It has happened, the Autumn Dial has been clicked on a couple of notches. The setting is still not in that comfortably middle moment yet so there is still some warmth when the sun shines, like a warm glow that is trying its hardest not to start to chill yet; but Autumn is coming.
Whilst I know that the seasons never stop turning, it does feel that certain points the balance suddenly shifts, there are edges to the seasons and at the moment it is almost like we have a foot in both camps. Summer has not quite agreed to let go just yet, but Autumn is clear that it is taking possession. The mornings have that slight murk and chill and the evenings are getting darker and darker. Every year I know I should be more used to the shortening of daylight, but every year I feel like I lament it more.
This week the nights are suddenly getting colder, it is a brief blip by the look of things, but a threatened temperature of 2 degrees celcius is not to be ignored. I decided to move all the tender plants indoors into the small, now very crowded, conservatory. Soon the temperatures will go back up, but I am not going to be playing the hokey-cokey with my precious plants: once they are in they are in. The cats keep winding themselves around the pots, looking for their sleeping places that are now otherwise occupied. I get frowned at and my tortie Esme whispers: "I'll be digging in the bigger pots later and you know why!" and yes I do know why and I will be shutting the conservatory doors to prevent this.
Bringing in the pots early makes the winter feel longer. They will be indoors until May at the earliest so it is quite a commitment for this small space that I use as my office when I am working from home. When I am in meetings I sometimes get asked about 'is that a banana I can see behind you' and I amuse them by turning my camera around so they can see how forced into a corner I am. Yet I enjoy this surrounding by plants more than I would usually expect. I get claustrophobia very easily but this space is full of light and the plants are a joy; this type of small space works for me.
I checked back on my blog to see when I brought the pots in last year as it feels very early this year. It appears I did it about two weeks later last year and that was because for once I did it in time. So now I am patting myself on the back for bringing them in in time two years running. A bit of plant-based smugness always gives me that warm feeling even if the sun isn't able to do so.
For now the plants are hunkering down, smiling at the cold through the windows. "Will she remember to water us when we need it this winter?" I hear them ask. "Time will tell." is the somewhat doomladen response.
Take care and be kind.
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