Autumn

It's autumn here too, but difficult for my northern instincts to tell.

One of the ways is the fruit in the shops. In Italy, the fruit and veg is always strictly seasonal and we are nearing the end of peach season. And that means, it's jamming season again. The last of the peaches start to look rather unappetising and that is the time to buy ten pounds of them and turn them into honey and whiskey peach preserves. MMmmm...

The picture above is one of the ones from Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge books. Her books perfectly capture the kind of sweet and innocent English country culture that we all so long for, the same ancient (and ultimately Catholic) culture that formed the English soul. So much has been lost, but the desire for it remains cell-deep in many of us. They illustrate that concept so dear to the English: home.

When I went to England this summer one of my list of things to get was more of the books. But they seem to be out of print, since I could find none in the bookshops, either new or second hand.

I've put the Complete Brambly Hedge collection on my Amazon Wish List, but they really must be out of print, since I see the prices are incredibly high. I suppose other people think the same thing I do and have started making them "collectors' items". Damn.



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