Hello Autumn!

Autumn must be my favourite season, because I haven't skipped a single year since starting these Hello seasonal blog posts, and I think I've forgotten about at least one of all the other seasons! I love the cooler, rainy weather that the season heralds, the hazy sunlight and occasional thunderstorm. So many of my favourite activities are best done in cooler weather, so I'm going to take a look at some of them today.

craft
In the middle of Summer it's too hot to do most kinds of craft -- holding wool and having it on your lap isn't the most pleasant experience, and trying on self-sewn clothes can be a sticky experience. Right now though, my urge to do craft has returned in the biggest way. I've started several new projects, and even taught myself the new-to-me craft of tablet weaving, which I wrote about in my last post. Here's a sneak peek of another project I started recently:

snuggly things
Speaking of scarves, getting to wear them is heavenly, too. One of the best things about cooler weather is that I get to wear layers -- cardigans, scarves and closed shoes with socks. Maybe even legwarmers if it's cold enough! I have a large collection of all of these things and am always working on making more, so it's nice to get to wear them. I really like the way a scarf looks and feels in particular. P.S. I've been practicing my photography and modelling lately.

baking
As soon as it's cool enough to put the oven on, I feel like baking, whether it's biscuits, cakes, fruit or vegetables loaves or buns. Husband can whip up a cake without following a recipe (a gluten-free one, too!) which is an enviable skill to have, in my book. We stopped eating bread late last year, so baked products are a bit more special than they used to be. I had a craving for vegemite scrolls, so I baked these last week:

tea
Nothing goes better with the baked goodies I mentioned above than a nice cup of tea. I'll drink any kind of tea, but my favourites lately are a fruity flavoured black tea, and herbals like peppermint. I like to re-organise my tea cupboard and refresh my inventory this time of year, so I'm looking forward to doing that soon.

Samhain
I'm not a big one for following the Sabbats, but this time of year my mind always turns to the more esoteric and spiritual matters. As the days grow shorter and the light dimmer, now feels the time to turn inwards. I feel like building altars and lighting candles. Plus, I want to finally experience the other joys of the season as everyone in the Northern Hemisphere got to do six months ago.

Hello Winter!

Winter (one of my three favourite seasons) has returned, and I'm glad. To be honest, it probably started a couple of weeks ago, but Australian winter is quite mild and sometimes we can slip into it without even noticing. I've observed that a lot of the time, only every second day is really wintry, alternating with lovely sunny days. Here's a montage to illustrate. The photos were literally taken one day apart:

So what do I love about Winter right now?

COMFORT FOOD
A cheese toastie and a bowl of soup are the perfect lunch in Winter. (The bread is gluten-free as I'm still unfortunately gluten intolerant.) I also like noodle soups, we've made pea and ham soup a few times, and I want to try making minestrone with gluten-free pasta.

KITTY QUIRKS
Sharick will do anything to soak up some warmth in Winter, even to the extent of lying on my computer, which he's certainly not allowed to do! Not only does it exude warmth on its own from the CPU, but in the mornings my desk is in the sun from the side window. I'll have to try to wean him off it, because he's done all sorts of strange things from pressing the keys randomly!

Additional snuggling:

NOTICING NATURE
Winter is a dormant time, but a lot still goes on in the plant world. Even before they've lost their leaves, the buds on the deciduous trees are already forming. It's a relief to get up close to my fruit trees and see them, and know they're not dead, just asleep. The usual Winter life is there too: the mushrooms. Plants that get enough warmth, like my indoor succulents and chilli, still grow quite vigorously. And of course the combination of rain and sun causes the grass to go bananas.

Bonus photos taken last Winter. I no longer work near this park and I miss visiting it so much!

Hello Autumn!

Once again, my favourite time of year has come around. The searing heat of Summer is dying down, and the light is becoming hazy and golden. Summer seems like almost a second hibernation period here in Australia. Plants don't grow very much due to the lack of water and the heat, and even with regular watering, several of my plants died. Now, the world is starting to come to life again. The grass is starting to grow green and lush, and the plants are daring to put out new shoots. I'm coming out of hibernation too. I've felt sluggish the last few months, hiding inside in the air conditioning, only going out as necessary to water the poor plants. I'm eager now to get back outside for the enjoyment of it. I want to go for walks, dig around in the garden, pick the last of the roses.


Here are some things I'm looking forward to in Autumn:

tea
I've been drinking Yerba Mate tea every day for my health, but as the weather gets cooler, I want to drink a lot more! I've decided to collect teapots, tins and other tea accessories, and I'm in the process of setting up a display and storage area for them. It's time for the yearly re-organisation of my tea cupboard, too.

rain
There's nothing more wonderful than hearing rain on the roof and smelling it soak into the earth. I can almost feel the plants and trees sighing in relief when the first good rainstorm of Autumn comes.

scarves
Scarves, shawls and pashminas are wonderful for adding a bit of extra warmth, and giving outfits more of a layered look without committing to a full garment. There's an almost infinite choice of colours, patterns, textures and styles -- and they're easy to DIY!

See this post for the making of this scarf.
Technically a shawl. Never mind that, though.

baking
I've been itching to start using the oven again! Not only to make baked goods, but for hotpots and stews. Husband and I learned how to make baked potatoes in the slow cooker last year and they're delicious. And of course there's my favourite: sausage rolls!

mystical things
As the seasons turn towards the darker half of the year, my mind takes on a more mystical bent. I've been feeling it more than ever in the past year. Autumn is the best time for reaching through the veil, shadow work and divination. I want to start honouring the environment I live in and celebrate at the appropriate times for me. Therefore, I'll be doing Halloween in April. Northern hemisphere be darned! (Just kidding, I love you NH folks!)

Happy Autumn and/or Spring!

Hello Spring!

After a colder than normal Winter here in Southern Australia, Spring is finally here!

Last year I wrote about looking forward to dressing in pastels (though let's face it, I do that all year round!) but this year I'm excited about my garden again! A earlier this month, I wrote about how my garden is a total mess, but I want to change that. I dredged up the plans I'd made a couple of years ago and I want to start putting them into action.

There must be something about seeing the fruit trees burst into bloom:

Oranges still warm from the slowly strengthening sun:

Daffodils peeking into life in the park:

Dashes of colour everywhere:

And the flowering trees, old friends that I pass every day on my walk to work:

There's also stowing away my woolly Winter cardigans and scarves, and of course, the fact that it's no longer dark when I get home from work. This year I've become very enthusiastic about my garden again, and I've already planted some new plant friends which I'll show in a future post soon!

Happy Spring! And enjoy Autumn if you're up there in the Northern Hemisphere!

Hello Winter!

Winter has come early and hard to my part of Australia this year. The frosty mornings and overcast skies have blown in suddenly like a southerly wind straight from Antarctica. Thankfully, Winter isn't completely relentless here -- there are still some sunny days which bring a little warmth and hope.

Here are some ways that I'd like to celebrate Winter this year:

BAKING
As I mentioned in my last post, I really want to get back into baking again. I love making cakes, loaves and biscuits that I can share with Husband and with friends. I have a secret love of rock cakes -- they make the perfect snack! Collecting cute utensils to use in the kitchen is another wish of mine.



KNITTING & CROCHETING
In Summer it's just too hot to handle wool or have large blankets-in-progress draped over my lap. But Winter is the perfect time for that! I've even been taking one smaller blanket to work with me and working on it during my lunchbreaks. There's something comforting about holding the yarn in my hands which goes well with cold weather.



CAT SNUGGLES
When I've had a long day at work, all I can think about is coming home and snuggling with my cat. He's a confirmed lap cat and a huge sook, so I know I'm guaranteed some time with him on my lap every evening. Sometimes I even joke that I'm nothing but a heated cushion in his eyes! Not only is it nice and warm, but I can scratch under his chin easily and it's bonding time for both of us.


I hope your Winter is warm and snuggly, and if you're in Summer right now, I hope you're enjoying the sun!

Hello Autumn!

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons. Perhaps a good judge of which seasons are my favourite can be seen in which seasons I've forgotten to write about since starting this series! I remembered Spring, but skipped Summer. All season I've been thinking ahead - pining for Autumn to finally arrive.

Autumn is when the heat of Summer finally subsides and the world comes out of survival mode. The threat of bushfires has passed, and both plants and people alike breathe a sigh of relief. New grass is starting to peep through the crisp brown hay that Summer created. (The homeowners that water their lawns in Summer are conspicuous by the swathes of green amongst the brown.) Some plants -- fuchsias and daisies in my area -- are entering their second growing phase for the year and bloom again before Winter begins. Others, none of them native, are starting to drop their leaves. Our winters are so mild that I almost feel sorry for them for going to the effort. It's only in the mountains that it really gets cold enough to hibernate.

Last year I wrote about the things I'm looking forward to in Autumn -- tea, wearing layers, hot comforting foods -- and that still stands of course. This year I'd like to explore ways to celebrate the seasons.

attend a harvest festival
Celebrating the harvest is perhaps less relevant in the modern world, where fresh food is available year-round. To me, this time of year is more about switching from hot-weather foods to cold-weather foods. It's time to put the salad tongs away and unpack the crockpot. To celebrate the appearance of pumpkins, squash and parsnips, and embrace the cooking of hearty stews and soups. This is what I enjoy most about the harvest festival atmosphere. I also have more of an urge to leave the house now that the weather is cooler. Melbourne has a huge foodie culture, so there are plenty of events to choose from, both city and country.

Momijigari / Autumn leaves viewing
While Australia doesn't have the spectacular displays of leaf-fall that are seen in the Northern Hemisphere, there are still places to go to find some beautiful Autumn colour. The introduced deciduous trees go through their seasonal changes against a backdrop of native evergreens. In some ways, we have the best of both worlds here in Australia.

bake a special bread
One of the things I've been looking forward to the most is firing up the oven again and doing some baking. I've been dreaming of cakes, biscuits and muffins, but bread is the most back-to-basics and yet comforting food of all. To celebrate the abundance of the harvest, perhaps something like this Tsoureki I made back in 2010:

Hello Spring!

This is the second in my experimental series of posts greeting the seasons, the first being Hello Autumn last April. (Oops, I forgot to say hello to Winter. I'm not going to apologise or feel bad for not being consistent. I suspect I probably have Seasonal Affective Disorder but I'll write about that another time.)

Spring comes early in Australia. We first feel its effects in the middle of August, when cold days are interpersed with a sprinkling of sunny ones, with a hint of a warm breeze wafting the scent of magnolia through the air. By the end of August, the wattles are in full bloom, buds are starting to appear on the fruit trees, and bright green new leaves are peeking out everywhere.

What things am I looking forward to in Spring?

flowers
While we are lucky enough to get some flowers throughout most of the year (with the height of Summer probably being the exception), Spring is the time when the flowers are most plentiful and beautiful.

I also love the wildflowers that grow on infrequently mowed lawns throughout the neighbourhood -- and yes, that includes ours!

working with plants
Spring is the time to re-pot potted plants, and plant new things outside. My succulents have really taken off and most either need to be transferred to larger pots or divided up into even more new little friends.

baby birds
This photo isn't the best, but it shows one spot under the eaves where doves nest every Spring. Every year there has been at least one bird come into being and grow up in this spot. It makes me proud!

pastels
Wearing them, decorating with them -- just having them everywhere!

Not my table, unfortunately!
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Not my bedroom, unfortunately!
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Spring treasure box
This time I chose a pink Lavshuca eyeshadow, a floral scrunchie, and quince-flavoured tea from Daiso. A cute comb to replace the boring old one in my backpack kit. There's also a Spring-themed pond decoration for my bedroom, but I've had it for several years and a few bits have fallen off, so I'll probably spruce it up a bit.

events
Aside from the Spring Equinox, there are the Marimo Festival on 8th-10th October, which I celebrated a couple of years ago. Later is Halloween / Samhain / Dias de Muertos, and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in November.

and another thing
I've decided to try another experiment, this time inspired by a small challenge we were set at school. We were asked to make a list of goals for the next term (terms run for 6 months from equinox to equinox). It was quite an easy challenge to do, but it got me thinking about that sort of thing. The end of my first 101 Things in 1,001 Days is in June next year -- that's only 9 months away! Plus there are all the other things I want to do in my life, too. I need something to motivate me that's a bit more short term. 6 months is a good time period to think about doing things school-wise. In the spirit of the Slow Time course I'm doing at the moment, I like the idea of having each season as a natural time division. 3 months seems more realistic than 6 months, but less scary than 1 month! I'm still thinking about how this will look. Having goals that tune into the seasons really appeals to me, though.

That reminds me, I've been meaning to write a post about how there are 6 seasons in South-Eastern Australia. Or even 7 according to one Indigenous culture. This could get messy!

Hello Autumn!

Finally, it's here! Autumn.

Autumn comes late in this part of the world. According to our Western calendar, it should have arrived on 1st March. And according to the equinoxes, it should have appeared on 21st March. The indigenous people of this region know better however -- Autumn doesn't show itself until the end of March, at the very earliest.


Lately I've been thinking more about the things that are important to me, how they tie together and how to appreciate them in my life. Honouring the seasons is important to me, but I don't follow the Wheel of the Year as many do. I've been thinking about how to do it in my own way. For the last few years, I've written a list of crafts and other activities to do each season, but after a while it started to feel like just another to-do list. This time I modified it to more of an inspirational concept, with a bit of calendar thrown in. I put it on my listography here. I'd like to find a way of presenting it so that I can add more photos, perhaps of finished projects, etc.

I've also decided to start doing a seasonal series of blog posts, as I love writing and taking photos, and my crafts, hobbies, lifestyle and spirituality are so intertwined that blogging about it feels like a spiritual practice to me. So here is the first one -- with all the things I'm looking forward to in Autumn!

tea
I missed drinking tea so much! I suppose I could make iced tea in Summer, but it's just not the same. I think a yearly re-organisation of my tea cupboard is a good idea, as it certainly doesn't look as tidy as in this photo (taken a few years ago).

layers
I love wearing layers and lots of accessories, whether it be for special co-ords or just every day. Finally, I can start wearing scarves again -- though only light ones! These are just my light scarves: I have another hanger for my woolly knitted and crocheted ones. Those are still sadly waiting for Winter to arrive, but for now at least I can content myself with all of these pretties.

rain
Listening to the sound of rain on our steel roof is so soothing. Snuggling under a blanket with a cup of tea and just listening is a wonderful way to enjoy the little things. It's also nice to not have to water the garden every night: just visiting and enjoying it is so much more relaxing.

baths
I'm looking forward to having baths again, and trying out all the bath bombs and fizzies that I've collected. I love reading in the bath, and any opportunity to read more is also welcome. I'm not sure I'd bathe in rose petals again like I did in this photo from last year, but you never know!

hot meals
Husband and I still eat hot meals in Summer most nights, as we're not really into salad, but in hot weather we don't use the oven and try to keep stovetop cooking as short as possible. As the weather cools down though, we're free to make meals that take longer to cook, and of course, baking. I can't wait to make scones, hot cross buns, banana bread and more.

Autumn treasure box
I chose a few Autumn-themed items from my stash to add to the experience -- a tea sample and 'tea snails' (which sit on the edge of your mug and stop your teabag string from disappearing into your tea). Some gingham scrunchies in appropriate colours, a bath fizzy from Daiso, and some stickers for my Hobonichi art diary.

events
Autumn is my favourite time of year. Perhaps I'm biased because my birthday is in April! I also love it because of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which happens in the first 3 weeks of April. There's such a jovial atmosphere in the city, and I always look forward to watching the Comedy Gala on TV (it's on tonight!). Then of course, there's the Eurovision Song Contest in May, a chance for cooking, eating and drinking, and exploring other cultures. Autumn is such a magical time!