel suffocated and always look unflattering, the ice on the car on dark mornings is a pain too. Colds, coughs, winter vomiting bugs. Just yuck all round. The only thing that redeems autumn and winter is the end of them and better weather and light. I can have candles and casseroles all year round if I choose to. Maybe a SAD lamp would help make it all a bit more tolerable.

Autumn is my favourite season (I love them all) I always wondered if it was
Because I was born in autumn. Anyone want to back up or disprove my random theory?

@IHateFlies I was born in September and wonder this too! I realise it makes no sense but have nonetheless nurtured the idea over time 😂