'Conkers season' by Rainer Schütz

Photo credit: Rainer Schütz on Flickr

We appear to be in that strange no man's land where summer is over but it's not quite autumn yet. The weather is so varied. It's really cold first thing in the morning but hot and sunny by the afternoon. I'm not really complaining as I love the sunshine and am pleased it's not raining. I just think it's contributing to me feeling so unsettled and anxious at the moment. I will probably be complaining how miserable I am because it's raining by next week!

What I am loving though is that it is conker season. I love conkers, they are so shiny and pretty. In fact I think I like collecting them more than my kids do. I have been picking up lots recently to keep on the windowsils to keep the spiders out. Probably just an old wive's tale but I am not taking any risks. I had to use this photo. Just look at all those conkers. I have never seen so many lying on the floor like that. Usually by the time I get to them they have been collected already or squashed. I wonder if that man in the background will be tempted to pick up a handful himself.

'late afternoon' by Susan L.

Photo credit: Susan L. on Flickr

So we are properly into September now. Thank goodness it is so warm and sunny or I would really have the post summer blues. I am just feeling kind of unsettled at the moment. September always seems to be a time of change which I am finding hard to embrace at the moment. I am also feeling really tired and anxious about various things. I could do with a very long weekend in bed doing nothing - although to be fair I think all that would do would make me feel guilty about not doing all the things I should be doing! And there always seems to be a lot of things I should be doing.

Here is a picture of a wall and a window made extraordinarily beautiful by the shadows on the walls. What a perfectly observed image. I love shadows like that as they are just crying out to be photographed.

I hope you are all easing yourselves into autumn gently and are enjoying the nice weather. And if you are reading this from the other side of the world. Then, yay it must be spring for you so enjoy!

'Fallen chestnut leaves' by NikonDigifan

Fallen chestnut leaves, a photo by NikonDigifan on Flickr.

Autumn definitely is the fastest of all the seasons. I've noticed that already those beautiful autumn colours are starting to fade as the trees become more and more bare. I reckon give it a couple of weeks and it'll definitely feel like winter is here.

This is a beautiful autumn photo. Such stunning detail of the water droplets and of course gorgeous colours.

Happy weekend everyone. Hope yours is full of lovely autumn colours. Or indeed spring colours if you happen to live on the opposite side of the world to me!

'Autumn colours' by Me

Autumn colours, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Well I couldn't put it off any longer, I had to leave the house today. I'd only had one day indoors but it was almost as if I'd been inside for months as the weather had really changed. It's fair to say autumn is properly here now and the winter coat has been liberated from the back of the wardrobe.

Here is a very colourful autumn image. I've been dying to take a photo of colourful autumn leaves for ages now so when my daughter collected these on her way home from pre-school the other day I knew I had to take a few quick shots.

Hope you're all managing to stay warm this weekend!

'november' by liivia s

november, a photo by liivia s on Flickr.

I decided after a really busy week that a snuggly day indoors was in order and it appears I made the right choice. Hubby said it was freezing out and Facebook has been full of people saying how cold it is. I feel very smug that I've spent the day in my nice warm house in just a t-shirt. I am sure the weather will catch up with me as soon as I step outside tomorrow but for now I am going to stay in my snuggly little world and pretend it's summer.

I thought this was a perfect photo to accompany today's weather. It makes me feel cold just looking at it but I do like the idea of all the fantastic knitwear. I hope the photographer wasn't too cold. This reminds me I need to dig out my camera friendly fingerless gloves.

Hope you all have a lovely and not too cold weekend!

'A Piece of Autumn' by G.Tamás

A Piece of Autumn, a photo by G.Tamás on Flickr.

I can't believe it's the weekend again. This week has just flown by. I guess that's down to being a busy bee and not sitting around the house feeling sorry for myself! Have you got anything fun planned for the next couple of days? I shall mostly be party planning as my daughter will be turning four next week and serious celebrating needs to be done. I can't believe she's going to be four. That's so grown up!

As well as busying myself with birthdays I also should find a bit of time to lie down on the ground and take some fabuous photos of autumn leaves rather like this one! The colours in this are beautiful. Just vibrant, bright, and well, autumny.

Happy weekend to you all!

'English Countryside' by Time Photographic

English Countryside, a photo by Time Photographic on Flickr.

Well that's it for another summer. I know 1st September isn't officially the first day of autumn but to me it always feels like it. This summer - and I use the word summer losely - has gone so quickly. I'm not sure I'm ready for pre-school to start again or to fish all my big jumpers out from the back of the wardrobe. I've hardly even worn sandals at all this summer and I usually live in flip flops. I am now clinging to the hope of a late summer in September like we had last year. Although the only down side of that is that it's dark at 6 o'clock so no long summer nights sitting outside. I usually get quite excited at the thought of gorgeous autumn leaves, brisk walks in the winter sunshine and copious mugs of hot chocolate. Maybe it's the mood I'm in right now but all I can think of is getting colds, getting drenched in the rain and not being able to play outside.

Argh, this post has got a bit depressing so here's a gorgeous summery photo to cheer me up. I love all these vibrant colours. And check out the beautiful blue sky. I could really do with a few days like this before summer is really through.

'Winter leaves' by Me

Winter leaves, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Two weeks ago I posted a photo of some beautiful autumn leaves while out for a walk. I found all the different shades of autumn colours so beautiful it was impossible not to stop and take a few shots. Anyway, yesterday I walked past that very same tree and this is how it looked. What a difference two weeks makes. The leaves are still beautiful in their own way but doesn't it look much more cold and wintery in this picture? I must make sure I go back in another two weeks to see what the tree is like. I am guessing it'll be bare branches by then.

'White Chocolate Mocha' by cheska annelliese.

White Chocolate Mocha, a photo by cheska annelliese. on Flickr.

I think this photo is wonderful. It's just a cup of coffee on a windowsill but the light is totally perfect. And what makes this extra special are the leaves leaves scattered round it. A lovely autumn picture which warms me up a treat. Of course I'm pretending it's hot chocolate in there as I can't stand coffee. Bleugh, horrible stuff! It's one of those things that I can't even pretend to like to be polite. But don't worry my mum always said that I'd like coffee (and tea, as I don't drink that either) when I grow up. Therefore, I may be in my 30s but I am officially not grown up yet! That's kinda cool!

'Autumn leaves' by Me

Autumn leaves, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I'm always disappointed I never take enough nice autumn photos but whilst walking home yesterday I spotted the most beautiful tree and had to stop to take a few pictures. There were so many wonderful yellows, greens and browns it was hard to pick which image was my favourite but I think this one is it. I really want to go out again now and take some more pretty leaf pictures before they all fall off and winter is upon us.

'Autumn bike ride' by Me

Autumn bike ride, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I am getting old! This afternoon my daughter and I were looking at photos of me on a school trip when I was about 17 years old. She saw a photo of me and asked, "Is that you when you were younger?". "Yes" I replied. Then she delivers the killer line, "Was that in olden times?" Errr..... Yes... I guess it was... Sob sob.

Oh well, I may as well accompany this post with a cute photo of my little girl. It was a special moment as it was the first time she went out on her new bike! As a proud mummy I took lots of photos and made lots of little videos. It's this one that I think is the most artistic though as I love the beautiful colours of the leaves. I bet one day she'll be telling her children this was taken in olden days!

'Little Pumpkin With Fallen Orange Autumn Leaves' by D Sharon Pruitt

Little Pumpkin With Fallen Orange Autumn Leaves free creative commons, a photo by Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr.

Well here ends our first half term at pre-school and you know what it’s been a wonderful week. My daughter and I have been really busy going out and about and also spending some quality time with each other. We also got to spend time with friends we don’t see as often as we used to simply because all our children are at different pre-schools at different times so our weekly timetables are just so different.

The highlight of the week must have been a trip to the local fire station. It was a really interesting visit and it’s always fun climbing in a fire engine and spraying water with huge hoses!

I picked this photo for you tonight as it’s just the most autumny, orangy, halloweeny photo I could find. What a fantastic burst of colour. I love those little pumpkins as they’re just really cute.

Hope whether you’ve been on half term or not you’ve had a great week and have an even more fantastic weekend.

'Golden Leaf' by NaturalPhotographySpa

Golden Leaf, a photo by NaturalPhotographySpa on Flickr.

This photo is totally inspiring me. My daughter is obsessed with picking up leaves at the moment and she always seems to be handing me a pile of crusty old dry ones. I've never been convinced they'd make a nice photo so never bother getting the camera out. But now I've seen this I think I might get snapping away at the next selection of dried leaves I'm presented with.

I love how soft and subtle this is. I also love the tiny details such as the cobweb in the top left-hand corner. Did you spot it? Really so very beautiful and inspiring.

'FALL - coming soon' by Baqir Ali

FALL - coming soon, a photo by Baqir Ali on Flickr.

I'm going to show you another lovely seasonal photo today. There are lots of great autumn browns and oranges in this shot. The leaves are really beautiful. The best thing about this that it really is all about this one leaf and the detail is great. The other leaves are just background. Now I'm just waiting for the leaves here to change colour so I can get snapping away. It would be great to be able to achieve something as simple yet beautiful as this.

'Coming home...' by Hankye99

Coming home..., a photo by Hankye99 on Flickr.

Well it's September now and as far as I'm concerned it's autumn. That means that any hot and sunny day is a bonus now not one we should be entitled to as it's summer. In fact today was one of these bonus days as we had gorgeous weather. And cold days, whilst not the best thing in the world, are OK because in autumn it's perfectly acceptable to wear boots, jackets, jumpers and even gloves if need be. The only thing I'm really not looking forward to is the rain. At least with summer rain you dry off quickly but during the colder months if you get caught in the morning you just end cold and damp all day.

Here's a photo to celebrate the beauty of autumn. The leaves here are beautiful and especially striking against the blue sky and water. I love sunny autumn days like this. My favourite bit of this though are the swans. It's interesting how they are all swimming in the same direction. It looks like they're all on a mission to get somewhere important.

Happy September to you all!

'Hail to spring' by lost in pixels

Hail to spring, a photo by lost in pixels on Flickr.

I’m afraid it’s a weather related post tonight as to be quite frank these past few days have been ridiculous. It’s been freezing cold and raining hard in the morning but by mid-afternoon it's warm and sunny. Come on weather either be summer or autumn. I'm happy with either. I love summer but am ready to embrace the arrival of the autumn.

I was going to use this weather inspired post to show you a weather inspired photograph but decided I had to show you this instead as it's really lovely. I like it because it's really delicate and the colours are so pretty. This is definitely one that needs to be framed and put up on wall in someone's home.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend with great weather!

'Conkers' by Me

Conkers, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

I've realised that autumn seems to fly by so fast and we just don't appreciate it enough. The trouble is that at the beginning of autumn we are still enjoying the warm and sunny days and we are trying to pretend that it's still a little bit of summer hanging around. Then all of a sudden it's freezing cold and the leaves are all mushy on the ground and we are all declaring it to be winter.

Therefore I think it's time we all made a point of enjoying all the delights of autumn. One of my favourite autumn things that disappear all too quickly is conkers. Because I have a toddler now it was a great excuse to go out collecting them. Here is the photo I took of them. I was going to put them in some kind of a bowl but I think they look good just scattered like this. I love how shiny they are too. I still have them sitting on my window sill now. Apparently they keep spiders out of the house. Here's hoping!

'September Promises' by Kala_M

September Promises, originally uploaded by Kala_M.

Earlier this week I promised you a beautiful autumn photo. Well here it is. Isn't it stunning? It captures what love most about autumn - beautiful colours but still bright sunny so you don't mind it's suddenly gone cooler. I hope the autumn sticks around a while and we don't hop straight into winter now.

Anyway, it's Friday!! Hope you all have a lovely autumn weekend - or spring weekend even if you are in a different part of the world far away from here!

'Love autumn' by Me

Love autumn, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

I went out today with with the intention of taking some lovely autumn photos. Turns out the leaves round here are still green. I guess I need to have a little more patience. It didn't really matter though as I took some gorgeous shots of my little girl enjoying herself in the park instead. Then on the way home I randomly picked up an acorn I saw on the ground. I'm not sure exactly what my intention was at the time other than I'll get this in a photo some how! Anyway, this is how I got it in a photo. An acorn placed next to a heart. The heart is part of a wooden serviette holder. I think it looks pretty.

'Autumn in London' by Jos Mecklenfeld

Autumn in London, originally uploaded by Jos Mecklenfeld.

How cool is this? I love London so of course I love looking at pictures of the city but never seen one taken quite at this angle before. I think it's great that you can't see much of the surroundings but you know it's London. And the colours of the autumn leaves are just beautiful. What a gorgeous day it must have been.

But what I love most about this photo can't actually be seen. I find it fascinating thinking about what the photographer was doing. Was this a pre-planned photo? Or was he just wandering along and thought 'that looks pretty'? I also have a wonderful image in my head of someone lying on their front on the floor taking photos. I hope that was the case, it could of course have been taken by crouching down but I like the lying down idea. Much more fun!