At midnight last night a short but spectacular thunderstorm marked the end of three months of sunny, dry weather and the beginning of the more unsettled weather that characterises autumn. I rushed out to get the washing in as rain drummed down and lightning flashed all around, crackling every few seconds. It felt exhilirating in many ways, but sad too as summer is ending and it's my favourite season.
Though not for looking feminine! A short, pretty dress and strappy sandals are lovely but hair and makeup don't crave hot days, as I pointed out earlier this summer.
So although I am sad when the weather gets cooler and wetter, the nights draw in and the desire to be outdoors diminishes, the one satisfaction is getting to be more feminine, which for a TGirl is a big plus. The choice in the wardrobe increases, the full range of shoes and boots becomes available, attractive coats and scarves are needed, and there's every excuse for donning a smart pair of tights and giving those legs an even hue. More inspiration and less perspiration, you might say.
Next week is Milan Fashion Week, one of the highlights of the season. And my online check of what will trend in this autumn's styles reveals ... brown, camel and purple in masculine cuts, according to one pundit; bold, bright colours - fiery red, lemon yellow and electric blue - for dresses and coats, insists another; leather jackets and white trousers, opines a third.
Frankly, with that range of unhelpfully contrasting hints, you'd be best creating your own fashion! As I've said before, women's clothes are so much nicer so that one of the plus points of being a trans woman is the happiness and satisfaction that comes from choosing and wearing the clothes that you like best, the ones that say most clearly to you and the rest of the world, "Look! I am a woman." I find autumn is the season that gives me the fullest range of clothing to express who I am.
So, thank you, lovely summer that's left me tanned and healthy, and welcome to pretty, feminine autumn.
Autumn food
Thanks to Covid restrictions over the last 18 months I really haven't been able to travel far from home. But the hedgerows in the steep lane behind home has been offering free food such as passionfruit, pears and olives.
Orange passionfruits peeping from a tangle of leaves and beautiful passionflowers.
The little snails that were aestivating in summer's heat a few weeks ago have now slithered down from their eyrie and are getting on (slowly) with their snaily lives. Last weekend saw the annual snail festival up in the hills at Molini di Triora, where vast numbers of edible snails are cooked up in huge pans for the visitors (There are also food and craft stalls and other entertainments, it's not all about snails!) This weekend there's a major international cheese festival over the mountains at Bra. Bra is famous for its own cheese and for the unfortunately named Bra sausage. What the town's position on underwires and bandeaux is, I can't say.
If the thunderstorm is followed by a couple of days of sun I reckon this weekend will be perfect for hunting mushrooms, which I love. Family holidays in the Alps when I was little often involved scrambling around tumbledown woodland to find something tasty. The best were always parasol mushrooms, up to a foot tall and 6-10 inches across, with an aroma like hazelnut. The caps are best when battered and fried, with a crisp salad.
Till I get out there, I've been making mushroom stew with polenta (Italian cornmeal), using porcini (we used to call them penny buns because the caps look like glazed buns). Only shop-bought, but still delicious.
Homemade porcini stew with polenta. Perfect autumn food.
Have a nice autumn, season of lovely clothes and hearty food.
A dip in the archives
The above is all very different from my last autumn in London three years ago. But that was beautiful in a different way.
Link: Autumn things
Sue x
No comments:
Post a Comment