Autumn comes…

And I’m realising that if I want things to happen, then I have to make them happen. I can’t just sit here and say ‘I must do more sewing’. I’ve actually got to look at where I can fit it in and what’s stopping me from doing it, fix that and then get on and enjoy it. While I’m doing that, I’m going to add to my list of things to be grateful for the fact that being immunocompromised may limit my ability to mix with people, especially in the winter months, but it hasn’t left me feeling bored and isolated. Quite the opposite in fact, because there’s so much that I want to do that my Autumn/Winter want to do list has hit four pages and autumn doesn’t start till next week.

It seems strange to say that I’m glad that the weather is finally breaking, but I’m loving hearing the rain while I write this by candlelight early on Tuesday morning. They’re LED candles, some of which are tea lights that I; 've put in pretty lanterns and others are taper candles in cut glass candlesticks that I’ve been collecting for years. They’re supplemented by the model aeroplane lights that are now vintage, but we’ve had them since they were new, and the curtains are drawn and the windows and doors are open to let in the smell of the last of summer rain. Relaxing music is playing softly in the background, and I’ve got a cup of lemon and ginger close at hand.

It's now almost ten years since I decided that that was how I wanted to live every day because I’d been slapped in the face by the fact that time with the people you love is incredibly precious, so you need to make the most of every second of it. So the table is prettily laid ready for porridge with maple syrup for breakfast, and I’m planning to get into decorating it for breakfast.

I’ve mentioned my Victorian House and Project Montpelier projects, which make clearing out a special treat before. It’s a combination of finally having time to have a good sort out because I’ve come into calmer seas after years of rough waters, and the desire to spoil myself. It doesn’t cost much more than doing it in a rush. In fact, not being able to eat out means that there’s more money to spend while I indulge my cookery habit so we eat very well. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve sewn less because cooking doesn’t need to be stored away afterwards, but it’s slid away altogether this summer, and I want it back.

I also want to cook more, and write more and sort out more and indulge myself shamelessly in an at home spa that’s another of my little projects. So this autumn/winter I’m going for Cafe 21 at the Victorian House, which is making the kitchen diner as much like some of my favourite diners and kitchen style restaurants as I can and then cooking the sort of food I used to eat when I ate out every single day. There’s also Has Beans, which is a cupboard area with rows of matching jars on a tiered stand, full of special teas and coffee to let us have our own coffee shop. My husband has become the master of the milk frother so I bought some stencils to add to the ambience and then got out the toughened glass coffee mugs and sorted my mugs into sets, which I shall soon change around because I’ve collected so many of them over the years. A packet of the Lorus caramelly biscuits you get in coffee shops is in a special tin, so posh coffee is within my reach. And there is a good reason why my characters always make tea in a proper pot that you warm first, because it not only tastes better but makes me feel better.

And really, if you’ve got time to eat out, then you’ve got time to make eating in special and to quote that old advert, you’re worth it.

Speaking of my characters, there are some good specials this week at 99p in the UK and 99c in the US.

From the Shadows series, which I write as Eleanor Neville there are Guardian Angel and Daymare. Guardian Angel is about what happens when you realise that your late husband was murdered, he used to be a spy, and someone wants what he had but won’t say what it is. They’re prepared to attack your daughter to get it, so her husband’s best friend, who she’d never liked, turns out to be her Guardian Angel. A little tougher and sexier than Tia Brown, but I think you’ll like them too, and the Shadows characters are starting to overlap with Amy Hammond and Lucy Graham.

Speaking of Amy, there are the first four books in her series are on offer too. They’re

Wasted on the Young, Up the Garden Path, A Stitch in Time and the Prodigal Daughter, and they tell the story of a middle-aged woman who loves sewing, tries to be kind and help people and wants to discover who she is after spending years caring for her elderly parents. She’s always dreamed of finding adventure, but she doesn’t expect what happens.

Finally, there are 3 from my Oldcastle Cosy series, which are The Wrong Twin,

Kings of the Castle, and A woman to be reckoned with. They’re gentler, no one gets killed and everyone finds love, so ideal as the evenings draw in and the world seems to get nastier.

So there it is for this week, and now I’m out for a walk, and if it rains, then I shall enjoy getting wet. I’ll take some pictures too, then edit this and share my favourite with you. Have a good week till we meet again on Sunday, and why not play, just a little bit?

He was skipping across the water and making the most of the wind.

Seeing this little chap is a sign of good news and happiness to come. Especially if you're the starling who's just spotted that we have mealworm.