Welcome To Autumn Sundays

Despite being a summer baby, autumn is probably my favourite season of the year. It comes with a sense of letting go, shedding leaves and bringing the world into crisp focus. I find it easier to sit and tinkle away at the laptop keys for hours on end during this time of year, I have a renewed feeling of clarity around my work and perspective.

Unlike the excitement of spring and the carefree lazy days of summer, autumn brings with it a more grounded feeling. I think we also see it on social media; autumn is one of the most clearly defined changes in the content we see across the pages of our favourite brands and creators - bring on the pumpkins!

I have been embracing this grounded and cosy feeling, in fact, it has been what inspired me to start writing again. Autumn Sundays feel like the perfect time to sit down with a warm drink, cosy up in a favourite corner of your home and escape into the words of a similarly cosy Dorset dweller. I write this now with a cup of Earl Grey by my side and a view of the autumn sunshine brushing the tips of the fences from my window. You will find me here every Sunday, talking to you about another Dorset happening, sharing with you exciting news and places or transporting you to the whimsical world of nature and seasonal living.

In honour of this, I wanted to first share with you some of the little traditions I find myself repeating when autumn comes to Dorset.

Getting The Candles Out

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that my relationship with candles has lasted longer than most people’s marriages. At my side right now I am burning a candle called Greenhouse by The Botanical Candle Co. in Shaftesbury - this scent is one of my all-time favourites and frequently reminds me of my dream to one day have a greenhouse of my own.

The inviting glow of a candle on the dinner table or placed on a sideboard atop a stack of books makes for a beautiful autumnal addition to your home. I even find when I am burning enough of them they tend to warm a room quite effectively which is useful given the times we are living through. They also make for the perfect gift for a loved one, perhaps a birthday or just something to let them know you are thinking of them as the days shorten and the mornings and evenings start to gain a chilly edge.

One of the candle-related things you have been loving over on my Instagram is my tabletop fire. I have had so many messages about it so I thought I would share the link here. It was a gift from a friend and I believe she got it from Amazon, though if there are any places in Dorset that offer this product please do let me know and I will be sure to shout about it!

My Favourite Podcast

This one is more of a monthly tradition than just for autumn, but I find enjoy listening to my favourite podcast more with a cosy cuppa as the leaves are falling outside my window. The podcast in question is the Ffern Podcast with Lia Leendertz. You will probably see me mention this podcast many times on social media and on my blog as I have not yet found one that matches it.

A particular favourite segment of this podcast is the ritual, where Lia talks you through an ancient ritual for the month that has been completed for many years before us. This month it involves taking a candle (luckily I have a few of those!) into the garden and instilling it with a hope for the future as it flickers, like setting your intentions on what is meant to be the prevailing wind for the rest of the year.

If you have 20 minutes I highly recommend immersing yourself in this podcast, it brings with it a sense of calm and tranquillity that will carry you through the rest of your day or into your evening.

Pumpkin Spice and All Things Nice

My final little tradition for autumn is something that I have always enjoyed but never tried myself. Starbucks appears to be the first to have coined the ‘pumpkin spice’ branding; the pumpkin-spiced latte being the hot drink of autumn. But my research suggests that pumpkin spice has been around for a long time before that and, as I am not a coffee drinker myself, I wanted to bring the pumpkin spice into one of my favourite autumnal hot drinks: hot chocolate.

The recipe is simple for a little jar you can come back to time and again:

3 tablespoons of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

2 teaspoons of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of allspice

1 teaspoon of ground cloves

Mix all of the above in a jar, seal and position it next to your favourite hot chocolate mixture ready to add to your next cup. I find that local farm shops offer the best variety of hot chocolates at this time of year.

Thank you for joining me this autumn Sunday. Wherever you are I hope you take a little bit of this cosiness with you into the rest of your day or evening, treat yourself to a pumpkin-spiced hot chocolate and feel the grounding of the season around you as you move into a new week.