Sunset Picnics

Towards the end of summer we started an evening ritual of home cooked meals on the headland overlooking the sea at sunset. The evenings were beautiful, sky ablaze with warm pink, orange and golden rays as the sun dipped below the western horizon. The air still comfortable enough to enjoy the last of summer's warmth before the change in seasons heralded thick socks, layered clothing, indoor play and our favourite scarves from last year.

I find the change in seasons so enchanting as familiar rituals see us cooking warm meals in place of raw salads, mulled wine in place of iced tea and focussing on slowing down. There's outdoor play whilst the sun shines and I'll admit most picnics I spent chasing Love to scoop another spoonful of dinner into her mouth as she was too excited chasing our little brown dog to sit still on our blanket. This summer she would gleefully yell 'Yook Mama!' whilst pointing at flowers, insects, birds soaring high above or rainbows in the summer rain out to sea. She's still perfecting the elusive 'L' sound. I'll miss 'yook' when she learns to say 'look', just as I miss it when she called our beloved Coco dog, 'Toto'.

I'll also miss sitting there overlooking the sea and thundering waves below. Now that daylight savings has ended, it is usually quite dark by the time I arrive home from work. My evening rituals have begun to include cooking hearty soups, preparing abundance bowls bursting with vegetables and leafy deep greens, brown rice and immunity supporting vegetable broth.

Each morning Max, our cat curls up in my lap as I squeeze in a few photo edits before Love stirs. We used to plan morning beach walks but now we prefer to snuggle as long as we can before starting the day. Yes, even our beautiful fur children know when to slow down to enjoy a warm cuddle as summer transitions to gorgeous autumn.

I've revisited my manifest diary with more intention. Have some of my goals changed now that the seasons have changed? Only slightly for my family goals and manifesting more home-focussed nature based play in the form of tending our vegetable garden (which provided us with two round butternut squash this week, perfect for roasting and warm salads!) and potting indoor plants now that we're indoors more.

We painted ladybugs, whales and moons on smooth pebbles from the beach and seaside forest. Soon we will gather them into Love's woven grass basket and hide them for other children to find around the local playground.

I love how the cooler weather brings us closer together.

Farewell beautiful summer picnics and hello autumn backyard fires under the stars.

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