Autumn has brought about all kinds of
change and as it gets darker and colder I am beginning to feel sad as I know
that those beautiful leaves will turn to brown sludge in just a few short weeks
and the trees will be left standing naked and alone by the sides of the road.
It’s going to be brown and grey for quite a while after that!! BUT, I wanted to
show up here and share with you a few of the highlights of my autumn. Although
I haven’t been here very often, I have been busy making things to share and
thinking of ideas to post soon; there is something about Christmas that sparks
a creative fire beneath me and gets me in the spirit!
I have truly felt different this year, more
aware than I ever have been of the change in the season; the colours; the
light; the smells of the air. It has bought me incredible joy on many days when
things weren’t going great. Without my noticing I seem to have been through
quite a stressful patch recently, and it wasn’t until I came out the other side
that I realized how much it had affected me. Autumn however has come and healed
me; here’s what I actually wrote in my diary one beautiful autumn day….
‘My heart is overflowing today; the past couple of weeks have bought
about huge changes and autumn (possibly winter now?) is truly established. The
leaves have turned and are busying themselves around the bottom of the trees
and curbs like large crowds waiting for something great to happen. It is
beautiful. Small things keep catching my heart recently, whether it’s the kind
words of a friend, or the invitation to come for coffee, or a walk somewhere
new, I feel so full of joy; so much that today it just poured out of me and I
felt peace. I don’t remember the last time I have felt that.’
So, Here are some
snippets of autumn love (it goes without saying that leaves are a HUGE part of
that joy!)…
Treating myself to
beautiful pumpkins to sit on the dresser before they enter the kitchen made me
very happy, as did the yarn I bought inspired by colours I’d seen on my walks.
An invitation to make
leaf lanterns with friends; Little A’s is the one on the left, I LOVE how it
looks, and was the perfect project to use all those beautiful leaves before
they start to decompose.
A surprise gift from a
friend came through the post all glittery and golden; I felt so loved and
valued that she’d taken the time to think of me in her VERY busy schedule!
Autumn hooky; a whole
armchair working with me in the making of my autumn project :)
Lots of walks to
gather the treasures nature has; this particular day Little H surprised me by
pulling a folded up leaf out of his pocket as a gift for me. He always chooses
the brown ‘ugly’ ones!! It was also his idea to have hot chocolate and Jaffa
cakes at the table whilst we ‘talk about our leaves and their colours when we
get home.’ (I couldn’t have loved him more at this point!!)
Trees. Everywhere. And
so, so glorious. Most of the time, I was mad for forgetting my camera.
Time shared with
friends; eating, playing, watching fireworks and waving sparklers.
I just wanted to show
up here and share with you my joy. The reality is that it’s hard being a
stay-at-home-mum, and a lot of the time it doesn’t feel very peaceful, but with
a little time to yourself to stop and look around, to soak up the good things
without an agenda, it can be easier. As a mum I am constantly thinking about
ways I can do my job better; take care of my family better. The best place to
start is to take care of myself, because If I don’t I cannot take as good care
of them.
Happy Autumn
everyone…lets get ready for winter!!
See you soon,
Hayley
xx
