Autumn is coming...

 'Come said the wind to

the leaves one day,

Come o're the meadows

And we will play,

Put on your dresses

Scarlet and Gold

For summer is gone

And the days grow cold'

Traditional children's song

Although it's still only August and beautiful weather at that, it's beginning to feel a bit like autumn. There's a nip in the air first thing in the morning, and a dew is on the windows and cars first thing.

Still we have had a glorious summer and maybe it will continue into September.

The 24th is Bartlemas Day, the Feast of St Bartholomew the Apostle.

And if Bartlemas Day be fine and clear

You may hope for a prosperous Autumn this year, 

although some say that St Bartholomew brings in the cooler autumn weather 

and that his day ends the forty days of rain presaged by a wet St Swithin's.

All the tears St Swithins can cry

St Barthelmy's mantle can wipe dry

This is the time of harvest, of apples being picked and cider made.

My own apples are doing well, last year they were terrible due to the rain,

 I'm expecting a good crop this year!

The apple symbolises fruitfulness, prosperity and rejuvenation, and the wood is still 

seen as a symbol of security. But beware of entering an apple orchard as the trees 

are inhabited by faeries and pixies, so do not sit beneath a tree and fall asleep or 

you will fall under a faerie enchantment. If you wish to call upon the faeries, summon

 them with a apple wood wand. Eating an enchanted apple will allow you to enter

 the faerie realm.

There are many superstition surrounding apples and orchards, these beliefs were 

taken seriously in  earlier days: felling an apple tree would bring the death penalty 

as it was believed to bring bad luck. And apple blossom must not be brought into the

 house as it will bring sickness and the evil influence, and if blossom appears on t

he tree late in the season it fortells a death in the family.

Faerie Flora 2013