Suddenly it’s autumn…..
Suddenly it’s autumn in Switzerland. Overnight the ice cream stand at the station in Zürich that I walk past on my way home from work has disappeared, to be replaced by the ‘heisse Marroni Maa’ (the roast chestnut man), roasting his chestnuts in a big metal pan and dishing them out in paper twists to homeward-bound commuters. We’ve slipped into the foggy greyness that is Zürich in autumn and winter. There is a constant white haze over the trees as I look out of my sewing room window. It may be a while before we see the sun again.
In the countryside there are pumpkin stands everywhere you look. The Swiss must eat a huge amount of pumpkin at this time of year!
I’m leaving for work in the dark in the mornings, and while I couldn’t say it’s cold yet, my raincoat is just not quite warm enough, but I somehow can’t yet bear to take out my winter coat – knowing just how many months of winter we have ahead of us. But slowly it’s coming….
My work clothes have seamlessly moved from the colours of summer to the blacks and neutrals that I tend towards in the winter and at lunchtime instead of running out to grab a salad from the supermarket, we are turning more and more often to the soup kitchen downstairs.
Being a northern girl I do better in these sorts of temperatures. We had a blisteringly hot summer this year and to be honest I don’t cope with it really well. I love the sunshine, but somehow I’m just a teeny bit more comfortable once the days start drawing in and cosiness comes once again to the fore.
This week marked the official stopping date for my editing and translation business – a hard step for me to take, but to be honest I feel only relief at one less thing to have to bother about. Hopefully my weekends will be my own again – or at least in as much as that is possible with a house full of teenagers!
Which of course means that with a bit of luck..there will be more sewing!!
Here’s to it!
Helen
October 2nd, 2013 at 12:24 pm
The Prince bought me a new cashmere scarf (I know, LUCKY!!) on the last trip to Edinburgh. Kinda can’t wait to be able to wear it LOL
In the mean time am happily wearing the several new & new to me scarves I bought in London this week. My current fave is the small Liberty turquoise silk number – total bargain at £3!! Photos on my blog later this week.
Cheers
Lush x
October 2nd, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Your descriptions of where you live are so good and end too quickly, Helen. I can just picture everything you write about, and think you should write a book. It would be wildly successful about an English woman who marries a Swiss man and has children, and who creates beauty and balances work and family and creativity, and you could quit your job and knit and quilt and autograph books for a living. 🙂 xo
October 2nd, 2013 at 10:47 pm
You’d better be sewing on Saturday 😉
October 3rd, 2013 at 12:00 am
I’m with you on the weather Helen – envious of your chilly and misty mornings.
October 3rd, 2013 at 12:52 pm
When I moan about it being cold and damp here I will remember you probably have it colder already. I so do not like the winter!
October 3rd, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Oh I love roast chestnuts! How lovely to be able to get them so readily. And I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many pumpkins in one place at once!
I am with you on the temperature – I much prefer spring and autumn as, apart from dodging the occasional shower, I am much more comfortable when it’s not ridiculously hot. I love the first really crisp autumn days where you can smell wood burning and the air is lovely and fresh when you step outside.
October 3rd, 2013 at 7:14 pm
How nice it would be to have some cooler weather. Pumpkins are the official vege if autumn everywhere. Their color just makes me smile. Miss you my friend.
October 3rd, 2013 at 7:36 pm
It feels much the same here now, although we have a lot of sun in the fall/winter, but it is usually clear and cold. I am wearing my socks now which means it is truly fall.
October 6th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
I love the seasons, the transition from one to another makes me happy and puts a bounce in my step. Until any one season lasts too long. Like rain in England last year. But good autumn weather is the best. Glad to hear your life is being simplified a little more.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:31 pm
I’m with you on the weather, too, Helen! I like it a bit chilly and wet. Course, that’s not real useful when you live in Australia. Hope you get some more sewing time in the upcoming months.