Autumn Equinox

“Autumn days when the grass is jewelled…..” Anyone else used to sing that song in school?  🍃

Before I get into autumn, an update on my barn owl wall hanging. (Although it does have a certain autumnal feel to it anyway with the colours.) I’ve completed the machine embroidery wheat.

Now I need to do the hedgerow behind the owl and some sewing on the owl himself.

As well as that, in my spare time I’ve been crocheting a shawl with the yarn I showed you last time and this is how it’s coming along.

I absolutely love the colour changes and I’m hoping to get it done by the time the weather starts to get colder.

But for now, we’re definitely in autumn. Today is the Autumn Equinox and you can feel the shift in the season. I love the subtle light of these days, it’s paler, not so intense as the summer sun. A bit more gentle. The cooler air is lovely too, making you need just one extra layer maybe, the start of wrapping up for the winter. It all has a kind of fragile feel to it, like nature is vulnerable at the turning points of the seasons, in a transition from one thing to another, shedding her skin or her bright summer cloak. The leaves on the cherry blossom in my garden have begun to turn colour already; a few are now that amber-yellow shade.🍂🍁

It all makes me feel a bit wistful, though I don’t know why. Maybe because the warmth and colour of summer sped by so fast, especially as it rained a lot in August which it seems to do every year now. I’m sure August used to be warm and sunny.

It also feels like a time of new beginnings, probably because school starts in September and that always brought new books, pens and uniform to go with the new school year. It seems to have stuck with me even though I left school a long time ago.

I think it’s connected to nature as well. As she is going through a time of change, withdrawing and preparing for winter, it seems to make you think about things, to re-evaluate where you are and start to plan again. To get back on any path you wandered off. The berries are already out on my holly tree, so nature is definitely thinking ahead. The birds will have food, but I feed them anyway, so they’d never go short. 🐦🍒

Happy Autumn to you. I hope you enjoy some wonderful colours on display on the trees. Stop for a while and really notice them.

Autumn leaves & Silver Linings

I'd hoped to have finished my barn owl wall hanging by now, but as I mentioned in earlier posts, things have been a bit busy recently. I have made some progress though, with machine embroidery.

The stitches represent the wheat in the field around the owl. There's still a lot more to do, much more machine embroidery and some hand stitching as well.

I found this leaf this week and I couldn't resist picking it up. The colours on it are so lovely, starting to turn from green to autumnal yellow and red.

We've had some sunny weather this week which produced beautiful sky scenes that I managed to capture in photos. A lovely blue sky with white fluffy clouds and the sun shining off them like silver lining.

This photo would be better if the telephone line wasn't right in the middle of it but I had to take it anyway! 😁 I thought the clouds looked like fluffy white hills.

I received a delivery of some gorgeous yarn this week which I'd ordered to try out as the colours are so beautiful. When I opened the package, I was surprised at how soft it is.

I can't wait to crochet with it in my spare time to see what it's like to handle. It's dyed different colours along the length of yarn, so the shade will change as I work and should produce a great effect. I'll show you the results when I've finished.

Have a great weekend. 😊