Autumn is upon us once more, a transitional season that reminds me of the inevitability of change, and this year feels particularly bittersweet. At the end of July, my blog turned seven. I originally named my blog ‘Lovely and Grateful’ because I wanted it to record all the loveliness in my life that I’m grateful for and even the not-so-lovely parts that remind me not to take anything for granted, but I’m not sure if the name still fits. I’d love to know what you think in the comments.

There have been other milestones too, our youngest daughter started crawling at 7 months, then pulling herself up and crabwalking around furniture, she is just so desperate to join in with her big sister’s games and to see what we’re doing. We’ve had a fair few disrupted nights because of teething, but she has taken to weaning with great enthusiasm, willing to try anything and enjoying most of the same meals we eat (without the salt or stock). At nearly 10 months old, she’s still petite and cheerful, but curious and determined too. Over the last few months, we’ve been getting out to bookbug sessions at the local library and baby sensory, which we’ve both really enjoyed. As her first birthday draws near, I’m already feeling the nerves and guilt about returning to work but she’ll have her big sister to look out for her at nursery.

As for our oldest daughter, she is as boisterous and independent as ever but also surprises us with her caring and generous side. We’ve finally started getting to know the parents of our 3 year old’s nursery friends and have had a few playdates together, that we’ve all enjoyed and that I really felt we’d missed out on because of Covid19.

There has been a big change in the garden too, and I’m still getting used to the new view. When our new neighbours in the house attached to ours moved in they asked to replace the privet hedge that separates our gardens with a fence, we politely declined citing the wildlife such as nesting sparrows and hedgehogs passing through. Unfortunately, we’ve had to reconsider recently as they now have a dog that regularly strays into our garden, and he’s a large, reactive breed that scares our kids.

As it happens, I suspect the sparrows had already abandoned the hedge, and we haven’t seen any hedgehogs this year, but it does make me sad that we’re making our garden inaccessible to any that try to visit in the future, but we’ll find other ways of making the space wildlife friendly.

It’s been a summer full of family trips to beaches and playparks, our first family holiday together and lots of time in our garden, and I’m a little sad to say goodbye to the season. So many of the summer highlights have been the pure and simple joy of gardening and watching our daughters learn and grow, and the ordinary moments playing, dancing, reading stories, crafting and swimming together that is the fabric of our family life. As the weather cools and the nights draw in, we have a couple of autumnal light shows to look forward to, as well as our youngest daughter’s first birthday, and all the seasonal loveliness to be found in nature at this time of year. Have a lovely week. X