Blackberries galore

(Blackberries 2008)

Well, late Summer seemed to catch up on us all too soon I feel. Now, it's September, I suppose we're in Autumn now; it certainly feels like it and the nights are drawing in at a speed akin to the fastest of Olympic athletes. The sun (despite it's best endeavours) takes longer to warm the day, but, for me at least, the most significant
signs of Autumn being upon us has to be the smell.

Our sense of smell is such a magical sense. I often think it's such an abused and taken for granted sense; usually we are only aware of this incredible gift when we smell something horrible; drains, smelly public loos (yuk), for me a shop in town that sells fishing stuff and maggots and smells like hell-it literally makes me retch uncontrollably if I go anywhere near it. I feel ill discussing it; it is indescribably awful.

Our sense of smell though is surely the strongest provoker of memories that we have? It links directly to our feelings, even if it's just the smell of fresh bread in a bakery, a fish and chip shop, a bar-be-cue. A newsagent near me has recently began stocking those large jars of sweets that used to be bought as a '1/4' but now is 100g I think! As children we were allowed 1/4 of sweets a week. We bought these from our pocket money and they were supposed to last us a week. It was always so hard to decide which to get and having three siblings, I always ended up wishing I had chosen what they had. I remember my brother loved 'Rosy Apples'. he used to let us have one of his, even though there wasn't many to a 1/4. I did like them but never chose them for myself, I liked sherberty sweets, and later 'medicinal' tasting ones like 'Kop Kops', 'Cough Candy twist' and various other herbal type ones. I have always adored liquorice, still do, especially the difficult to source 'Lakeland' liquorice from Australia (all those food miles are hard to reconcile with too when it's liquorice).

As I spied these jars of sweets in this shop, I had the same decision making to do. I ummed and ahhed and eventually decided. As the lady opened the jar to measure out my '100g', the smell of the sweets as she lifted the lid made me feel very like I was experiencing a 'Life on Mars' moment and I had been transported back to the late 1970's and early 1980's. It was phenomenal and dramatic as this sounds, it literally caught my breath.

Autumn smells of bonfires and leaves and where I live chimneys as virtually everyone has 'real' fires. Autumn also smells of casseroles and crumbles and warmer food. soon the smell (and sound) of fireworks will fill the air as Bonfire Night approaches all too quickly!

My birthday is in November and as a child I always adored Autumn, probably in part to the linking of falling leaves with heaps of presents and attention! I loved kicking leaves about. Although we do have trees where I live, the ones right by my house aren't especially dramatic. I'd love to go to an arboretum and most of all would love, love, love to go to new England in the US in Autumn/ the fall, and see the awe inspiring display of colour en masse.



(Blackberries 2008)

Back here in 'sunny Blighty', I've been blackberry picking galore, thus quite often are to be seen returning home somewhat bedraggled with purple hands with the blood from a million bramble thorns creating an 'interesting' and in some eyes I'm sure 'artistic' marbled effect from numerous (painful) scratches. I never fail to be amazed at the various bobbles and seeds attached to my legs in natures highly successful attempts at spreading seeds as far geographically as possible through the manner of attaching to whatever poor soul, be that cat, dog or blackberry hunter! On occasion I also have brought home a few caterpillars and indeed a beautiful teeny/baby snail, who have all hitched a -permisionless lift from the unsuspecting me!




(Mad apple tree 2008)



My freezer is now full of blackberries and stewed apple that should provide for scrummy crumbles and pies for some time to come. We're still only on the apple 'faller's' currently of which there are aplenty on account of the horrendous weather and storms which regularly torment us. On a more positive note, these 'fallers' are victims of the storms and high winds and thus are to be found with only a dusting of soil from the ground and thus the battle between man and slugs, grubs, is avoided.(For this I will be forever grateful as a crumble loses a great deal of charm with the knowledge that the apple from which it was made was previously inhabited by a family of grubs). My kitchen and wooden spoons have all been dyed a beautiful purple (and it is purple) along with the odd tea towel and alas a favourite top of mine is now 'individualised' by Jackson Pollock type spashes of stewing blackberries! It's clear that blackberries were an extremely useful colour provider in times when natural dyes were used entirely!