The big, beautiful October poem

Northern lights, woodsmoke and hot water bottles

Happy Hallowe’en! Here we are again at the end of another beautiful month, and it is poem time. For the uninitiated: every week this month I have asked you ‘what have you done/seen/made/eaten that felt particular to this week in the year?’ and you have answered, and now I have taken all of those thoughts and woven them into this lovely gathering of snapshots. Putting it together has been a gorgeous reminder that this has been an epic month for sky watching, with the aurora, the comet and that big beautiful Hunter’s Moon all forcing us to gaze up. But there was also the slow creep of dark and cold and our reactions to it, the hot water bottles, the cosy nights with Hallmark movies, the risottos.

Just before I jump in a quick note to say: it IS Hallowe’en and that means that this very evening we will be doing our annual ‘Show Us Your Pumpkins’ special over in the chat part of the app! It’s a real highlight of the Lia’s Living Almanac year and I love to see your creativity on display over there. I will post mine as soon as it starts to get dark and I would absolutely love to see yours too.

Some more Hallowe’en business: last year at this time I put together a playlist for those planning a quiet, contemplative, vaguely spooky evening by the fire with a peaty whisky over the cusp of October and November (there’s even a few bonfire night songs in there so it’s not just for tonight). It was a little treat then for my paying subscribers but as I currently have payments switched off I thought it might be nice to share again today. Click here to find it.

Now finally, down to business. It’s a long one, so settle down with a cuppa and let it all wash over you (don’t forget you can listen too, at the top of the page). Without further ado, let’s go.

Last croquet tournament of the season in sunshine with the leaves turning on the trees around us

Amethyst deceiver mushrooms amongst the fallen leaves in the woods, glowing an eerie violet betwixt the shades of rusts and browns

Our annual pilgrimage to seek out the rutting red deer. Hours of soggy hiking to the secret spots looking for Bruce. Hours we searched. We smelt him first. Distinct musky smell. Then over a hill and there he was with his harem

Dipping a toasted cheese sandwich in to hot soup

Nature table season - yellow heart shaped poplar leaves, teeny dark chocolate brown alder cones, the last of the peace roses

A loaf of seeded bread to have with this year's apple and honey for rosh hashana, then a trip to Tynemouth to make tashlikh, throwing crumbs from my pockets into the sea to say goodbye to the old year

Hearing a skein of geese honking overhead and spotting four V formations

Candlelit breakfasts. Need I say more?

The hosta leaves have turned from green to yellow and the smell of wood smoke hangs in the air

Risotto with foraged chanterelles and porcini

The magnificent Ginkgo tree glowing against the honey coloured stone buildings. Chipping Campden was made for autumn

Walking into cobwebs. Damp, misty mornings

The river high and rushing, a wildfowl cacophony of flapping and splashing

Planting bulbs - crocus, dwarf iris, allium, Tenby daffodils, English bluebells

Cresting a sand dune just in time to see a humpback whale lunge feeding near shore

Picking and drying the last batches of herbs: tulsi, apple mint, sage and chamomile

A week of sudden warmth, heavy fog, the smell of decaying leaves, the thicket of increasingly golden vines hanging limp and ready to fall, and lighting the first predawn candle

Fennel heads sprinkled with glittering dew in the mornings

Harvested quinces from our tree for the first time (what to make though?)

A welcome hot water bottle at my feet in bed

Turning the sloe gin in the cupboard

Blankets on the sofa, candles lit, heating on

Scrumping and stewing apples. Sunrise walks

Home from a week away to find the Virginia Creeper has lit up the garden! The fiery red stretching all along the fence and up into the trees at the bottom

Just about getting away with pretending it is still summer, sitting out in the sun, getting covered in goosebumps every time the wind blows…

Autumn in Wales: the beech trees turning from green to bronze, the last blackberries delicious, streams rushing through mossy, fern cloaked woods, mild sunny days turning to skies aglitter with stars

Skies scowling and the river threatening to burst

The astounding scarlet of the Virginia creeper

Long shadows and a nip in the air on the walk to the village church for Harvest Festival

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The first morning of smoking breaths and invigorating cold air, clear blue skies, the burning bush of the Japanese maple, then the swirling pink night sky of the aurora

The bird feeder suddenly aflutter with activity again

Teasels, rose hip branches, cow parsley seed heads for an autumnal arrangement in a tall glass vase

The northern lights again from London, the sky blushing in shades of magenta and pomegranate, visible to the eye, from my own garden. Absolutely spellbinding. Twice this year without leaving home!

Squash in the vegbox

Fingers into leather gloves for the first time this season. The relief left in the fabric feels like I am holding my own hand from the previous winter

Ice on the car this morning

Walking through ruffling leaves, eating the last of the tomatoes and planting more bulbs

The annual hornbeam hedge cut bringing cleaner lines to the garden, a sharp contrast with the collapsing perennials in the borders

Teeny love in a mist seedlings popping up all over the garden

A bag full of windfall cookers from a lovely neighbour quickly turned into apple sauce and bagged up for the freezer

Chicken cooked in cider and apple slices, apple crumble, cinnamon apples on our porridge

Standing in the cold, crisp air to catch sight of the Northern Lights in our own back garden! The beautiful colours swirling and the stars twinkling

Clear starlit early mornings - Orion, Taurus, Gemini and the Dog Star Sirius. Jupiter and Mars

The aroma of autumn bonfires and eating my porridge with homemade cinnamon sugar

It takes a moment now to get the chill out of the bedding at night

Squirrels everywhere

Collecting leaves to make autumn pictures with my 5 year old

The hummingbirds seem busier at the feeders

Fresh "Wild" rosehip jelly slathered over toasted cardamom bread with my first cuppa in the morning

Preserving the huge crop of tomatoes in jars with garlic and herbs to enjoy in the months to come. Homemade tomato soup with toasted cheese sandwiches

My burnt orange mac and tan boots. Carrot cake on a pumpkin colored plate with a latte while looking at a pavement littered with leaves

A cold, rainy evening in pyjamas, baking bread and cooking chilli

A fire outside most evenings - the sound and the smell is glorious

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More than 100 grey seals hauled out on the beach in a Cornish cove

The big orangey Hunter's 'Supermoon' rising from Mousehole in Cornwall over the sea

Knitting and crafting little pumpkins an a range of autumn colours and stitches

Blustery wind helping the birch trees part ways with their catkins and dainty leaves, an excited, swirling goodbye

Turning over the mud in my garden bed, and accidentally spearing a potato with every other forkful

Finally seeing Comet Tsusinchan Atlas after incessant cloudy nights

Proper Camelot days full of golden low-angled sun followed by rainy nights

The garden is sighing and gently folding in on itself

Incredible mushrooms in the traditional Munich food market

University visits rumble on, and a sudden return of covid

A comforting blanket of mist enveloping the garden

A glimpse of the comet - magical!

Making the last pots of jam from the blackberries, and the bright moon lighting up my bedroom

Japanese anemones tapping at our windows as they drop their petals

Gently handwashing my precious cashmere sweaters, scarves and gloves, then squeezing and rolling in towels to dry flat

Owls hooting in the dark

Moose cows with their calves looking for the last scraps from the garden before they are forced to winter browse, and the downward push of the mercury in the thermometer on the back deck

Coming across crab apples growing wild, scooping them up and making them into clear deep pink jelly

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A tinge of sadness looking out of the window at the bare and gnarled acer tree, its bright leaves that were so glorious last week stripped by the weekend’s stormy weather, blanketing the ground and the roots of its tree

Cooking crumpets over the fire, with hot chocolate

Crunchy, jewel-toned leaves underfoot on the walk to school

The beauty of the mist as it drifts in the nooks and dips of the fields on my way to work in the mornings when the sun is trying it's best to shine through it

Bright blue sky meets soft sepia dunes. A pod of dolphins following a fishing boat

A palette of astonishing copper-orange hues

A wonderful train journey from Vienna to Budapest, the sun making golden leaves glow and silver leaves, trunks and branches shine

Yesterday evening, a lone crane called to its ‘gang’ flying on ahead

Peak color in Michigan. Purply-red sassafras and sumac, glowing orange maples, golden aspen and russet oaks

An afternoon baking super sweet pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies

A succession of dry days allowing the fallen leaves to dance together along the pavements. The rat a tat tat has followed me through the park

Leaves swooping down from above meeting with swirling leaves already fallen...it's an autumn snow globe

Making apple crumble with the windfalls

The full moon rising at the back of my house... the smell of leaf mould in my local park...garden fires.... preparing for Hallowe'en with decorations and spooky films

Back in an equatorial climate, peeling pomegranates, thinking of Persephone and Demeter, dreaming of my return to fall

A long weekend of high winds whipping at the roof slates and whistling through the window cracks

In today's stillness, standing in the beech woods, I watched as silently and gently one golden leaf at a time fell slowly and softly around me

Spring in south-eastern Australia and on the beach this morning I shed my shoes for the first time this season. The sand was warm underfoot and I paddled in the shallow water

Crunchy walks then settling down with my tapestry, scented candles and autumn Hallmark movies

Searching for sloes in the hedgerows

Girding my loins to carve four pumpkins!

Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you again for all joining in. If you like it, please do leave your comments as they keep me spurred on to continue this slightly bonkers exercise…! And perhaps give it a little share too.

Looking forward to doing it all again for November.