Admittedly, it could be something to do with the fact that my birthday falls at the start of Autumn, (or perhaps it’s the fact that Autumn for me signifies the start of baking season…which means CAKE! ) but it has always been my favourite time of the year. Who can resist the beautiful russet colours twinkling in the golden Autumn sunlight…
The feel of fallen leaves crunching beneath ones feet on a leisurely walk, and the aromatic smell of logs crackling on an open fire, or perhaps it’s the fizzing and sparking of a bonfire that inspires feelings of warmth and cosiness for you at this time of the year?
I mentioned how I enjoyed changing elements of my home decor to suit the seasons in my previous post, but I must admit that I also relish the moment when I can get cosy in a cardigan and a scarf. It’s not that I enjoy the cold exactly, but when I am outdoors, I do love that cocooning feeling of getting cosy whilst being enveloped in luxuriously soft and natural fabrics. I’m not alone in that thought either – have you ever heard the following Marilyn Monroe quote?
“Designers want me to dress like Spring; In billowing things. I don’t feel like Spring. I feel like a warm, red Autumn.”
Well, Marilyn – I totally agree. I’m not a billowy person either – give me cashmere, tweed, a corduroy trouser and the softest of wool in earthy Autumnal tones any day!
Like Marilyn, my love of Autumn stems from a delight in the amazing earthy colours – at no other time of the year am I so drawn to the colours orange and red! Nature loves to put on a good show, and even the sunlight joins in to cast a magically enhancing golden glow on everything it touches. I suspect that Coco enjoys how flattering this seasons natural backdrop is against her conker brown coat too…
Autumn is an eclectic month that can jump from sunshine to mist and from warmth to frost overnight, and so, in keeping with the spirit of Autumnal eclecticism, I’ll leave you with a ‘jump’ from Marilyn Monroe to Emily Bronte’s vision of Autumn… Emily was born just a few years before Hill House was built, and I like to think that the leaves would have fallen around the house in exactly the same way had she visited back then. Unlikely bedfellows they may be, sexy Marilyn and melancholic Emily, (although we now know that Marilyn was sometimes melancholic – and who knows – perhaps Emily was secretly sexy during her time..!) – but isn’t that part of Autumn’s changeable beauty, and how differently we perceive the stunning charms of this golden season?
Fall, Leaves, Fall
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the Autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
Emily Bronte (1818 – 1849)
Until next time,
