Last week I experienced the perfect autumn morning on my way to work. The sky was a streak of bright blue without a cloud in sight, the trees near the office yellowing and orange leaves littering the cobble stones. I could see my breath in the cool, crisp air and I had a scarf tightly wrapped around me. It\u2019s a bit of a cliche, but it made me so wildly happy that I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s basic to love this time of year. <\/span><\/p>\n I wanted to write myself a little bucket list to inspire me to do more with the weeks that lie ahead before the Christmas tree comes out of storage and the shops become manic. As the days get shorter and the season for running after work falls away, I\u2019m all too guilty of napping on the sofa in the evenings and watching yet another series of Friends when there\u2019s so much more that I can do to enjoy this time of year. From painting to pumpkin spice lattes, here\u2019s some items I want to tick off this list this autumn. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This year I\u2019ve set myself a target of reading a book each month and so far I\u2019m keeping up, surprisingly reading quite of a lot of non-fiction. I want to dive into a new book pile on a grey day, pull\u00a0a blanket onto the sofa and just get lost in some new stories.<\/span><\/p>\n I have to say, I wasn\u2019t impressed with my first PSL of the year, which was topped in a gaudy orange cream that made it taste like drinking a candle. Without the whip though, it is still a tasty, sugary, barely-a-coffee drink that makes me feel all warm and cosy. I\u2019m hoping I can sneak in a coffee date with a friend before they disappear at the end of October. I\u2019m not ready for gingerbread lattes yet. <\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve realised quite recently that outside of baking and recipe testing, I haven\u2019t really been very creative in my down time, which is frustrating because I love it so much. I used to sit and watercolour while listening to podcasts and it\u2019s such a great hobby to have to help switch off. Now that I\u2019m more into podcasts than television shows, a few evenings mixing some colours together and creating something pretty sounds fantastic. <\/span><\/p>\n When the nights get colder, my mind turns to comfort food. Steamed puddings, macaroni cheese, pies with puff pastry lids and mugs of hot chocolate. But I\u2019m always aware that for many people these things are such a luxury. Autumn was always harvest time in school and we would donate tins of food to local pensioners. I want to pick out some nice treats for a local food bank and drop them off, along with some toiletries. Sali Hughes\u2019 piece on her Beauty Banks initiative<\/a> reminded me that simple things like soap and toothpaste can go a long way to making people feel better.<\/span><\/p>\n A pie, a cake, a biscuit \u2013 anything pumpkin, spiced or full of apples needs to be put on the menu this autumn. We\u2019ve only got a few weeks left before everything that is sweetly spiced turns\u00a0to\u00a0gingerbread and peppermint. <\/span><\/p>\n Yes it\u2019s cliched and yes Chris and I have kind of already done it, but what is better than kicking your way through crunchy leaves, coffee in hand looking at all the beautiful colours speckled in the trees above? <\/span><\/p>\n I haven\u2019t loved the most recent seasons of AHS until Apocalypse arrived this autumn and blew me away. I\u2019m loving the direction the show is taking by offering a mash up of two brilliant previous seasons Murder House and Coven. I recently rewatched Murder House and want to return to those bad witches in NOLA so I can brush up on my knowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n Where we stay means that we don\u2019t get any trick or treaters on October 31 which makes me a little sad. In my old flat there always used to be a few kids all dressed up looking for mini bags of Haribo \u2013 which of course I had to make them work for by telling a joke. So I think carving a pumpkin watching Hocus Pocus is the least I can do to get into the Halloween spirit. <\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n![\"Autumnal](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/victoriaspongepeasepudding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ACS_0085.jpg\")
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