Just Loving Autumn #5 - A Time to Reflect

Hi there everyone

As we are now, most definitely, into ⛄Winter⛄, this will be the last of my 'Just Loving 🍁Autumn🍁' posts for this year.

For us, 🍁Autumn🍁 is always a bit of a time for reflection. It's the time when we always look back at the year to see what we've achieved, compared to what we were hoping to do.

For us, it's not really a time for making plans, it's more of a time for finishing off and clearing the decks getting ready to batten down the hatches, hunker down and curl up inside, making the most of our warm and cosy nest through the dark and cold ⛄Winter⛄ evenings. tucked up on a Saturday night with Strictly and X Factor as we start to move towards the Christmas season.

There's no doubt about it, this year we have spent a lot of time and effort doing stuff around the house, or, it may probably be more honest to say, that we've had a lot of people in to do stuff.

Routine repairs and maintenance, big garden renovations and lots of decorating. We are now on the last leg and are looking forward to a workman free period over the ⛄Winter⛄.

Whilst I know we are fortunate enough to be able to do it, getting people in to do stuff doesn't come without it's own efforts. There are lots of decisions to be made, lots of preparation and groundwork to be done and then living in a general state of chaos as it all goes on around you.

Once the job is done, then there is still plenty left to occupy, the clearing up, the finishing off and the final touches. All of this seems to have taken up a lot of our time this year, but we are richer for it, with a home that should now be waterproof and looks and feels like it's loved again, both inside and out, a garden that is going to work really well for us and that general feeling of loving where we are.

When it comes to finishing off ... projects that have been hanging around all year, and maybe longer, suddenly become a priority.

The basket for Captain, the random cat that seems to have made our arbour his home ...
... a potting bench that there is now space for ...
... and a crocheted blanket that has been lingering for a good while (not sure that will be finished by the end of the year) ...
It's not been all hard work though, we've had plenty of down time too, with time away in Anglesey, Scotland, the Isle of Wight and a recent Autumn break in Yorkshire.

There have also been plenty of days out and we've certainly made the most of our National Trust membership this year.
As well as being a time for reflection, 🍁Autumn🍁 also heralds the last mad dash to make sure all of our usual preparations are ready for ⛄Winter⛄.

There's the 🍁Autumn🍁 clear of the garden, as we put it to bed for the ⛄Winter⛄, something we are always glad we made time for when it comes round to 🌼Spring🌼.

There's also the sifting and sorting through the photographs we have taken over the course of the year as we put together the kitchen calendar for next year ...

So, that was us for 🍁Autumn🍁.

Now it's time to start getting ready for Christmas and that will mean lots of Christmas shopping, crafting like crazy to make sure all those Christmas orders are completed in plenty of time and getting in our last holiday of the year.

There's still plenty more to come on Life of Pottering though. I've got a good few more Isle of Wight posts to share, so there will be some nice sunny posts to see us through the short and dark ⛄Winter⛄ days, and I've also got plenty to share from our late 🍁Autumn🍁 break in Yorkshire. There will also be a few of the regular annual updates, so watch this space 😀