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Oh hey, don't mind me. Just whipping up a corn and split pea chowder with our homegrown sweetcorn, potatoes, chillies and thyme. I would be more smug, but I've run out of homegrown onions and garlic and my bell pepper and celery was destroyed by the crawling plague.

Some photos by @petro1986 and some mine.

Went for a little wander around Rivington Terraced Gardens and up to the Pike this afternoon. Was well worth being pulled out of my pit at one in the afternoon for - I'm on nights, but to be fair even if I wasn't the weather's turning and I just want to nest in bed.

Hope everyone is enjoying the cosy drawing inward of the season, and of course appreciating the last of the sun's gifts before we really turn fully into the darkness.

One poor year in my garden and this is what I'm driven to. Propagating fiddly, fussy bloody Tacca chantrieri with heat mats and the lot.

Taccas are orchids native to Thailand, and they are absolutely amazing in bloom, with big, almost leathery flowers that are as close to black as any natural flowers get and are thought to look like a bat in flight. They are also, as many orchids are, a very long and slow project to take on. I've been told not to expect any blooms for about three years.

Me : "There's no such thing as houseplants, just plants that don't survive the outdoors here"

Also Me : Bought a black coral sansevieria because it was very lovely, I was depressed, and I Iike plants. Inherited a cactus that I've nurtured/intimidated back to life. Bought a five tier plant stand. Waiting for my dragon tree to arrive.

We tend to think about harvest time as gathering in crops, a purely physical process, but one of the ways I like to mark the autumn equinox is a more emotional harvest.

Think about it, having a good, fulfilling life is hard work. Especially if you have things to fight, like mental health problems or financial worries, or physical illness. It's every bit as tough as tilling the soil to focus on building an existence you can be proud of. So why not celebrate that?

So I like to take time to look back over my year, and let myself feel proud of the loveliest moments. Capturing a speckled wood posing for the camera, a late winter walk with a dear friend. Picking herbs at Midsummer and celebrating the sun.

Photos by @petro1986

Possibly one of the last truly sunny days we're going to get this year as we turn towards the Autumn Equinox in this hemisphere. Adventures with dog and partner, even if only short local ones, are one of my favourite things. And yes, I DO stand in a naturally cunty way, whatcha gonna do about it?

First, I invite you to admire my shoes, that is a very important part of this.

Second, we went to see "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" and whilst I have criticisms (quite a few, as it happens) I had a thoroughly fantastic time with the film.

One of those niggles I had was the whole "trickster demon" thing. I mean, BJ's a ghost right? The ghost with the most, in fact. Since when was he a demon?! Then talking about it last night with my angel, he blew my mind yet again with the idea that maybe he only said he was a ghost to try to get the Maitlands to trust him, because he's trying to convince them he's just like them. Maybe he was actually a demon all along, albeit a dead one.