Summer has gone; autumn colours are here

Dear Being Knitterly readers, I just wanted to let you know, that I’m writing a short post this week, and it’s possible that next week there may not be a post. You may remember that in my first post of the year I said my theme for 2015 is wellbeing. On a personal level my aim is to manage my fibromyalgia so I have fewer flares. As anyone with a chronic illness will know, pacing activities to avoid flare-ups is not easy.

Every year I have bad flares in September. I think it’s the noticeable dip in temperature that occurs in the UK then. It seems to take my body a few weeks to adjust, then I find a new level and operate on a slower pace until Spring.
This year, touch wood, I’ve avoided a bad flare, but I know I’ve got to be careful.  I’m working on several commissions, as well as submissions for Spring / Summer 2016, and regular teaching. Plus I’m going to do a craft fare or two before Christmas. Therefore, to help pace things, blog posts will be less frequent for a while. Such a shame, because there is so much to tell you. And I was really enjoying doing the tutorial posts, but my digital camera had a fatal accident, so they are on hold.

Autumn colours in the garden

September has gone and October is nearly half-way through. Let’s take a peek at my garden.

Well, you weren’t expecting these cheerful flowers, were you? We’ve had an unusually warm October. The Fuchsia bush is covered in flowers. These always remind me of The Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker. Little ballerinas dancing in the breeze.

And look at my Pelargoniums! You might think that I lived in the Mediterranean rather than on a usually chilly northern isle. This year, autumn colours are rather bright and cheerful.

It’s been so warm in the middle of the day, that I’ve had lunch outside a few times. And those are homegrown tomatoes, that only started to ripen in the middle of September.

I’ve even done some outdoor knitting! The yarn is Viola, from John Arbon, in shade Unpredictable. It is beautiful to look at, superbly squidgy and wonderful to knit. Working with this yarn is good for my wellbeing!

Autumn colours in the hedgerow

For the last few weeks, I’ve been cycling regularly. Twice a week, I cycle about 8 km | 5 miles. It takes about 30 minutes; not too time-consuming, but long enough to be beneficial.

At first, I went for my cycle straight after breakfast. But, a few weeks in there was a nip in the air and then it became really chilly. So, now I’m cycling later in the morning, when things have warmed up a bit. If I’m lucky, there is sunshine and a blue sky. And there are proper autumn colours appearing in the hedgerows. I think that it is mainly the ash and sycamore that have turned at the moment. There’s also a lot of ripe berries: elderberries, rose hips and hawthorn berries.

Last Saturday we visited our local woodland for a quick walk. Mr BK and I like to go there regularly to see the seasonal changes. This time we saw several different types of mushrooms, including the ones below. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one place! We didn’t forage; the mushrooms stayed where they were.

A few years ago, our local Slow Food group organised a mushroom hunt with an expert. We found a variety of mushrooms, one of which was “technically” edible. It is known as Jelly Ear Fungus, which might explain why you probably wouldn’t want to eat it even though it is safe to eat.

Over to you

Please leave a comment to let me know the following:
What do you like about autumn?
If you have a chronic illness, does it get worse at this time of year?
How do you try to maintain your wellbeing during autumn and winter?