November – It’s been a pretty grey month for me. Literally grey most days, with very little sunlight managing to lift our spirits and emotionally grey too, with the loss this month of someone who was and always will be very dear to me.
I’ve rather auto-piloted through most days.
But the wheel doesn’t stop, it keeps turning and we go along too. I find comfort in that.
And I am reminded how important it is to live life fully and gratefully.
So when nature drops a dragon in your path – obviously you pick it up and take it home…
These crows have been providing the soundtrack for all our recent walks…
I’m sure by now, some jolly soul you know, will have cracked the ‘ooh the nights are really drawing in now’ line – which really helps lift your mood if you’re already feeling a touch of autumnal melancholy…
But of course they’re right (well for those of us up here in the Northern Hemisphere at any rate), this is the time of shortening days, we’ve passed the tipping point of the autumn equinox and it’s all wooly scarves, thermal undies and stew for dinner, until winter gives way to spring again.
For the last few days, I’ve been obsessing over the whole concept of balance. We’re told how important it is to achieve balance – in life, in work, in our diet…, balance is described as something to be attained and held on to, it’s an objective, a target, something to strive for. But in practice, surely balance is an extremely tricky customer – and the energy required to maintain balance is exhausting – try the Tree (Vrksasana) or my favourite Eagle (Garudasana) poses in yoga if you don’t believe me.
The first touch of autumn amongst the oak leaves..
If you’d asked me a few months ago if I was happy with my own balance, I’d have said I was, but just lately I realised that I wasn’t so much balanced as teetering – wobbling about in roughly the same place, desperately trying to keep everything the same, but feeling that at any moment, I should really be heading off in some new direction.
Then today, right on cue, while I was walking with the Delinquent Dog, I realised that I’m not teetering any more – I’ve tipped.
Weird, because I’ve no idea what pushed me over the edge, all I know is, I suddenly feel as if I’m moving forward again. Perhaps I’m someone who enjoys the journey more than the destination, or perhaps we’re just not designed to spend too long in one place, – perhaps as someone who embraces a cyclical attitude to time, I just tried to stand still too long.
Whatever, I have to admit to feeling much happier again now.
❤
Did anyone in the UK watch Midwinter of the Spirit last night? What did you think?
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I’ve really enjoyed stitching this piece – not much more to do now, then I’ll show you the whole tapestry. I’ve used a lot of un-dyed wool this time – Wensleydale and North Ronaldsay, both from http://www.blackbat.co.uk which has added quite a lovely variety of texture and tone, although it’s been moderately more challenging to work with.
Not our first frost of the season, but the first proper one this morning…
I’m a complete sucker for the sparkly frost effect. The poor dog was probably in danger of freezing to death while he waited for me to take snaps and stand around gazing at the twinkling leaves.
Well, really, it hardly feels like a couple of days since I was writing about September – what’s happening!
Yesterday I took this photo of the oak…
I had intended to write this post yesterday afternoon, but events got in the way. So, roll forward twenty-four hours and this is what it looked like this morning…
What a difference a day makes (and the tail end of Hurricane Gonzalo) – the branches were being seriously tossed about – I imagine there will be significantly fewer leaves on it by the end of today.
Until now, I’ve felt that autumn was drifting in rather slowly this year.
The bracken is fast turning brown and starting to wilt,
this week I’ve started spotting a lot more toadstools,
and the holly berries are looking succulent,
but I suppose because it’s still quite warm, it hasn’t felt especially autumnal – not enough mists yet and only the one cursory frost.
Here’s the oak at the beginning of September for comparison.
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If you want to watch the almost daily progress of the oak over the next couple of months, do follow me on Instagram.
Shhhh! If we all keep very quiet, I might manage to write this before the teenage daughters materialise from their beds. I don’t generally find August compatible with blogging – we’re either out and about doing too much, or we’re in, but I can’t get anywhere near my computer for girls watching YouTube or playing fantasy games. So let’s be quick…
When August started, you could still make a fairly convincing argument for it still being summer. We had plenty of hot sunny days with a few gloriously blue skies off-setting the wonderful greens from the oak and the hedge in front of it.
But it wasn’t long before I felt there was quite a change to the air on the early morning walk. A tinge of coolness on the edge of the breeze that hadn’t been there before. Much of the hedgerow undergrowth has died back now and views are beginning to open up again through the gaps in the hedge.
By this morning, there really isn’t any doubt that we’re now at the beginning of autumn.
Thick dew on the field this morning. And berries appearing all along the lane.
There was a different quality to the light through the trees.
Autumn is my favourite season.
I’m not going to dwell too much on this, but this morning, I noticed how extremely glossy and gorgeous the holly bushes are at the moment – and how many berries they seem to be growing – isn’t there some country saying about the amount of berries and the harshness of the winter?…
Too soon to be thinking about that.
❤
Sounds from upstairs – time to be off.
Enjoy the rest of the summer, back into the swing again very soon.
❤
For more or less daily pictures of the oak and what’s happening on the lane, follow me on Instagram or watch the bar at the side of these posts.
Dreaming In Stitches 