Autumn Crocus

The kids keep asking me when it will be Autumn. And now it is early Autumn for sure.



How do I know? The Autumn crocus popped up a few days ago. Today the horse chestnuts started dropping -- thump -- on the roof. We didn't know that there was a chestnut tree above us until breakfast time. It's a new house and we have only been here for the summer. Suddenly there was a thud, as if a tennis ball had dropped from the sky onto our roof, and then something bounced down and dropped past the window. I looked out but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. A few minutes later there was another thud and when I looked out into the yard, I realized why there had been a horse chestnut burr in the driveway. We have a tree! It's right overhead so all night long, while I sleep in the loft, they will be bouncing along the rooftop. One more sign of Autumn: my mother's dogwood tree is turning red. So it is official.

Time to change out the Nature table silks to reds and purples.




Time to play conker skittles and make conker dragons for Michaelmas (All Year Roundpp. 133 and 144, respectively). There's a crocus flower child pattern in Feltcraft: Making Dolls, Gifts and Toysthat would be good for the nature table (page 21 of the old edition, I'm not sure if page numbers are different in the new one).




Acorns, black walnuts, autumn leaves in changing colors, maple helicopters... so many lovely things for the nature table this time of year.