I asked my Mum, a creative writer like myself, to write a guest blog post about Autumn. Hopefully it will inspire you as it has me, and will allow us all the draw on the positives of an often tough season for many, especially at this time of year. Thanks Mummy!

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Autumn is my favourite season. by Sue Fletcher

"There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves." Joe L Wheeler

For me, Autumn, the transition of Summer into Winter, is when the blankets of green are replaced by reds; yellows; burnt orange; copper and gold. It's when the silhouette of a fallen leaf shows more starkly and thus more beautiful, upon the earth.

As a child I was encouraged to forage and collect. Walking home from Primary school every day I  would bring my Mum a wayside flower; sometimes just its head, plucked with plump little fingers from some crevice. One day I took her a stone because, " today there were no flowers"...

In Autumn however the pickings improved, there were acorns, with or without cups; conkers; empty hazelnut pods; spinning jennys and a plethora of fallen leaves. All lovingly curated on the Hall table that became simply ' The Nature Table', where I would deposit the day's offerings. It was a passage of childhood that I tried to encourage in my own daughter.

There are many unique joys of Autumn. It's a time of preparation where a jar of jam made, and then opened in Winter, bursts with the mellow smells and tastes of the previous season.

I don't mind the shortening of the days too much. It gives me permission to hunker down with a hot cup of something; light the candles; a good book or a notepad, the Ruth Holly notepads and beautiful linen journals prompt that fresh clean start to capturing the new season and if a log fire is thrown in - heaven! It can be a time of reflection and an opportunity to take forward positive lessons learned and the hope of new beginnings.

I like to 're-fresh my home in Autumn - make it more 'hygge-like' and there's an easy way to do this - I introduce throws and I replace Spring/Summer cushions with the more warm and earthy tones of the Ruth Holly Signature range and the Earth and Wholesome designs. When complimented by the warm light of a matching lampshade, the feeling is complete!

"Fall has always been my favourite season, The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if Nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale"

Laren DeStefano