Feeling Autumnal

I took my little camera for a walk the other day to try and capture some of the changing season, it seems that Mother Nature did not want to let go of Summer until October arrived and it is as if a switch has been flicked somewhere.

Capturing a drop of rain

Thistle flower 

Loving the spikes

Hedgerow

Great place for a den

Canal side reflections

Trees still showing green

Sometimes its nice just to stop and look what is around us, these pictures were taken next to Sainsbury's at Castle Marina, I used to work a 5 minute walk away from here but never once thought to come here on my lunch break and enjoy the view. Is there a hidden gem near your workplace?

... boat trips and autumn pics

I had an unexpected treat at the weekend when I was invited to a day boat trip on the River Trent with some friends.   

Unlike today's blanket of fog we were blessed with beautiful autumnal weather and the low sun made for some great reflective  photo opportunities, sadly only on my phone.

If you turn this picture on its side it looks like one big tree :)

Its hard to see where the tree stops and the reflection begins

Swirling water on the River Trent

Love the bridge reflections

Under the bridge - the bit you don't see

Blowing bubbles

We had great fun with our bubble wand, the bubbles bounced off the top of the river and seemed to almost have a life of their own. The local anglers were a little less amused!

I hope you have enjoyed the piccys, leave me a message to let me know how the weather is with you.

.... red roses and recycled raffia

It was garden tidy up time this week and this included moving our rose bush.  I have no idea what variety it is we picked it up from a local garden centre bargain corner a couple of years ago.  

It flowers quite early in spring and goes through in fits and starts right through to the end of summer and into autumn.  I don't usually bring the flowers indoors as I like to enjoy them in the garden as they last longer but the timing and weather we just right for both Hubby and I to get stuck in and sort a few things out. The flowers are beautifully scented but happily not over powering.

I chose to display the roses in a variety of bottles that I have collected, to add a bit of texture I wound raffia and jute string around the bottles. The different sized bottles worked well with the differing sizes of stems.

As I was winding the raffia around the bottle it occurred to me that this was the third time I had used this.  Its first outing was on the Christmas tree at the cottage we stayed in last year, it was brought home and used on a birthday present for my daughters boyfriend and now it was providing a bit of decoration in my lounge.  I have a feeling that it will be making another appearance over the festive period in some form or another.

I am very pleased with my autumnal looking mantelpiece, although I really should have swept the hearth!

Are the roses still blooming in your garden?   Do you have a little something that keeps being reused? Leave me a little message to let me know x

... paper play with autumn leaves

The weather here has taken a distinctly autumnal turn, cardigans have been in daily use and the big debate about is it cold enough to put the heating on has begun ( we have resisted so far).  My Pinterest feed has been popping up with images showing that I am not the only one to have noticed the change in the season and my Leaf me alone board has been getting regular pins fed into it.

Autumnal dispaly

I enjoyed my  adventures with recycled paper play and still have plenty of pages of the book left along with some brown paper that had been on a parcel delivered earlier in the week so I decided it was time for a new mobile.

paper leaf mobile

I toyed with creating different textures by screwing the paper up or by folding it in half to give it a sharp line.  The leaf shapes are a combination of free hand cutting and drawing round some small cookie cutters that I had, it has resulted in a variety of shapes and textures that I am very happy with.  I love the shadows that are cast, it gives the whole thing another dimension.

Brown paper leaves

Once the mobile was up I had to carry on and dress the rest of the mantle, my vintage Sylvac pottery is perfect for an Autumnal display.

Sylvac Squirrel

Sylvac mouse

Sylvac deer

I jumped on the idea of using some of my vintage button cards to complete the display, this is in the room where I do my sewing so I can look up and  see these little lovelies while I am working. It seemed to be lacking a little punch of colour and I hit on the idea of using some of my sewing threads which seem to do the trick.

The old mobile has now been consigned to the log burner to have one final useful role in helping to start the fire.  Who says recycling can't be fun.

How are you marking the change in the season or are you hanging on to Summer a little longer?