It’s already October! Michaelmas has passed and autumn is starting to become fully fledged here, with cooler days, coloured leaves dancing in the breeze, shiny conkers on the ground and jewel like berries in every hedgerow. What a rich pallette of colour this time of year bestows on us – it really is a feast for the eyes ๐
I do so love autumn – it feels so bountiful, so generous, so full of goodness.
We have been enjoying our weekend walks in the surrounding countryside and have been richly rewarded with more rosehips to dry, acorns galore and horse chestnuts to crunch underfoot to reveal gleaming conkers.
We have been gathering leaves to dry and use for various activities, including our favourite beeswax leaf dipping. ๐
I just press them between the pages of old cookbooks.
On the subject of outings, my husband and I have made a pact to start dating again! We can’t get babysitters in the evenings as our daughters don’t feel comfortable with the idea and besides they don’t go to sleep until 9pm, by which time we are too tired to have a good time out anyway! So now we are sneaking away on fortnightly “adventures” during school/working hours. It feels so good! ย It is so easy not to prioritise this time together and we have been guilty of that in the past, but we have realised as the children are getting older, we are getting less and less time to ourselves in the evening and in general, so we need to make the effort. So far we have been on a couple of hikes in the countryside which has been fun and good to chat and explore new areas.
My husband is going to take charge of our next date, so let’s see what that brings ๐
We celebrated Michaelmas on Friday 29th September. At home we enjoyed baking “Dragon bread”
and my daughters dressed up in red for school as is the tradition.ย In the evening they did a little show for me, singing all the songs that they know ending with lots of enthusiastic shouting of “Michael the Victorious”. T’was fun! ๐
:Firmly on the Earth I stand.
Michaelโs sword within my hand.
When I conquer fear, the dragonโs chains I tightly bind!
Michaelโs light is in my mind.
Last year I wrote a long postย about Michaelmas and why and how we celebrate it. Our traditions are very similar year on year with the same Nature Table set up and mood, so I won’t risk repeating myself here (!) but here are some Michaelmas daisies from our front garden because you can never tire of their beauty at this time of year ๐
Whilst my daughters worked to beautify and tidy their school, I did some tidying up in the garden and around the house. We are still picking small tubs full of fruit and vegetables every couple of days which is pleasing and the strawberries have decided to fruit again!!
As it was quite mild at the weekend, we sat out in the garden in the evening and had an impromptu bbq by candlelight, which was a lovely ๐
The spontaneous times are the most memorable, I find.
As for crafts, I have been making steady progress on the pulloverย I am making for my eldest, fitting in some knitting here and there.
I only need to finish the garter stitch border and that will be one birthday present completed. Hurrah!
I am working on my second Wurmย hat. I am not sure if it will be for me or my youngest yet. She has her eye on it, although she has decided she would prefer light purple to be the dominant colour. Let’s see…
Apart from knitting, I have finally finished our dining room cushions:
I backed the front with felt as I couldn’t find any other batting in town. I quilted in straight lines round the whole cushion at approx 1.5 cm intervals, as the cushion needs to be durable since we are sitting on it. I also did a simple envelope opening at ย the back using fabric I already had. I have to say they are such an upgrade to what we had previously!
I also finally got around to making the crotchet granny squares I made last summerย into cushions!!!! I was using them on the arms of the sofa as a colourful addition, hoping one day to get around to making them into cushions. I don’t know what took me so long!?! Luckily asย I was already in the swing of making cushions, I just got on with it and it didn’t take much time at all. I backed them with soft fleecy fabric with an envelope opening (as usual!). It’s so satisfying to finish a long lingering project!!
My daughters have started making large conker webs in beautiful colours chosen from the big basket of scrap yarn that I am using for my long-term scrap blanket project.
They are so cheery and will look beautiful pinned up on the wall once they are completed.ย We aim for cosy and colourful here ๐
I hope autumn is treating you well and you are enjoying some cosy crafting time.
Sharing atย Frontier Dreams Crafting On
There is so much abundance in this post, I hardly know where to begin! Your Autumn leaves are lovely, as are all the nuts and berries. That is a wonderful idea for you all to work in more time together. A babysitter is not an option for our family, either, so we only get a few little outings a year together, if that. I love your chair cushions–something like that would be so nice for our dining room. Do you have a tutorial? It is wonderful to get those long-term projects done, isn’t it? I am so glad I don’t have one hanging over me any longer. ๐ Your pullover is really coming along!
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Ah thanks Brandy for your encouragement as always! Do your parents sometimes have your children over so you can have time together on a weekend? Even half a day is lovely and they can have cosy times with their precious grandchildren once a fortnight/month too? Good for everyone? It really is so valuable to have the time and space to reconnect again. I am planning to do a tutorial for the cushion but not sure I will get the chance as still have several travel posts to write and am starting a course next weekend which will take up quite a bit of time. I would look online under log cabin style cushion tutorials? I learnt how to make them at a quilting day when my children were little (such a treat!) and just copied how I made that cushion. Good luck!
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Sometimes they do, but it is just a few times a year. I’ve just taken a Saturday job at an herb store, so that will be changing things for our family, and my parents may spend more time with them. We’ll see. I’ll look around for that tutorial. ๐
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That sounds like a great place to work – my fantasy job ๐ Hope it works out well for you all.
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Your autumn leaf photos are beautiful you really have captured all the best colours of autumn. Love the idea of dating again, my husband and I keep saying we will try and get a trip to the cinema but not managed it yet, this was said at the beginning of the year! Your chair cushions are as lovely as I imagined they would be, a bit of spring/summer for the darker months. Haven’t made conker webs for a couple of years, they will look great on your wall, enjoy all that autumn brings ๐
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Ah thanks so much Helen. I do so love autumn colour and look forward to lots more autumnal walks ๐Yes do go to the cinema! Autumn is the perfect time to go and cosy up with a good film ๐It is so easy to neglect making time for our partners when we have children and are both busy but having fun together is so important. We certainly need it here. Yes am pleased with the cushions. So cheery. A friend has requested one since and I think will make a few more now I have strips galore ๐. Happy autumn to you too!
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