Autumn is Here!

Greetings from an unseasonably warm day here in South Manchester. It is my birthday today and I am going to just relax doing nothing apart from writing this blog post and watch some football later. 

My birthday is of course in Autumn and today from Sunday Stealing there are questions about Autumn or, as Americans call it, “Fall”.

I have to say that I don’t mind what Autumn is called by Americans, apart from in one case – and that case is Duolingo. I appreciate that Duolingo is an American company and I love it. It has helped improve my Spanish considerably and I have also dipped into Italian, after my trip to Sicily last week. However, the one criticism I have is that they have Americanised the English on there, which has led to mistakes on my part. 

One of the main culprits is “fall” because I have ended up mistranslating from Spanish to English and vice versa because of the word. And “football” too has tripped me up because in America “football” becomes “soccer”. 

It’s a minor complaint but I won’t rant about it; I am fluent in American and when I use Duolingo, I have to switch to becoming an American to minimise mistakes. 

It works.

Anyway, let’s answer the questions (for which I shall substitute “fall” for “autumn” for the benefit of any British readers who might stumble across the post). 

1. Are there any autumn-specific hobbies or crafts you enjoy pursuing?

Not really. For me, autumn is similar to summer in that it is pleasant outside usually (apart from the end of the season). I still walk every day if I can but the mornings are darker and I have to wear a slightly beefier coat. Otherwise I treat autumn just like the summer.

2. Do you have any favourite autumn-inspired recipes you like to cook or bake?

Not really. We tend to eat more casseroles and soups as the weather gets colder but that’s about it. 

3. Are you a fan of Hallowe’en? If so, what's been your favourite costume?

Absolutely not. 

I am glad that I don’t live in America when Hallowe’en comes along. We seem to be adopting it here more and more and usually there are a few kids knocking at the door asking for treats. We either stay in and ignore the door, or go out. 

I sound like the Hallowe'en version of Scrooge, don't I?

That said, I love the origins of Hallowe’en and the fact that you are meant to ward of evil spirits. Usually on Hallowe’en, the TV shows scary movies and programmes and I try to watch a couple of them. I love a bit of horror.

4.  Do you have any childhood memories related to the autumn season?

My dad was a keen gardener. He used to grow lots of vegetables, so many in fact that he used to end up giving a lot of it away. We used to live next to the entrance of a park, and next to the long garden we had was a dead end road where people used to park to use the park itself. There were lots of trees around and so the road was full of leaves from the trees as autumn progressed. My dad used to hand us huge bags and get us to collect the leaves so that he could use them to turn into compost for his garden. I had no idea whether this worked but he seemed to think so.

Of course, autumn also meant a return to school and a new year with new challenges. It was a mixture of excitement at being a year higher but also more challenging in terms of the subject matter becoming more difficult.

5.  What kind of outdoor activities do you enjoy during the autumn months?

Autumn marks the start of the football season (that’s the “soccer” season if you are American). It is also the start of the rugby season too. As a child, I would play football in the local park and be forced to play rugby at school.

As an adult, things haven’t changed so much by the time autumn comes. I tend to go out for walks in both summer and autumn but spend slightly less time outdoors than I do in summer. The activities are the same until it starts to get too cold.

6. Do you look forward to 'sweata weatha'? What is your favourite go-to outfit for autumn?

By “sweata weatha” I assume you mean wearing sweaters and pullovers. I do start to wear them in autumn, more so towards the end of the season. But really, I don’t really “look forward” to it; I just wear them when I am cold.

7. Are you a fan of pumpkin or apple flavoured treats or beverages?

I don’t really eat pumpkin to be honest. But I am a fan of apples and apple flavoured treats and beverages – with the exception of cider, which has a tendency to upset my stomach. I usually eat two apples a day (Granny Smith’s) and I drink apple juice too.

8. Which autumn scents do you find most appealing?

I like autumn and the local park here where I live has a nice musty autumn smell as the leaves fall from the trees. Apart from that, I don’t really notice the scent apart from the loss of newly cut grass and summer flowers, which is a shame.

9. Do you like to visit apple orchards or pumpkin patches or corn mazes?

It’s not something I have ever done, if I’m honest.

10. Have you ever participated in or attended an autumn festival or harvest fair?

I have been to a few shows in local National Trust historic estates like Tatton Park and Dunham Massey but it’s not something I do that often.

11. What's your favourite thing about autumn?

I like the fact that the trees change colour and when I walk or drive down a tree-lined avenue, it looks very pretty. The weather is usually still quite pleasant at the start of the season too so walking is very comfortable.

12. Are you more of a cider or hot chocolate person when it comes to autumn beverages?

Hot chocolate because as I said above, cider can upset my stomach.

13. What's your ideal way to spend a crisp autumn evening?

Go for a walk. Walking is best when there is a slight chill in the air because I walk quite quickly and work up a little bit of a sweat. 

14. Do you like to dress up for Halloween? What's your favourite costume or what costume do you plan for this year? Do you like to make your own costume?

No plans to dress up for Hallowe’en for the reasons I gave above. Actually, if the truth be known, I could walk around as normal and scare a lot of people.

15. Are you a football fan? What's your favourite team?

Yes I am a football fan (again that’s “soccer” for Americans). My favourite team is my hometown team – Walsall. They are terrible and are currently floundering in the fourth tier of the English football league. This season seems to have started like the previous ones. Yesterday we lost 4-0. You would have thought that they could have made an effort for my birthday. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

I will switch briefly to American mode now.

No – I am not a football fan. I find American Football a little hard to follow though I do know what a quarterback is. To me, it just seems like a crazy game where a load of men dressed in helmets and padding try to beat each other up. There are similarities between rugby and American football but only in the shape of the ball. For example, in rugby, the ball can only be passed backwards but in American Football it seems that this quarterback fellow can launch the ball forward for his colleagues to catch. 

I have watched part of one Super Bowl game but to be honest, I didn’t have a clue what was going on so I switched it off to go to bed (it was on really late in the UK).

That said, when it comes to American sports, I prefer baseball. At least I understand the game more.  

Autumn Meme

Welcome to South Manchester where autumn has kicked in and, although the weather is still reasonable, the temperature is dropping and more rain is coming. The nights are drawing in and my 6am morning walks are in the dark. The good news is that I usually catch a decent sunrise at this time of year, if the clouds decide to dissipate enough for me to see the sun.

Talking of autumn, let’s look at this week’s Sunday Stealing, which is entitled “Fall Meme”. I assumed that it was all about falling over, something I haven’t done for years, and only then when I was slightly inebriated. I assumed that it would be about how many times and how spectacularly you have fallen over in the past.

But then I realised that by “fall”, my American friends mean autumn. 

I’ve never really understood how “fall” has managed to stick around across the pond as a replacement for the season after summer. Yes, strictly speaking the leaves do fall from the trees at this time of year but to call the whole thing “fall” is perplexing to me, a simple Englishman. 

I will of course answer the questions but, being the pedantic English person I am, I will extend my spelling corrections from beyond “favorite” to “favourite” and “color” to “colour” to include the change from “fall” to autumn”.

I apologise for this but I am slightly OCD when it comes to English. I annoy Mrs PM constantly but particularly so when watching American programmes on TV – especially when somebody says “math” instead of “maths”!

I will stop babbling now – let’s just answer the questions, shall we?

1. Favourite autumn holiday: 

In the UK we don’t have any official holidays during autumn. The last public one is in August and we have to wait until Christmas before the next ones. That said, there is nothing to stop us from going on holiday during this season. In fact, in some ways it is better because in southern Europe it is still warm but not oppressively so like it can be in summer. We have just been to Greece, just at the start of autumn and I am going to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks, where the weather will be similar to that of the UK.

2. Best thing about autumn walks:

I walk between three and four miles every day if I can and, as I said, this is usually in the early morning on a school day. At this time of year, if the weather is right, I can watch the sun rising as I stroll. I love sunrises and sunsets. Also, in autumn, the temperature is usually cooling to a point where it is ideal for walking and added to that, as the weeks go on, the leaves on the trees change colour before they fall off the branches and that can look quite beautiful.

3. Favourite autumn chore: 

I have no favourite chores at any time of the year so there is nothing I can say to this one.

4. Least favourite autumn chore: 

Cleaning up leaves. So annoying.

5. Best change in the home: 

My favourite season is summer and autumn marks the end of that period, with darker nights as winter approaches on the horizon. Nothing changes at home apart from the energy bills start to increase and it gets darker earlier. These are not good changes. I do like the fact that the football season arrives though, which means watching more games on TV.

6. Best tree in the autumn: 

Any tree whose leaves turn red or orange.

7. Autumn ritual: 

I don’t have an autumn ritual. Maybe starting to consider where we will be travelling to the following year.

8. Most frustrating thing about autumn: 

I think I answered that above. Autumn marks the end of summer for another year. 

9. Favourite autumn decorations: 

We don’t have any decorations for autumn. All that comes when Christmas arrives.

10. Favourite clothing: 

I am guessing you mean “favourite autumn clothing”. Again, I don’t have any. I tend to change from T-shirts and polo shirts and start to wear shirts instead and even jumpers towards the end of the season. I have no favourites.

11. Traditional autumn candy: 

I rarely eat sweets (candy). 

12. Favourite sound: 

There are no particular sounds of autumn that leap out as a favourite.

13. When does autumn begin for you?

We usually head to southern Europe in September (lockdown permitting) and for me autumn starts when we return from that. 

14. What is your favourite aspect of autumn? 

My birthday is in autumn so I guess that I can say that it a fairly good aspect of the season. The problem is that it means I am a year older and since my mid-thirties I have stopped counting them.

15. What is your favourite autumn memories?

My favourite memories of autumn are when I am out of the country in a warmer place. If we head east or south on a long haul trip it will either be in spring or autumn. Sadly there isn’t one this year but we have plans for that in the future. 

16. What do you like to drink in the autumn?  

I drink the same in autumn as I do the rest of the year typically.

17. What's your favourite autumn food?  

I eat pretty much the same food all year round. I guess in autumn though we tend to start eating more soup, casseroles and warm stodgy food that we don’t eat in summer.

18. What colour is autumn?

Autumn is a red/orange colour with the leaves from the trees and the sun rising in the morning when I walk.

19. What does autumn smell like? 

In the earlier stages, autumn smells a bit like summer but as it progresses and the leaves start to accumulate on the ground, this dissipates into boring dampness. Thankfully there are still traces of summer at least for another couple of weeks.

20. If you could go anywhere in the autumn, where would you go?  

Somewhere warmer. It would be southern Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Malta) or further afield to the far east.

Autumn In Didsbury

We’ve had a pretty dreadful summer, here in the UK in terms of weather, with torrential rain, floods and a generally depressing outlook that drove me abroad for my summer break. 

And now the summer has gone, all we have to look forward to is cold weather, more rain and short days.

However, occasionally, the weather surprises me.  Autumn in the UK can be beautiful particularly on a bright day. Today has been such a day. I opened the curtains this morning and saw a clear blue cloud free sky with sunshine all around.

Mrs PM and I decided to go for a walk to make the most of this beautiful day. The temperature was agreeable too – a pleasant 15 °C, nice enough to resurrect my summer coat, possibly for the last time this year.

The leaves are now changing colour shortly before the trees shed them for the winter and the sunshine enhances the tones making a pleasant walk just that bit more special.

I would like to share that with you, dear reader, to prove that sometimes, on the odd occasion, we can have a delightful day in England.

Care to join us for a walk around Didsbury? Come on then - let's go.

First of all, here is proof that autumn is indeed upon us:

The squirrels are out in force in Didsbury Park, collecting nuts for winter - even checking the bins:

The colours of the trees in Fletcher Moss are wonderful:

Here's a nice path through the woods:

It's still a bit wet from the summer rain, but the reflections in the water are nice:

More beautiful trees by the River Mersey:

It really is sunny - and my shadow makes me look a lot taller:

Time for a pint before getting home?  

Sadly - no! I'm on call. 

Oh well, maybe next time.

Watch Out America - I'm Coming Over ...

Watch out America; the Plastic Mancunian is coming.

It’s been a while since Mrs PM and I have been across the pond, so we’ve decided to inflict ourselves on the United States once again. The last time I went to the States was a few years ago, when I visited Las Vegas. Mrs PM had been there for a conference and I decided to join her for an extra week. We had a fabulous time.

During that trip, Mrs PM and I flew in a helicopter for the first time. I was really excited and was absolutely fine until the helicopter pilot flew over the Hoover Dam. I took a photo of the dam but the pilot swooped in a strange direction and made my stomach lurch; consequently I had to stare at the horizon as we flew over the Grand Canyon (for fear of puking). Thankfully with the aid of a few deep breaths I recovered. Mrs PM, on the other hand, was horribly air sick. I thought she was going to throw up on a couple of occasions. Our pilot showed off his flying skills and dived over a particularly high precipice prompting Mrs PM to utter the only words she spoke on the entire trip:

“DON’T YOU DARE DO THAT AGAIN!”

The scenery was breath-taking and I was really buzzing when we flew back over Las Vegas. I don’t think Mrs PM enjoyed it too much and had to lie down for a couple of hours after we arrived back at the hotel.

I loved Las Vegas and we were sensible enough not to blow our savings. In fact, we broke even, thanks to Mrs PM using her luck and judgement. She won a few hundred dollars on the roulette table and walked away rather than blowing the lot.

The temperature was a tarmac-melting 45 degrees Celsius (we were there in August) and I have never been so hot in my entire life. We coped by hotel hopping. We were staying in the Monte Carlo hotel and spent our time wandering down the Strip, hopping into hotels when overcome by the heat.

Anyway, back to our forthcoming trip.

The suggestion came from Mrs PM after watching “Fringe”, a series where nasty and horrible things happen to people. For those of you that haven’t seen the series, it is basically similar to the X-Files, where a group of FBI agents investigate strange happenings in and around Boston.

“Let’s go to Boston,” said Mrs PM while watching a particularly gruesome episode that involved a creature that was a cross between a snake, a scorpion and an eagle attacking people and laying it’s eggs inside their bodies.

“So we can meet that thing?” I asked incredulously. Pointing at the creature as it was about to devour one of the heroes.

Actually, I leapt at the idea because Boston and New England is one of the places I have always wanted to visit.

We have now booked the flights and are coming over during the last week in September. We haven’t planned our itinerary yet, but the idea is, I think to spend three days in Boston and then hire a car and head off to Cape Cod for four or five days before returning home.

I’m really looking forward to it and so is Mrs PM and I am hoping to produce a huge portfolio of photos, some of which may appear on my photo blog.

Of course, we hope to be fairly flexible, so if there is anybody in the area (or elsewhere), who has any tips or recommendations for places we can visit, etc. then I will be very grateful. One thing I wouldn’t mind doing is enjoying a pint or two of Samuel Adams beer in “Cheers”. I realise that may be something that dumb tourists do, but I don’t really care.

I have to say, however, that any suggestions involving climbing up a tall structure (for me) or flying in a helicopter (for Mrs PM) will almost certainly be ignored. I am not going to allow Mrs PM to persuade me to climb anything that is higher than a three storey building (unless I am safely inside it of course).

I’m off now to try to practice saying “Fall” instead of “Autumn”.