In the autumn my energy returns, my head clears, and I feel ready to tackle anything. It is the season in which I feel the most myself, and I love it SO MUCH. I enjoy going back to work and starting a fresh school year (new notebooks! Post-its! Pencils!) Geez Louise, even the colours are the ones that look best on me. A scarf and a cup of tea outside in the woods? Yes, please!
At the moment, however, I’m fighting some kind of bug and am not quite feeling all of the fall wonderfulness fully - but hopefully in another day or two I will be up and running at full fall fervour.
This summer, I was welcomed into a beautiful garden belonging to a neighbour of my parents’. I came home with dozens of cuttings and bits and pieces of plants to add to my little garden. One of the ones I was most excited about are these fall crocuses - a plant I hadn’t heard of before. They are quite different from spring crocuses, and judging from the number of times their toxicity is mentioned in the Wikipedia entry, I think they deserve a cameo in a murder mystery. Hilariously enough, they’re also known as Naked Ladies, because the flowers emerge as seen above, way before the leaves. (The crispy brown bits in the picture are last years’ leaves, which I kept so I would remember exactly where I planted them.)
A few of my fall favourites:
The Girl Next Door Podcast Fall Extravaganza yearly episode! You can download all of the previous ones and listen while baking some apple cake and puttering in the kitchen - how cozy does that sound? Or enjoy them while driving by the changing leaves! So fun.
Burning these. Or diffusing fall-ish oils (frankincense and orange is a fave).
Cutting grass “flowers” from ditches, as seen above - perfectly seasonal, beautiful, free and compostable decor!
I always do a bit of a houseplant purge in the fall - there are always some that I’m just not as keen on as others for whatever reason, and I have people who will happily take them and nurture them. For some reason, it’s come to be something i like about fall - paring down (which I do in various iterations year round, I suppose). I also love going through my clothes at this time of year and weeding out the ones that I no longer wear for whatever reason.
And food! Tikka Masala in the Instant Pot.
This squash soup is the simplest ever!
And my favourite crusty bread.
YUM.
The one summer leftover that I hang onto until the very bitter end is sandals - I will be wearing them until the snow flies.
I hope that you enjoy a sunny, cozy, leafy, clear-minded fall, even if you’re not quite as enthusiastic about it as I am. ;)