Septembers' Simple Pleasures

Hello Lovelies ,

the final two weeks of September seem to have flown by and I have pictures I haven't had chance to share yet.

Looking at these pictures of the simple things that caught my eye this month makes me happy . It's great having adventures and goals like the "great north run" but one of the many things the lovely people of  blogland have done is help me really notice and appreciate  special things in ordinary days. 

Early in the month we went on our  annual visit to a pretty village with a pond in the middle ...........

It's such a lovely spot to wander around . With pretty cottages and even a farmyard........

We visit for the scarecrow weekend, there are loads of wonderful scarecrows to see. Many very impressive and high tech, but this simple display appealed most to me........

It's a Beatrix Potter Scarecrow. I love the little creatures , especially Mrs Tiggywinkle the hedgehog and her babies :0)

That same sunny weekend we visited the park . The weather was so warm and still. I enjoyed simply sitting on a bench and watching people wandering along or sitting quietly reading........

It was wonderful to relax and soak up  the late afternoon rays . Whilst I was taking the picture above  a little leaf must have fluttered down from the trees and landed on my spotty summer dress. A reminder I should make the most of warm days like this because Autumn was just around the corner.......I'm trying to love Autumn , it is very beautiful but I know it means goodbye to long days and another summer..........

The next couple of pictures are from Sunday Dinner earlier in the month.
Maybe I should explain . I love Alicia's pictures....all of them are wonderful . Her home is  beautiful , her pets are so cute and she is such an amazing photographer. I took this picture after reading this blog post .....trying to copy her style :0)

It's Yorkshire pudding batter . I liked the bubbles and creamy yellow colour.........

My Yorkshires are a bit hit and miss but the boys are kind and say they still taste great , even when thy turn out a bit flat.
On this occasion they rose beautifully . I'm not a very enthusiastic cook but I'm getting better and it's a wonderful simple pleasure serving up a homemade meal everyone enjoys.......

This picture is the sky at 5.40pm last Saturday evening....the Autumn Equinox. The sun was shining through a thin veil of cloud......the sky reminded my of Mother of Pearl........

So we enter the half of the year when the nights are longer than the days, not so bad if the days are sunny but hard to love when it rains. This Wednesday was one of those dark wet days so I spent much of it in a warm kitchen.
Making my own soup is something new . I gathered some sad looking veg from the back of the fridge

Chopped and put them in my slow cooker with stock, tinned tomatoes, chilli powder and seasoning . It bubbled away all day and for the last hour I added some tinned mixed beans and some rice. The potatoes broke down to thicken the soup and in the end it was a very hearty chunky soup...almost a veg stew......healthy, frugal , simple food. I froze lots of individual servings and took one to work for lunch the next day.....it was yummy.

Something I do love is simple baking , so while the soup did its thing I popped on the oven and cozied up in my little kitchen making oaty cookies and flapjack for after school treats and packed lunches.........

Now the days are getting shorter my alarm goes off while it's still dark .....gosh I do struggle with that . But at least the rush hour journey to work is still light and the stationary traffic gives me the opportunity to look at the Autumn landscape.........

                        The trees are still green but the fields are shades of brown.


This is a bit of a mixed bag post isn't it .
Next up another simple pleasure ........books , or more specifically Childrens books. I love reading to the boys at bedtime ....though they are getting a bit old , while they will put up with me I will carry on . In fact I love reading older childrens books.....It's much more interesting than re-reading a Favorite Thomas the Tank engine story night after night :0)
I have just finished reading Swallows and Amazons.....a wonderful book I didn't read as a child but have enjoyed reading to my boys . It's fabulously descriptive and gentle.

The book in this picture is from my own childhood and recently rediscovered in the loft........


 

Poetry is such a simple pleasure and re-reading some of the  verses in this book has been a really gentle and enjoyable . In fact there are lots of poems in this book that are suitable for the not so young. I will share a   timely one here ...........

September

There are twelve months throughout the year,

From January to December -

And the primest month of all the twelve

Is the merry month of September!

Then Apples so red

Hang overhead,

And nuts ripe-brown

Come showering down

In the bountiful days of September

There are flowers enough in the summer-time,

More flowers than I can remember -

But none with the purple gold and red

That dye the flowers of September

The gorgeous flowers of September! 

And the sun looks through

A clearer blue

And the moon at night

Sheds a clearer light

On the beautiful flowers of September

                                                                                                 Mary Howitt

My own garden still has a few blooms so I gathered these yesterday to pop on my mantle . Maybe flowers are my favourite simple pleasure of all :0)

Phew , that turned into a long, wordy post. Well done if you stuck with it !

Jacquie x