The last of the sunny days

Winter is slowly creeping up on us over in Perth, we seem to have cold days, rainy days and sunny days all mixed in at the moment. But as June bustles along, it's clear we're heading for the last of the sunny days.

The last weekend in May I took the opportunity to head down to my favourite WA destination with some writing friends for a little R&R. Man was it worth it! The perfect way to farewell autumn and welcome winter with great company, good books, blissful surrounds, tasty food, quality wine, beach appreciation, explorations, realisations, hilarity and silliness and ofcourse a spot of writing.

Lately it's been a mix of creativity, socialising and burying myself under the doona with my favourite Grey (Earl of course) in one hand and a good book in the other - all of which have been an absolute tonic for my soul.

As the darkness of winter mornings make it increasingly more difficult to get out of bed at a productive hour, I'm taking on a training regime for the City to Surf in August to burn off all the extra 'layering' I've done in the lead up to winter. Urrgghhh is all I have to say about that at the moment.

But the thing I love most about the change in seasons isn't just that I can bring out all my favourite cardigans (I am a cardi-lover for sure!) but that it awakens my creative home-body self with writing, knitting, sewing, cooking and other crafty projects all in the works to accompany many a quality glass of winter friendly red wine.

How will you be spending your winter?

Thia week's pearls

1. Blue skies and sunshine - hasn't the weather been fabulous! What winter?

2. Forgetting which Tuesday of the month the play writer's meeting was and going into the city on the wrong night... so I bought myself dinner and had a glass of red over a good book in one of my favourite bars. I should do that every week!


3. A much overdue lady date with a girlfriend and spotting another kind of date at Elizabeth's Bookshop on the way home. I love love love this concept!

 

4. A Sunday roast chicken dinner (not pictured because we were too busy gobbling it) with my beloved, in which all elements were perfect - which is more than I can say for my last attempt with floury gravy and woody parsnips. Sunday roast success!


5. The book club - come food and wine club that was altogether the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

6. Love, friends and family making my week.

Cool, calm, creative

And so it is finally, FINALLY, autumn. The days are cooler and the nights are chilly. The fans have been switched off and blankets for snuggling up on the couch brought out. I have worn/carried a cardigan with me every day this week. There have been several moments when I have genuinely felt cold. Finally green leaves are starting to brown, although others might skip this stage entirely and just fall anyway. And the best thing - it's finally red wine weather. I forget just how fond I am of red wine during the summer months. But now that burgundy stained corks have been popped, it's making me think that I really am a cool weather person. There is something so intimate about cool weather. It's romantic, the dark and the rain. It's cosy, cuddly, couchy weather. It's dinner parties in cosy apartments weather. It's love in a jumper weather.

I've not yet donned tights and I'm still yet to purchase a new umbrella and I don't want to even contemplate how my jeans will be fitting this year (note to self, buy tights, buy umbrella and for god's sake keep up the exercise!) but the change in weather is already bringing with it a change of mood. I am always more creative in the cooler months, and my brain it ticking away with lots of little ideas to fill the time spent mostly indoors in cooler months. 

So let there be words and wine and creative endeavors. Let there be curling up on the couch and reading and chatting together. Let there be storms that rumble (but l

et me know be caught out in them). Let there be friendship and cardigans and love.

How does the cooler weather effect you? Do you see a distinct change in mood with the change of seasons? Or am I just getting old?