Another run, another year coming to an end. With all the crops ready it sure has it’s charm. Pumpkins, apples, pears, my favourites mushrooms, everything for hearty dinner right from your own garden! When I was younger I had a strange urge to go to my island every autumn. I loved the smell of autumn, mix of mushrooms, pinetrees, rain, expectation and calm. Best reminder that we coming closer to the loooong bedtime are the colourful leaves and not yet freezing cold weather. And the fact that you have to dig out your wintergear again, in my end of the world that means pullovers, boots, hard core snowpants and jackets, hats and gloves. Or mittens. You sure are clever if you do like me – set alarm clock ten minutes earlier in order to get all the clothes on on time and not to run late to work (if you are the poor one working). 

Going to island to find the peaceful mind. Put on warm clothes, had a stroll in my forests of childhood enjoying the fact that it had not changed over twenty or thirty years. All intact, each stone, each boulder, even each tree that I knew by heart. Imagine. Some of the trees looked new – those were the ones that were tiny when I was tiny. Now they have grown. For my luck the neighbourhood around my childhoodhome is national forest, not private. So no cutting trees there! All in all it really is exactly like it was before I left the island some thirty years back. Still is. I thought I did get over this painful longing but I was wrong. For some years I just have been too busy to go to island. It takes five hours one way. So if I go I would need to stay for a weekend or at least night or two. This is totally ok but when you go for your secret charging point you don’t really want to see people. No strangers, no own people. I love going incognito but when I am on ferry people already know I am coming home 🙂 coz someone has recognised me and the word travels faster than wind! The truth is I set my alarm clock a whole thirty minutes earlier in winter than in summer. You see, the snow that we can face here is pretty much always slowing us down. Either to enjoy or being pissed off and shoveling it while trying to get your car out of it ;). Plus not every driver is competent driving in winter with all of its pleasures, snow, black ice, zero visibility, no clue of what car does when you drive on ice. I, ofcourse, am pro 😉 when it comes to driving. My favourite is drifting on ice but you can only do it when nobody is around. Or, make a field for this exciting adventure yourself. We used to have farmfield for potatoes which we can now flood over with water in winter, just for this fun activity. Tho we are lazy as we have this sort of excitement all the time in regular traffic 🙂 and nobody would pay for such fun.

Now, who would ever expect anyone saying it, but I am hoping for pretty and harsh winter so we will have iceroad to the island. Did I tell you the Top Gear was here to cross the longest iceroad in Europe but that year back then it didn’t work out because it was too mild winter. So instead they went to neighbours…. all the way up to Santas place in Lapland. 

So now prepping for winter already. Closing the cottage, cleaning up the garden. I had two of the four toads that live in my cottage moving in, left the door open for them. Yes, I am perfect host among the other things:). 

Also prepping for Christmas, yes, the earlier you start the smoother it will be. I will have special production of macrons for this season, 18 lovely macrons in a black tin box with golden trimmings. Now thinking of what flavours I will do them, probably will keep it modest, maybe maximum some 6 different colours and flavours so I will not go nuts. Would be nice to get some christmassy flavours for the first time too. Thinking of cinnamon-apple for instance. And old favourites orange and lemon, some nuts, some pear. Will do the list to not forget all my grand ideas!

So, now I am going to do my winter gear check. Boots to be cleaned and sprayed with protection, coats and jackets, see if the hats are clean and if gloves have pair still. On Sunday will start the day with 12 centimetres high pile of pancakes, comedy show and a lovely mug of Colombian coffee. Just coffee, no addins you naughty reader thought of :). Then a stroll in my garden, maybe do some last minute planting of tulips and such, and hopefully enjoy some of the last rays of sunshine.

Stay hot and cool!