So long, September

 

Writing my Autumn Alphabet has meant that I haven’t written about day to day things on this blog but plenty has been going on.

I’ll start with the thing which worried me most: glaucoma.  My late sister had glaucoma so I get tested every year.  When I had a test in August the optician referred me to a consultant for further investigation.  The consultant told me that everything was OK which was a huge relief. 

A local vicar retired at the end of July so I’ve been busy most Sundays.  It’s a group of churches which I’ve been involved with before and we like each other.  They are very good and help me as much as possible.  I’m hoping not to do funerals etc unless it is someone I have known.  Funerals are very tiring. 

I’ve had lots of meals with various friends and relations.  (I feel like Pooh’s friend, Rabbit!)  I cooked for one friend but had several meals at the local pub.  No complaints there.  I also went to a 90^th birthday party.  The birthday boy’s family had arranged for a magician to come and he was brilliant!

The house had its annual electrical safety check and it needs some work done but the big news is that solar panels are to be fitted.  Yay!

Jack and I cleared the tomato patch and I reckon we harvested at least a couple of stone of tomatoes.  I’ve already made gallons of soups and sauces but the rest of the tomatoes still need to ripen before I can cook them.  I’m trying to “eat down” the freezer but I just can’t keep up!

 I’ve been working on my Christmas preparations.  As you know, I am a Supply Elf and I am knitting scarves for various children.  I’ve made a small start on Christmas cards.  Next month should see quite a lot of progress. 

And the biggest thing of all is that I have bought a new (to me) car and a new Trundle Truck.  The TT is smaller than the old one so I have called her Mini-haha

Proud to be a Yellow Belly

 It’s Lincolnshire Day.   A day to celebrate Lincolnshire — a county famous for big skies, big fields, big sausages and people who are rather fond of calling themselves Yellowbellies.

I have checked my tummy.  It isn't yellow.  And no-one actually knows why we are called Yellow Bellies but we’re proud of it anyway. 

But Lincolnshire has never been short of peculiarities. We have our own accent, our own sense of humour and roads that seem to have been designed by someone who thought straight lines were terribly overrated.

We have the Wolds, the Fens, the coast, enormous agricultural fields and small villages

And then there is Lincoln with a magnificent cathedral sitting above the city as if it has been keeping an eye on us all for centuries.

Lincolnshire was made for me.  And I was made for Lincolnshire. 

I love its big skies, its little villages, its spuds, its sausages, its cathedral and my fellow Yellow Bellies. 

Happy Lincolnshire Day.

There are worse places to grow older, potter about, enjoy wonderful local food and talk with a very weird accent. 

Z is for Zoe

 

A lovely little Greek word meaning life, vitality, being alive.

Autumn can look as though everything is packing up. Leaves are dropping, flowers are fading animals are beginning to think about hibernating but underneath all that, life is still going on.

Bulbs are quietly getting on with things underground. Seeds are waiting. Squirrels are hiding things and then immediately forgetting where they put them.

There is life in a mug of whatever takes your fancy, a warm jumper and a good book.

Autumn reminds us that life doesn't always have to be spectacular.  Autumn is itself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this alphabet of autumn.  I wanted to focus on "now" just as my hibernaculum helped me focus on seeing all the wonderful things about winter.  I’ve enjoyed writing it and thinking of words to include.  I knew it would be challenging so the whole alphabet was planned before I started although some choices were  changed as new ideas occured to me.  It’s my fourth alphabet series and I think I’m getting the hang of them.  There might be a winter one sometime. 

Y is for yummy

There are words which sound intelligent. Nutritional. Gastronomic. Epicurean.  And then there is yummy.  Yummy never appears in restaurant reviews but it's the best possible response to home cooking.

Autumn is full of yummy.  Baked potatoes. Roast parsnips. Soup thick enough to stand a spoon in.

There is something wonderfully satisfying about putting a casserole in the slow cooker, and the house smelling of something delicious.

Then there's soup, the official food of autumn. A carrot, a courgette and half an onion that's been lurking in the fridge can all be thrown in.  You sit down with your bowl, some crusty bread and rather more butter than strictly necessary.

So here's to autumn: soup, crusty bread, butter, casseroles.

And here's to being old enough to know that sometimes “Yummy” is all the food criticism required.

X is for Xanthophyll

I can't tell you how pleased I was to find Xanthophyll to put in my autumn alphabet.  It's probably the most autumnal word in my list but I'd never heard of it.  And I would take any X word!

Xanthophyll is a natural yellow pigment found in plants.  In the summer it is masked  by chlorophyll which is the green pigment essential for photosynthesis.  It helps protect leaves from damage caused by too much sunlight.  As autumn arrives, chlorophyll breaks down. The yellow xanthophyll pigments remain visible, giving leaves their yellow and golden colours.  It's there all the summer and it's only towards the end of the life of the leaf that it is revealed.  

So now you know too!  (If you didn't already.)

A psalm for harvest

Psalm 65

 8    You visit the earth and water it;  ♦

you make it very plenteous.

9    The river of God is full of water;  ♦

you prepare grain for your people,

    for so you provide for the earth.

10  You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;  ♦

you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.

11  You crown the year with your goodness,  ♦

and your paths overflow with plenty.

12  May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness  ♦

and the hills be girded with joy.

13  May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep  ♦

and the valleys stand so thick with corn

    that they shall laugh and sing.

W is for well, well, well

 

Here’s to a  Wonderful, Windy, Woolly Autumn

Well, well, well.  Here we are in autumn, when the weather turns wild, the wind whistles and the woods become a wonderful whirl of waving and wonderful colour. The world seems to have swapped its summer wardrobe for a warm, woolly, weatherproof one.

The weather, naturally, has its own wicked sense of humour. One minute the sky is wide and white; the next, a wall of rain is wandering across the fields.

Then there is wool. Wonderful wool. Woolly jumpers, woolly socks, woolly scarves and woolly blankets suddenly become essential equipment.

Autumn also brings warming things: warm porridge, warming soup, walnut cake, winter vegetables and wonderful cups of whatever takes your fancy. I settle down while the wind worries the windows.

The evenings are wonderfully welcoming. Outside, the wind wanders around the house, the rain washes the windows. Inside, I have a book, a blanket and absolutely no wish whatsoever to go anywhere.

There is no need to rush. I can wander, watch, wonder and wait. I can watch the leaves whirl across the garden, wonder where summer went and wait for the kettle to boil.

Autumn is a time to withdraw indoors, wrap yourself in wool and watch the world go by.

Well, why wouldn't you?

 

V is for vespers

I have to admit that I’m more of a Compline sort of gal than a Vespers one.  Compline is at bedtime: Vespers is the evening prayer and is a little earlier.  In the C of E we now have it as Evensong and maybe Compline later on.  I’m cheating slightly as I’m going to roll them all together with prayers in the evening to be my “V” post.  And it seems right to think about this in autumn.

There is something rather satisfying about the day coming to an end.  It may not have been very productive – that doesn’t matter.  It’s a day which I’ve spent with God whether or not I have thought about him and it’s a day I want to give back in prayer.  We spend much of our lives trying to squeeze more into the day. Vespers does the opposite. It says: stop now. The day is ending. You don't have to do anything more.

The formal service involves a psalm, some Scripture, prayers and, traditionally, the beautiful Magnificat — Mary's song of praise from the Gospel of Luke.  I use the Book of Common Prayer version with its wonderfully old fashioned language.  Sometimes the prayer can be as simple as sitting quietly for a few minutes at home and consciously handing the day over to God.  The world will manage, even if I stop pedalling.

Vespers invites us to look back over the day — not to judge it, but simply to notice it.  The things that went well.  The things that didn't.  The small kindness we received.  And perhaps the things we wish we had done differently.  Then we let them go.

I think there is something especially comforting about an evening prayer that has been prayed by Christians for centuries. Somewhere, in some church, monastery or quiet room, people have been watching the daylight fade and saying their prayers long before we invented electric lights, central heating and online shopping.

We still need to stop.  We still need to give thanks.  We still need forgiveness.

Some ancient traditions are worth keeping.