Embracing the autumn

Dear friends,

I am sitting in the sun as it shines through the window warming skin and spirits and belying the storms that have troubled the country over the past week.  It has been wet and windy but not cold so while many trees have bare branches, and brown leaves collect in corners, there are still flowers in gardens and new green growth in hedgerows.  But the only flowers in my garden are winter jasmine.  As the first new piece on my website http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/ says, it has embraced the autumn.

Embracing the autumn

Hallo birdsong, hallo dark blue of unlit morning, and cool air, and gently dripping leaves.  I have lights to shine my way here, sitting under the bare hawthorn with my feet floored by its leaves mingled with oak.  It has been so wet but in between the sky opens and we can journey forth again with ease. 

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

I had a wonderful week away in Dorset at the beginning of the month, a retreat at the Othona community.  Give God and yourself a big stretch of time and things change – I do feel different.  Normally I make do with smaller snatches of time in my garden.

Give me a garden

I am tired, every cell is on standby, my mind resting in a nest of cotton wool.  Yet how lovely it is to come into the garden and feel its peace, to see the brown leaves glowing on the green grass, to smell their spicy earthiness where they lie in number under the oak tree.  What do people do who don’t have gardens to sojourn in, or neighbouring fields or woods to wander through?  The frazzle caused by my busyness seeps away here, I am earthed. 

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

My book is progressing, I have just read the proofs.  Now I am planning my next one using these pieces!  The last one this month follows the theme of time in my garden.

Welcoming the morning

Mid-November Sunday and the crows are cawing overhead; I wonder what has disturbed them.  Not the gently floating clouds moving steadily from the west, or the pale blue sky beyond.  Not the sun just rising in a silver halo, further south than in summer, caught in the valley between two houses looking like a delicious cocktail.  So many other birdsongs fill the air making trills or tunes, talking to each other, welcoming the morning.

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

I hope you all enjoy the autumn while it is here, and your gardens if you have one.  Don’t forget to use ‘Contact Jane’ on my website if you want to reply to this email.

Love Jane