Village Life with Jayne Whytock

By Jayne Whytock

September is officially the start of autumn. Although we often have lovely weather, the nights are slowly starting to draw in and once the children go back to school thoughts turn to colder weather and shorter days.

The harvest is in and the shops are full of winter clothes and dare I say it won’t be long before we start to see Christmas cards and tubs of festive chocolates on the shelves.

I love the autumn, the changing colours of the leaves, from green to shades of brown, gold and red. I love watching on a windy day as they fall from the trees swirling and spinning as they start to carpet the ground with their varied colours. We swap summer clothes for thicker jumpers, jackets and coats and hunt out the shoes and boots. Sandals and T-shirts are put away for another year. Instead of eating salads, the slow cooker comes out and casseroles, stews and thick filling soups are made.

Heating goes on and fires are lit. Lights are on by early evening and curtains are drawn.

Unfortunately, the season also brings with it gales which can cause so much damage, but I do love the sound of the wind whistling through the trees especially at night when you are tucked up in bed.

Soon we will be starting to think of Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night and Christmas. This year everyone will have to think of new ways to celebrate in the community due to social distancing but that will not stop us and I’m sure as a community we will pull together. If we can’t have larger events where the village gathers together we will make the extra effort and make sure that we decorate our homes so that families can walk round and see the Hallowe’en decorations and tubs of sweets etc. can be left at a safe distance from people’s doors so the children don’t miss out on their treats. Fireworks can be seen in the sky from the comfort of our homes and, as for Christmas, well I’m sure that as a village the displays will still be put up even if there may not be a grand switch on and people will go the extra mile and do up their houses for everyone to see. It’s certainly not been a year anyone will wish to remember but together we can still make it special and hopefully next year will be back to normal. And just in case any small children are worried about Santa being able to visit, just remember he is magic and so everything is possible. Take care and keep safe and well.