Pumpkins, Leaves and Halloween

It's finally time to embrace Autumn. The properly brisk weather has been slower to come this year (as have the leaves along with it) but that has made for some cosy days of knits and scarves without worrying about winter coats yet. I was standing around outside a pub in the evening last week, perfectly comfortable in just a light jacket. The only thing that moved us inside was a brief downpour of rain. As for rain, there has been some, but none of it persistent, and there have been quite a few of those beautiful days of crisp air and clear skies, that are just perfect for walks. And now, today, the clocks have turned back an hour and the nights will be drawing in... As I've written about previously, I love the weekend when we switch back to Greenwich Mean Time, and not just for the bonus hour of sleep.

Dress: Second-hand, picked up by my mother, and passed to me
Cardigan: Hand-made by my mother
Boots: Beyond Retro, London
Scarf: Second-hand, can't remember where
Brooch: Fabhatrix, Edinburgh

But the backdrop to this particular post is actually my visit to Kew Gardens last weekend. Yes, I've been back again already, as part of my aspirations to see it in every season and in as many months as possible. And my seasonal visits will, naturally, be accompanied by seasonally appropriate dress. Unlike my previous visits to Kew, this time I went solo, but was able to get some shots of my outfit by befriending one of the oak trees there. I hung my camera off him and went for a wee dance under his boughs.

As I said, there hasn't been much need for proper coats yet so last weekend I was comfortably able to show off my hand-knitted cardigan and velvet dress without fear of freezing, even after a long walk through the gardens. I partnered my dress and cardigan with two-tone brown boots and an unmistakably Autumnal scarf and brooch, as seen in the picture below (taken alongside another friendly, colourful tree).

And wait, what's this I found? A dark, dark, almost black pumpkin?

Well, I picked him up from the selection on sale, which included some of the many varieties in the wonderful display at the Waterlily house. Did you ever see so many pumpkin varieties in your life??

I also considered taking one of the blue ones but they were bigger and it would have been heavier to carry home with me. And I was happy with my wee Kabocha and his dark tones.

Following the pumpkins, I went on further explorations of the gardens, to enjoy the leaves and spot what other things were out and growing or flowering or changing.

I also took some time to enjoy the Rose Garden Tea Party, which finishes up next weekend...

So, a successful and fun October visit to Kew Gardens. I certainly learnt a lot about pumpkins and the multitude of varieties. 

I leave you with some Halloween-appropriate painted pumpkins. Less than a week to go!

The Last of the Season's Roses...

... and a French manicure with a peppermint twist.

The next post will introduce more seasonal colours, I swear. But my silver nail polish and my pastel green nail polish caught my eye the other evening so I thought I'd do some fun experimentation.

And then I went for a weekend wander, on the hunt for autumn leaves, but late roses caught my eye instead, still heavy with rain drops after an Autumn shower.

Foraging for Mushrooms in the Summertime

Mama amongst the mushrooms

As predicted, Autumn has suddenly arrived here in London. Before it gets too ridiculous to post them, I thought I should drop by with photos of my visit to Kew Gardens with my mama and papa back in the sunshiny days of August. We stumbled across some giant mushrooms while we were there, so this post actually serves as a nice way to segue from Summer to Autumn, from summery outfits to autumnal fungi in one post.

The mushrooms were willow sculptures created by an artist called Tom Hare. They were pretty special, as you can hopefully see from these shots, and we enjoyed frolicking amongst them, especially my mother, who is a wee fairy at heart. We found them at a great time of day too, in the late afternoon when the light was golden and shadows lengthening.

Earlier in the day we also made it to Queen Charlotte's Cottage. This was built in the latter half of the eighteenth century and was a rustic retreat for King George III's wife. Royalty's idea of a humble country life... It was pretty sweet, really, and I certainly wouldn't mind having use of it for myself.

The front of Queen Charlotte's Cottage, with some appropriately costumed guides

The 'Picnic Room' in the Cottage

We took a cue (as opposed to Kew... heh heh) from this stylish couple and had a peek around the back of the Cottage, where there was a lovely, secluded little area for snapping a few shots on rickety fences.

Mama examining the timber framing, passed by a lovely, vintage-styled couple

Enjoying the Royal woodlands
Top: Hand-me-down from a friend
Skirt: Beyond Retro, London
Hat: Fabhatrix, Edinburgh
Shoes: Somewhere in Leipzig, Germany

So that was August at Kew. Long-time readers will recall a post I wrote when I visited the Gardens for the first time ever back in November 2011. At the time, I thought it would be wonderful to go back every season... but, like so many plans, it didn't come immediately to fruition. However, when I visited this time, I bought a year's membership, as I thought this might prompt me to make some return visits. So be prepared for more photographic records of Kew over the months and seasons in the course of the year to come...

Snapped secretly by my mother, as I re-pinned my hair...

Komm Mit Mir Fliegen (or Come Fly With Me)

From lush, green Irish countryside to gritty, urban Berlin... 

Immediately after getting back from Ireland the other week, my mum and I turned around and hopped on a flight to Germany for more adventures. And, as if we hadn't seen enough airports already, we headed down to Tempelhofer Freiheit. But this is a bit different to your average airport. Tempelhof operated as one of Berlin's airports between the 1920s and 2008, but is now being reclaimed as a public park.

Tempelhof Airport has rather a mixed and dramatic history. It was an official airfield from the 1920s but the original buildings could not meet capacity and the airport was redeveloped under the direction of the Nazis from the late 1930s. In true Nazi style, it was built to awe and impress, forming part of Hitler's megalomaniacal visions for Germania... In fact, it remains one of the largest buildings in the world today, based on sheer volume.

The original airport building (Image source)

Under the canopy of the 1930s building (Image source)

Another view of the 1930s building (Image source)

Unfortunately, I do have to confess to rather liking the look of it as a building, despite its nasty associations and origins. Thankfully, the history of Tempelhof was somewhat redeemed by its part in the Berlin Airlift, post World War II, when Allied forces flew in much needed supplies to the people of West Berlin when the Soviets had blockaded the city.

It later reopened as a commercial airport but was eventually closed less than a decade ago.

1949 West Berlin stamp (Image source)

Though I must say I'm disappointed never to have flown into Tempelhof as a visitor to Berlin, it is great to see that the site had found such a positive new use, as a public park. I was disappointed to be literally fenced off from the airport building itself on our visit there, but I guess I'll just have to return to Berlin on a weekend next time, when they conduct tours of the interior of the building.

In the surrounding park, the runways remain, as generous paths for walkers, cyclists and skaters.

Away from these concrete strips, you can also enjoy a more shaded, leafy and wild park experience: 

Mama tripping through the flowers 

Me lying amongst the flowers
Shirt: Rokit, London
Culottes: Beyond Retro, London
Shoes: Somewhere in Leipzig, Germany

There's also some wonderful community gardens and art spaces to explore in the park:

It was rather a lovely, relaxing and fascinating place to visit and I'm glad we took the time to stop off and explore it, during our packed-full, busy few days in Berlin. You can read more about the site's history and future plans for the park and see more historic pictures here, if this post has piqued your interest.