Suddenly, October

I came home from work at half past five today, which is uncommonly early, and stopped at the shop to buy some milk. Even as I stepped out of the shop, dusk was falling, the gloaming was settling, and the light was fading beautifully.

I got home and opened all the windows to let the last of the daylight in, and turned the oven on while I put together a sausage-and-sage-and-onion-pie for dinner. In the time it has taken to roll the pastry and mix the filling and decorate the top with tiny cut out pastry hearts, anoint with milk and place in the oven to bake, the sky has deepened first to royal blue, and now to navy, so dark it is almost black.

Suddenly, it is October. Autumn is no longer coming, it is here. We saw out September in wonderful style with a weekend at Aldeburgh; we stayed in the delightful Curlew Cottage that we stayed in this summer, and spent two days at Snape Maltings at the Food Festival. I enjoyed a tutored chocolate tasting with Rococo Chocolates - salted milk chocolate topped with goats cheese, lemon zest and cracked black pepper was an utter taste revelation to me! We went to a black-and-white themed dinner dance, and were put to shame by the energetic dancing of the other guests, most of whom were at least twice our age!

On the way home we stopped at my parent's house, I miss seeing them so much as I used to since I started my new job. We enjoyed dinner and just sitting and talking. I came home with a bag of Concorde pears (they are amazingly delicious and worth watching for. Curiously Marks and Spencer sell them at a premium in a posh box; Morrison's often sell them in their value bags!) and a bag of craft magazines. Food for thought and the tummy!

I can't wait for my husband to come home tonight. A pot of tea, a home cooked pie, candles alight, and home, home together.