It's that time of year when the light changes, the temperature drops (the colder the better for me), the days shorten (or, as my dad used to say, it gets late early), the colours glow, and Mother Nature begins the process of hunkering down.
Cooler weather cooking and baking is so much easier and so much more satisfying. Comfort food. Platefuls of good old stodge. Yorkshire puds, mashed potatoes, hearty bean stews, dumplings, creamy dhals, fruity sponges, custard. Just typing the words makes me feel a whole lot better.
Suddenly, in my year round uniform of black jeans, long sleeved shirts, military boots, I'm wearing season appropriate clothes. And then there's the multitude of polo neck sweaters (my absolute favourites), jackets, coats, hats and scarves waiting patiently in the wings.
Growing up in a slum clearance area (I didn't know it at the time, it was just home), gardens, trees and wildlife didn't form a daily backdrop to the changing seasons (there was that memorable year when an owl took up residence on the street light outside the butcher's shop). The nature table in a corner of the classroom in junior school, carefully maintained by the always inspiring Mrs Whitehouse, was the closest many of us ever got to conkers, fir cones, feathers that hadn't come from a pigeon, nests and colourful leaves as big as hands. Now, much to the Boo's delight, we're lucky to live right on the doorstep of woodland trails, just there for the autumnal walking (and caterpillar spotting).
Pumpkins didn't feature at all in my childhood. I didn't know they existed outside the pages of a favourite book, where one was magically turned into a glass coach. These days, cans of pumpkin puree are readily available in the supermarkets and easily turned into a fragrantly spiced and fruited loaf. (I used mostly wholemeal flour, added sultanas and walnuts, omitted the banana and created a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger.)
Coffee is always my hot beverage of choice. But autumn marks the reappearance of gingerbread syrup flavoured drinks in the coffee shops and resistance, I find, is futile. A wholefood shop in a nearby town has recently offered fresh turmeric for sale and I'm planning on enlivening the drinks menu here with mugs of turmeric and ginger latte.
Seasonal changes appear elsewhere. I'm a big fan of matching my reading to the time of year whenever I can and, as Halloween approaches, I'm eager to get stuck into a spooky new book (though in no particular hurry to finish the current book at bedtime, a gripping tale of the Witchfinder General and life in mid 17th century England).
Although I light scented candles indoors throughout the year, they make so much more sense as the nights draw in, adding to the cosy feel as you close the curtains, switch on the lamps and settle down to tune into the latest episode of Bake Off or the much less sugaryTin Star. And an added bonus, they don't highlight your lack of dusting like sunlight does.
Oh, yes, I love autumn, me.