"Whether in winter or summer, spring or autumn, it’s always got its fun and its excitements."
The Wind in the Willows ~ Kenneth Grahame
May is a funny, in-between month where I live. The beautiful glory of autumn, heralded at the start of April is near over, and the dark, quiet of winter hasn't yet arrived. May, sort of a blip on the seasonal calendar, passes with variable weather and little to inspire me. One thing that I love about reading classic literature is how well they (and by 'they' I mean the characters and the authors) do to live seasonally. They savour the seasons for what they have to offer. In our busy, modern world it can be hard to see the opportunities that each season has to offer. We continue school through winter, and the children's extra curricula activities continue too. Summer is a long, hot process that technically starts in December, but generally doesn't usually kick in until the end of that month. It continues into well into February March, once school has returned. There is a lot to be said for living seasonally, and here are a few easy ways to enjoy the seasons and all that they have to offer.
Get Into the Garden
April, by far my favourite month of the year, is characterised by clear, crisp sunny days and cooler evenings. The glorious colours of the changing leaves are a constant source of delight for me and my soul and I love to drink in the colours as I see them. Then, by May they are gone, a mushy brown mess on the garden. This mess, I know, protects the delicate perennials that sleep during winter, so we rarely rake them up but leave them as a protective blanket on the dormant earth. If we do rake them, they are added to the compost or given to the chickens for a scratch, which they love. If we're lucky, the frost isn't too bad and herbs like rosemary and oregano will survive, but most other plants in our kitchen garden die off. It's been a while since we've had a real, heavy frost, though in its place we've had, dark foggy mornings that last almost until midday. This is a wonderful time to reflect on what went well in the garden, and to plan next spring's garden. Do things need to be rotated? Did something not grow well that you don't want to waste your time on again? One year we had a bumper crop of Jerusalem artichokes but it turned out none of us liked them! So we had to dig them out to ensure they wouldn't come back again!!
Where we live we rarely plant anything out in the garden until November, as frosts can still occur that late into spring. But that doesn't mean we don't have things growing indoors from as early as August and September. Little seedlings finding their legs and planting down roots ready for transplanting when the warm weather finally arrives to stay. Summer can be a killer in our garden, so we need to be attentive to its needs - extra water one day, protection from hail storms another. Either way, having a garden is the ultimate way to embrace the seasons first hand and see Mother Nature at her best.
Embrace the Seasons in The Books You Read
Reading about the seasons can help bring about a sense of contentment for the season that you are in. For example, as the colder weather sets in I love to read books that are set in cold and wintery places. Being rugged up inside, or finding warmth in the wintery sun out of the deck, it is wonderful to read about the cold and foggy streets of England often found in Sherlock Holmes novels or the stories of Margery Allingham. Then as the weather turns to spring, picking up Little Women is always on my list. I find inspiration in reading about how people lived during the different seasons and enjoy re-visiting those old fashioned ways to survive during such times. You can read some of my favourite spring tips here.
"As spring came on, a new set of amusements became the fashion, and the lengthening days gave long afternoons for work and play of all sorts."
Little Women ~ Louisa May Alcott
The seasons are often quite clearly portrayed as distinct time periods and if you live in Australia where the seasons can be less marked this can also be a wonderful way to embrace some obvious seasonal differences in your own life. The Wind in the Willows (quoted throughout this post) is another book that brings the seasons to life.
Walk Outside
This is something I really like to do all year round, and Jane Austen is someone I turn to for inspiration to get me moving. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood girls are often out traipsing through the countryside, walking everywhere to not only get exercise but to clear the mind. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennetts live "within a short walk" from their dear friends the Lucas'. The girls are often out walking either to visit or to run errands. In Jane Austen's novels, walking outside is a year-round exercise and with the right clothing can be also be enjoyed today. When I lived in Northern Italy, people would walk most evenings, especially on Saturday - with the whole family! I loved seeing babies in prams rugged up in snow suits with only their little eyes showing. Nothing stopped passeggiata time!
"It was a cold still afternoon with a hard steely sky overhead, when he slipped out of the warm parlour into the open air. The country lay bare and entirely leafless around him, and he thought that he had never seen so far and so intimately into the insides of things as on that winter day when Nature was deep in her annual slumber and seemed to have kicked the clothes off."
The Wind in the Willows ~ Kenneth Grahame
In the height of summer here we have to be mindful to walk before 9am because afterwards it can just be too hot. Likewise in winter, walking between 2-4pm is the ideal time because any morning fog has burnt off and the afternoon sun is at its strongest. No sun? No worries! Hats, scarves, coats, raincoats and even umbrellas can accompany you on a walk. Even 20 minutes a day will be enough to clear your head and get your blood pumping. And don't forget to look up! Look up and enjoy the season while you are outdoors. Like Mole in the quote above, embrace the state of Nature, whatever that may be. Notice the animals that appear in the different seasons. We have come to recognise that the black cockatoos fly over ahead screeching when there is rain on the way.
"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
Great Expectations ~ Charles Dickens
If walking really isn't something you are able to do, then take a leaf out of my grandmother's book and find a sunny seat outdoors where you can sit for ten minutes (or the time it takes to have a cuppa) and enjoy the magic of the season from a relaxed spot.
Discover Seasonal Cooking and Baking
Winter, traditionally, signals a time of rest and hibernation. Although we find ourselves chugging through life as per usual, there are a few winter traditions that I like to embrace. I work outside the home two days a week and the other days are time for cooking and baking. When it is cold and rainy outside I love nothing more than the smell of fresh bread, stews and a toasty warm kitchen. Winter is when I bring out my repertoire of stews, casseroles, roasts, pasta bakes, soups and bread products. We are just about to "bandicoot" our potatoes and I picked three enormous pumpkins from the vine last week so we are ready to start eating more root vegetables and gourds - whether roasted, made into soups or casseroles or sliced finely for chips on Fridays. I love pumpkin roasted and in pasta dishes, rice dishes, on sandwiches with feta cheese and spinach or on pizza with rosemary.
When the garden is in full bloom in summer we enjoy salads, fresh tomatoes and lettuce, zucchini, apples and plums. We have favourite recipes for using up all of these and even preserving some for the winter months. Nothing beats apple pie in winter with apples that were preserved during the summer and autumn months. Remember, cooking and baking doesn't have to be difficult and you don't need a thousand different recipes. Grow what you love to eat, then cook it in a way that everyone enjoys. It doesn't have to be more difficult than that!
Catch up With Friends and Family
In the winter time the Rat slept a great deal, retiring early and rising late. During his short day he sometimes scribbled poetry or did other small domestic jobs about the house; and, of course, there were always animals dropping in for a chat, and consequently there was a good deal of story-telling and comparing notes on the past summer and all its doings."
The Wind in the Willows ~ Kenneth Grahame
Whatever the season, it is always a good idea to catch up with friends and family. And what better time than after you have discovered some lovely seasonable recipes that can be shared with loved ones? Perhaps a simple afternoon tea, on the porch with iced tea in summer, or indoors where it's warm during winter. Catch ups with friends and family each season are a wonderful to connect with others throughout the year and to re-cap (in person) what has been happening in your life. To me, the description of Rat's day above sounds just about perfect! What would your perfect winter day look like? Or summer? Or spring?
"Altogether, I never met with a man, before or since, who had spent so long a life in a secluded and not impressive country, with ever-increasing delight in the daily and yearly change of season and beauty."
Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
Rise Early
I had to include this one because you would be surprised how different sunrise can look in the different seasons. If rising early isn't your thing, then consider doing it only once or twice a season, just to appreciate the beauty of the sun hitting snow or frost, or the way it strikes the autumn coloured leaves and casts a golden light over the world. Green trees never look so luscious as they do during a summer sunrise, and for many of us that live where it gets really hot, this can be a beautiful and productive time. You don't have to do anything during this time though, simply grab a cuppa and meditate on the dawn of a new day. It is my favourite time of the day and I never regret rising early.
I hope this list of ways to enjoy the seasons hasn't exhausted you! It got a bit long, I'm afraid. But once I got started I found how many ways there are to enjoy the seasons, even in a modern, suburban (or urban) setting. Is there anything here that I have missed that you would recommend? Let me know in the comments below.
And as always, have a lovely week, friends!
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