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Autumn …leaves, memories and reflections….


The autumn tonings are showing in my trees and the wisteria vines...

My two favourite seasons here in Western Australia are autumn and spring, and somehow they affect me the same way...positively...despite that metaphorically autumn is aligned with the coming of the end of…life, relationships, and more;  while spring signifies new life, new beginnings.

For me autumn is a time of gentle beauty;  and reflection.  Because the climate here is not overly distinctive between the seasons,  as it is in the east of Australia, having mild temperatures in autumn and spring,  mild to hot summers and mild to cold winters, with never a snow flurry, the leaves on the trees are often the first indicator that the season is about to change.

The autumn sky is a vibrant blue but the pool water is too chilly for me to swim...

I planted, in front of my house, five deciduous trees 25 years ago and every year when their first leaves begin to either fall or turn to a beautiful shade of red or yellow I revel in the change, the opportunity for a new beginning, for preparation for the colder months and then the promise of spring when the trees again remind me that summer is coming as they burst with leaf buds.

The autumn vegetable patch is underway...

This autumn I was due to spend a month in France in beautiful Villefranche sur Mer.  As I did two years ago, I was going to undertake a month long immersion French language course at the Institut de Français but due to family circumstances I was unable to leave Australia and so in my disappointment I reveled in the emergence of a new season and the changes in my garden.

April 2013...this year in September....

The normal “Fremantle Doctor”, as the south west wind is referred to here in Perth, takes a rest in autumn and so the afternoons under a mild sun are perfect for outdoor lunchtime entertaining and experimenting with  the recipes which I bring back from each trip to France.

The sunny courtyard is perfect for long lunches...

In Western Australia we now have ducks, truffles, forest mushrooms and many of the other wonderful ingredients which complement long, languid autumn inspired lunches with my favourite French wines...



Autumn is also the time I find to catch up on photo organization.  Given quiet time and favoured music, reviewing photos and videos of the prior year takes up hours and hours and delivers memories of special times.

My first year as a grandmother has been a time of joy...

Reading the books I have been keeping aside for quiet times when my favourite summer activites have to be put on hold is particularly exciting when the hours spent reading the book with enjoyment are worthy of the anticipation which was built waiting for the autumn indulgence of curling up under a mohair rug and losing myself in the pages. And when they are in French, as so many are, they project me forward to my next trip to France and the Institut de Français in September…new recipes, new friends, new knowledge and anticipation for spring…and new leaves.

Quiet autumn light pervades my house
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