I'm Already Counting Down To Spring... But First... 5 Great Things About Autumn/Fall 😊

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?  All well I hope?  How can it be the end of September already?  Our furbaby Jade and I have been ignoring the persistent rain outside and binge-watching all three seasons of a new (to us anyway) TV series called Wellington Paranormal.  We've agreed (we talk about these things Jade and I😊) that we have a new favourite TV series 😊   

The garden is changing so quickly now.  So many leaves falling.  Jade always adores this time of year, bless her 💖  She loves to play in the piles of leaves collected by her Dad and he doesn't even mind that he has to work doubly hard to get the garden tidy💗 

It might be a while before our baby gets to play with any leaves though honeys, and before there's any effort made to tidy the garden at all actually. Nothing's happening until this almost non-stop rain goes away.  So, with Hubby still mostly working from home (in his office upstairs) Jade and I have been following the adventures of Officers Minogue and O'Leary and Sergeant Maaka in beautiful Wellington, New Zealand 😊 Really though, if you haven't seen Wellington Paranormal, it really is beyond fabulous 😍

We've been spoiled by summer this year honeys, and it's gone on far longer than expected too. It's been so warm until recently that we haven't even had a duvet on the bed upstairs, leaving the duvet covers empty when making the bed up instead.  It's all change now though, autumn has arrived and brought with her constant rain and a real drop in temperatures.

Because of this, and as is usual for me around this time of year, I've already started counting down to spring 😊    

I do it every year and used to drive co-workers daft by giving them constant updates in months, weeks and days 😄  This will be the first year in so many that I won't do that.  I miss my co-workers and all of my lovely regular customers, some of them I'd served for years and they felt like friends.  We're all having to adjust to the changes this pandemic has brought to the world honeys, I know, but it doesn't make it any easier does it?   

I've been stuck in such a sad place for months now dear ones.  I've lost most of the year to being stuck there and I need to find a way of feeling more like my old self.  I've always been the far-too-sunny one, the one who annoyed everybody else by smiling all the time.  I need to find her again and this time of year doesn't help. 

I've never liked autumn/fall or winter. At all.  Not even a little bit.  Both seasons are to be made the best of, tolerated, endured even.... while I count down to the much better days of spring.  In case you were wondering honeys that's 171 days from today 😊

So, if you're like me and prefer the spring and summer months to autumn/fall and winter (or even if you're not 😃) why not go grab yourself a lovely cuppa and maybe a cookie (or two) and meet me after the page break for five great things about autumn/fall we can all look forward to.  See you after the page break dear ones...

Welcome back honeys, do you have your cuppa?  Cool, me too ☕   Let's go then shall we?

Five Great Things About Autumn/Fall To Look Forward To...

1. Remember it's not winter yet!  

Even when winter does arrive (which isn't for 82 days! that's nearly 3 months) we can keep ourselves so busy looking forward to, and planning for, the holidays that time will pass so fast it'll make us all dizzy and as for January.... well we'll deal with that month of ick! when it gets here 😊 

The world is changing outside our windows honeys.  Green is being gradually replaced with golds and reds and oranges.  Mother nature is starting to put on all of her finery for us why not go outside and thank her?  Sit in the garden or go to the park, or just go for a walk.  Why not take a camera along (I know, cut me a small break here dear ones, I'm old lol) ok then, snap lots of pics with your phone 📱😊 

Remind yourself just how gorgeous the world around us is and store those photos on your phone for days when you start to forget 💖

2. Count (and share) your blessings...  

What could be a better time of year to take stock, than when the days are getting just a wee bit shorter (less than 6 hours of daylight a day during the winter months for us) and we're able to close the curtains on the cooler (and rainier) weather outside?  It's good to take a few minutes to acknowledge how much we have to be truly grateful for.  

Even if it hasn't been the best year, wouldn't it be wonderful to celebrate all of the positives?  They are there, those blessings, so many of them, but if you're like me, maybe the negatives have been yelling just that bit louder this past year or so, but they are there dear ones. We just have to keep looking till we find them 💖 

A great way to recognise and appreciate your blessings is to try to share somehow.  Maybe ask a neighbour if they need anything from the shops when you go?  Or volunteer in your community? (you can find a fantastic list of ideas here honeys) If you're not able to volunteer there are still lots of ways you can make a difference, put some kindness into the world.  

Just smiling and wishing somebody a great day or paying someone a compliment can change their whole day.  A few kind words or an unexpected phone call really can brighten the darkest, bleakest day and might even be included when somebody else counts their blessings.💖  

There is a worldwide community of people trying to change the world, with one tiny act of kindness at a time.  They're called Kind Spring (you can find them here.) I've only just found the site but it has some lovely stories on it and they have cards you can download, to leave behind after carrying out an anonymous act of kindness. The cards simply ask the person to keep the smile going and pass it on 💝  

If, like me, you're mostly housebound, why not make some seed shapes for the birds who visit your garden?  Food will start to become harder for them to find as the months roll on and it's a wonderful activity to share with tiny humans, they'll be fascinated by all of the different birds they can see each day.  To see a super-easy DIY (with only two ingredients!) on how to make fat shapes, look here honeys. 

3. It's the most wonderful time of the year..

No, it's not Christmas 🎅  It's Halloween!! I adore Halloween 🎃  It's the one thing that (might) just (but only just) talk me out of hibernating till spring every year 😊

Halloween is my favourite holiday, I like it better than Christmas, New Year or any other (much less) fun holiday 😊  I just adore everything about it.  I love spending hours with Hubby (and we really do) making up treat bags for our visiting trick or treaters, I love decorating our tiny inner hallway/mudroom by the front door so that there are lights and all manner of (not too) scary things everywhere when I answer the door.   

I always loved dressing up at work too, it was such fun and I've had quite a few costumes but my favourite has to be my Hogwarts uniform, complete with my wizarding robes, all in Slytherin House of course.🐍  One of my fondest memories was the day I convinced the sweetest wee boy, the son of my customer, that not only was Hogwarts a real school but that I was a pupil there 😊  

 

4. It's getting warmer in the kitchen...

Dinners are already changing in our home honeys.  Very gradually (we do both love veggies, especially "summer veggies") in our kitchen, salads will be replaced with warming soups, casseroles, pasta dishes and of course, the Scottish dish we all grew up with, a huge pot of yummy stovies. 😋

Now is the time to start pinning recipes to try out in the months ahead.  Lots of lovely, warming dishes to keep the chill out.  Yes, yes, there's a reason they call it "comfort food" 😍  

Think of all of the experimenting you can do in the kitchen. I have the most fun when I'm making recipes up as I go along and have "discovered" some favourite recipes that way too 😊 

5. Pamper, pamper and pamper some more...

Have you ever stopped to think exactly how your time is filled honeys?  How much of that time do you set aside for serious self care?  

Why do so many of us find it so difficult to spare a thought for our own physical and mental health when we'll happily run ourselves into exhaustion caring for family and friends and loved ones.  Yes, because we love them, of course we do, but why can't we care for ourselves too without feeling so guilty and possibly even selfish?

This is a real issue, certainly with me, and I know that my health is suffering because of it.  I'll definitely devote an upcoming post to it I think, I'd love to hear your views and opinions honeys.  

Autumn (and winter) are the perfect time I think to begin to muse seriously about our self care.  What steps we already take and what's missing from that care.  When this has been done and any issues identified, such as dry skin or not having a regular manicure or pedicure, then each issue can be tackled one at a time with baby steps.  Baby steps which, if adopted over time, will eventually become habits we no longer have to think about.  

There would eventually be no guilt associated with taking the time to have that pedicure because the brain would see it for what it is. Simply a required process to keep your body in its best condition and ward off any problems.  

It could be compared with regular maintenance on our homes.  Does anybody stop to feel guilty for cleaning air vents or checking the condition of their gutters?  Of course not!  If maintenance isn't carried out and any issues addressed, the house would fall into ruin.  Why do we think less of our bodies than we do of our home?  We live in both after all.  

This is definitely a topic we should circle back to I think.  In the meantime, if you'd like to, you can find 10 easy ways to practice a little self care and find your calm here honeys.    

 

Blogtober 2021 ⏰

It's that time again everybody.  Blogtober, the yearly challenge for Bloggers and Vloggers to create and publish a new post each day for 31 days in October.  Thanks to on-going health issues and assorted life stuff too, this has been the absolute worst year for my beloved little blog so I was in two minds about taking part this year.   

I've decided though that maybe being "forced" (even if only by myself) to create a new blog post each day might help give me my blogging mojo back.  I'm going to try at least, hopefully I'll make it to the end.

Over to you then, what do you think?  Have you ever feel guilty about any time spent on self care?  Which is your favourite season?  Are you looking forward to Halloween as much as we are?  Are you taking part in Blogtober? If so, please leave a link to your blog in the comments section, I'd love to visit.

See you tomorrow then for day one of Blogtober, wish me luck dear ones 😊😘 Till then, stay safe and hugs always xx