A Tuscan Autumn.

Autumn seemed to take a long time to arrive this year, the summer just went on and on. But now the weather and trees have caught up.  A few days ago I was still in sandals and T-shirts, but today I have a jumper on and have lit the wood burning stove for the first time. Here’s how it looks from my kitchen window today.

But a few days ago it looked like this below. And that’s the thing about Autumn, you never know what kind of day you are going to get. It makes you seize the day when it’s good, and hibernate a bit if it’s not.

Autumn in Tuscany is mostly oranges, browns and golds, but my neighbour has some trees on her terrace that turn a vibrant red, I don’t know what they are, some kind af acer or maple I guess, but I’m envious and glad I get to enjoy them too.

The fruits on the left are persimmons. They’re not quite ready yet. Soon the tree will lose all its leaves and they will hang like glowing orange christmas baubles. It’s a large tree with a good crop, but unfortunately I haven’t developed much of a taste for these fruits, but their beauty keeps the tree its place in the garden and it gives much-needed shade in the summer.

This spiky citrus bush near the gatepost is also in fruit at the moment. I believe it’s a Japanese bitter orange and is sadly it’s not edible as it’s too bitter, though I might try to make a marmalade. Nevertheless the golf ball sized orange fruits look stunning and it has beautiful jasmine type white flowers in spring.

The cats have been plumping themselves up ready for winter. When they’re not eating they seem to have taken to guarding the log pile. Like them I find it comforting to see all that wood stacked up ready to keep us warm when winter comes.