Orange and Pink

Aren't these lovely?  We have several Sedums (Ice Plants) dotted around the garden, most of which are self-sown.  They are the most intense pink colour and with their light, almost lime green leaves, the contrast is incredible and makes one's heart go skippety skip just looking at them.  They positively glow in the early evening sunlight.

It struck me as I was thinking of what to write about today, that October is the month of Pink and Orange; support for Cancer patients by wearing and  buying all things pink; the shades of orange of the leaves before they fall from the trees; Pumpkins ...

This is my very first attempt at pumpkin carving done last Halloween.  We never had pumpkins as children and I've always wanted to try my hand at carving a lantern, but the price of pumpkins and the thought that I was perhaps a wee bit too old to be doing such things had stopped me until my friend BB said she was going to be carving one (and she's older than me!) and suggested we make a day of it and do one each.  WE had so much FUN and laughed and LAUGHED.  We're going to be doing it again this year on Saturday 30th.  I'm supplying the pumpkins (Tesco usually have them on sale for around £1 these days - perhaps I'll carve two!) and we will be making pumpkin soup for lunch.

Autumn

Autumn has well and truly arrived and I'm LOVING it!  I LOVE the colours, the crisp air, the cosy jumpers, the berries, the nuts.  All in all I would be inclined to say that Autumn is my favourite time of the year, except I don't like the cold.  In fact, I HATE being cold.  Its great when you are cosy indoors and have nowhere to go, but when you have to go to work, go food shopping, get on with DAILY LIFE, then I struggle to find any joy in a dripping nose and numb fingers and toes.

Its at this time of year I remind myself daily of all the lovely things that Autumn and Winter bring, and take comfort in the fact that after Winter there's Spring and new hope for a warm Summer.  I collect conkers and display them in a dish ...

lovely, arent they?

And I collect all the Philberts that fall from our nut tree and save them for Christmas and for making C nut and choc chip buns for his lunch box ...

And this year I've managed to get a bine or two of hops to decorate the kitchen

curtesy of our neighbour, Betty.

I've been freezing the hedgerow harvest of Blackberries too over the last few weeks.  All finished now, but I've been offered a couple of pounds of Damsons as well, so my freezer will be full to bursting.  I told C it wouldn't be big enough when we bought it, and with all this hedgerow foraging, I'm being proved right!  I hope to be making jam in the very near future (that'll make some space) but must first make more Whisky Marmalade for His Nibs, as he's on the last jar of the previous batch.  I cheat when making marmalade and use MaMade ready prepared oranges - there's no way I could stand there and peel and pith a pound or two of oranges.  The end result is superb and I can highly recommend MaMade and their instructions.  Soft fruits used for jam making are very easy, you just pop into the pan and heat, no peeling necessary.

The Sunday Roast today was finished off by a lovely Blackberry crumble ...



Yum!

See you all again soon, XXX