Saturday 26 November 2011

Beautiful November

Yesterday was a bright sunny day and I was lucky enough to be out and about and able to enjoy it. Today is softer and more misty but to my eyes, still beautiful. I know November can be raw, damp and dank and it is easy to be depressed by the dark mornings and the winter evenings drawing in but I've never disliked this month. When the last of the leaves go, I'm happy to see the well remembered shape of each tree re-appear-




The first verse of Roy Campbell's poem Autumn sums it up perfectly-


I love to see, when leaves depart,
the clear anatomy arrive,
Winter, the paragon of art,
that kills all form of life and feeling
save what is pure and will survive.

I'm always surprised how much colour there is in the landscape, whether it is the last remaining berries-



or the patterns in a field-



And there are some places, like this beech hedge, where the autumn colours linger into winter-



So even on a rapidly darkening November day, there is something to enjoy





Autumn Evening
The day sinks gently into quiet repose
with silvered lavender and fading rose.
 Bright berries are muted by the misty air,
stripped by the first frosts the creepers hang bare.
There's no sun, no clouds, all is silent grey
And yet on this tranquil Autumn day
I have no wish for the summer to stay
Despite falling leaves and withered grasses
It is in peace not sadness that the old year passes.




18 comments:

  1. A lovely treat to find as I awake to a rainy day. Actually October and November are my favorite months of the year. Possibly because of the region where I live. It is when I know for sure the heat of the long summer has passed and life will slow a bit.

    Your posts are always a treasure to read. Thank you for visiting and joining me over at Living Life. Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Bonnie, I can't believe I've not visited you before, I loved your blog! I'm also glad to find another Autumn lover. Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jane...

    I love every season in this country, as here we do get seasons! I was born in a very hot part of Italy, where Winters can be very mild. When I lived there, in a city, I never took notice of nature, taken as I was with my studies and my very busy social life. We never went to the countryside. Nature, to us, manifested its beauty through the blue sky and the sea, which was beautiful.

    When I came to England I stated looking at nature and all the changes which happened, with every season. Wonderful! And, when I went back to Italy, I was able to look at the countryside with different eyes. I discovered the beauty of apple and cherry blossom, almond trees, the massive vinyards I never noticed before, the olive groves... I "saw" birds! So much beauty!

    It's windy, outside, as I write. I can hear the hedges shaking and I can see the tree branches doing the quickstep with the wind!

    Yes, Jane... it's really beautiful!

    Thank you for a beautiful post!

    ANNA

    XX

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anna, It must be wonderful to return to one's home country and look at it with new eyes, seeing beauties you never noticed before. I do try to stop and look every day but it's all too easy to get caught up in the bustle of life. I like your description of the wind outside, I can just imagine it!
    I'm just finishing housework before embarking on a great bake. We have a cake stall at my day centre next week and I need to make a start...I do wish you were nearby and could give me a hand with some special Italian cakes! Jane xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. I did enjoy your post. Beautiful photos and such an atmospheric poem. Like you, I love to watch the skeletal shapes of familiar trees when the last leaves have fallen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Couldn't agree more about the beauties of autumn. Evocative poem and photographs, too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would not say that November is my favourite month but as a photographer I do appreciate the beauty that mother nature offers us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your photographs are beautiful especially the last one - exquisite! This is such a lovely post Jane. It's so peaceful and grounded to enjoy the time that you're in. Thank you for you kind comments and blessings to you, Diane

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello All, just a quick 'hello' as I'm dashing off to my lovely man for the end of the weekend. Thank you for your kind comments. I'm glad you like the photographs and it's always especially nice to have positive comments about poetry. In case you hadn't guessed,the poem at the end was one of mine. Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  10. ps, Anna, the wind reached us last night and boy did the house creak and rattle! Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  11. so beautiful... i like autumn, but in my country the most beautiful autumn month is september and sometimes the first part of october.

    _________________________________
    i have a new post!)
    http://lenascookbook.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-earrings.html
    thanks for a comment)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the novembermood you show!

    ♥ Franka

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely post - and the poem captures November exactly!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Carol, Franka and Lena, Thank you all for your kind comments, I'm glad you like my photographs and poems. Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think autumn is my favourite season, the colours, the time to get out snugglies for the armchairs and blankets for the bed.... stew and dumplings, home made thick soups, sponge pudding and custard.
    I found you on Fading Grace (I think!) and couldn't resist having a nose at your blog due to your name.
    Avid reader, and book collector, and until recently a seller of antiquarian books, in a small way. Our house is full of books, in every room, thousands of them. And still we buy more. Not to sell, but to keep these days.
    And I have that expanding waistline problem too, as do most of my friends the same age - 60ish.
    But never mind, it was fun getting it!
    Lovely blog, especially taken with the stained glass to the side... I love stained glass and were there any classes that weren't two hours away, would probably learn how to do it! The thing with living in the sticks is... living in the sticks! Love it though, despite some inconveniences, like lack of bookshops and decent craft shops.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Maggie, How good to read your comments! My house is full of books too as you can imagine,it's such fun to talk books with other antiquarian booksellers. I used to work in the King's Road in Chelsea and I do miss booksellers and their shops! Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Jane, I love your new look blog, the stained glass background is so lovely.What a beautiful gentle post. Thankyou, you have put me in the right frame of mind to go and have a restful night's sleep. The poetry is wonderful.Thankyou for all your lovely comments, and I love the sound of your holly and mistletoe, you just can't beat those natural decorations! Goodnight, love Linda x

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello Linda, I'm glad you like my stained glass. I have been trying to work out how to put one of my own photographs as a background but it was beyond me! Still, I thought this was very me! I hope you had a restful night and I'm really pleased that you enjoyed my post. Jane xx

    ReplyDelete