Evidence that I can actually appreciate Nature, even if for all the wrong reasons

I get really excited when Autumn starts.

Is this because I am a lover of nature?  Is it because I find that observing creation enriches my inner soul?  Is it because I see, in the flaming red and orange trees, beauty which inspires my heart to leap with joy?

Regular readers will know that the answer to all these questions is: by 'eck as like.  (This roughly translates as 'Are you joking, because Fran is to love of nature what a vegetarian is to love of steak tartare, a rack of ribs and garlic prawns on the side')

No.  The reason I get really excited is that, when next door's tree is in full autumn colour, it matches my duvet cover.

Here is a picture of the type of tree in next door's garden:

By 'type of tree', Fran meant 'orangey red'.  She hoped no one in the know
would write and tell her that these species of trees don't exist in Britain.

And here is a picture of some bedding which is very like mine.




Our bedroom is at the back of the house, overlooking next door's garden.  And there is a certain point in the year, about the end of October, when I can look into next door's garden .....


and then to our bed ....



and back again, and I feel a real sense of completeness, not to mention pride in having moved to a house where next door's foliage matches my soft furnishings.

Put it this way, if you saw the rest of my house, you would realise that, without little accidents of destiny such as that described above, it would look as coordinated as the coalition government.

Comments

  1. Steve27/9/11 11:20

    Hate to tell you this but brown is actually the new Autumn.

    ReplyDelete
  2. InvisibleWoman27/9/11 11:39

    I always thought it was 'by 'eckers like'. No idea why it means what it means though. That tree matches my sofa - we have similar tastes in soft furnishings it seems.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen Jones Gowen27/9/11 11:56

    I planted a couple trees like that in my yard and can't wait until they are this size!! Then I can match everything in my house to it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pam 27/9/11 12:01

    For a moment, Fran, I was Very Impressed. Not having read your blog with sufficient attention (close reading skills vanishing as I embrace OAP-dom) I thought that this particular tree was IN your neighbour's garden. Fran, an English teacher, earns enough to live in acres of rolling swards in Warwickshire. I approve of English teachers being properly rewarded for their work.

    But no. Not the tree, just the colour.

    Oh well.

    Quite, um, bright, your duvet cover?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Martin27/9/11 12:36

    Don't you find it an inconvenience when your duvet finally falls off the bed and blows into little heaps in the corners of the room? Or maybe you have some late bedding plants at hand.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Annie (Lady M) x27/9/11 12:47

    You like autumn because it matches your bedding? Ha ha ha ha - only you Fran!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alan Burnett27/9/11 13:25

    That is a Photoshop Tree if ever I have seen one. The Latin name is Treeus Digitalis Enhancius I think.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fran Hill27/9/11 13:39

    Steve - you've been trawling those fashion houses again, haven't you?...

    Invisible Woman - or maybe it's 'by Ekkerslike' (Ekkerslike being a small county town in the North of England)

    Karen G - maybe not EVERYthing. I mean, your fridge, washing machine and food mixer are going to look a bit strange.

    Isabelle - what makes you think an English teacher COULDN'T live in a rolling sward? Ah. Experience. And what's wrong with my bright duvet cover? People who are STILL AT WORK have to have something to cheer their dreary evenings, you know.

    Martin - if it blows off, we just leaf it there.

    Annie - what other reasons are there? Enlighten me.

    Alan - Ha ha, very good. I love the idea of a Photoshop Tree.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Friko27/9/11 16:21

    I am so glad you added your last sentence.

    Being deaf and blind to the wonders of nature is not usually a virtue.
    What a bloody waste of all that glorious display nature puts on especially for you, if you don't see it. Get out there, and start appreciating. woman.

    Where was you brung up, in a coal hole? All them poems about daffodils
    and seasons of mellow mists are wasted on you. In your poetry appreciation classes do you teach poems about smelly buses, litter-strewn streets and the aesthetic beauty of shopping precincts?

    No? thought not.

    For your homework I want a home-made poem on that ghastly red tree.(God knows where you dug that up)


    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Martin Lower28/9/11 02:46

    Nature is just wasted on some people......

    ReplyDelete
  11. hausfrau28/9/11 04:09

    I've never thought of matching my house wares to the seasonal bounty outside... I'm with Friko and Martin; and I demand a poem on your actual tree not the photoshop perfect one! Please?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Crayon28/9/11 06:49

    At least you have the good sense to recognize Decorative Serendipity when you see it! I appear to prefer the Lemony Snickets style of decorating-a series of unfortunate events.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ted and bunny28/9/11 07:09

    is this taking the phrase "bringing the outdoors in" just a tad too far?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Diane Laney Fitzpatrick28/9/11 10:33

    Funny! I used to feel guilty for being happy that my dog matched our furniture.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fran Hill28/9/11 11:44

    Friko - How strange you should say that. I was just this very afternoon teaching a poem called 'The Smelly Bus Going Down the Litter-Strewn Street Near the Shopping Centre'. What a coincidence!

    Here is your poem:

    There is a tree
    What pleases me
    Because it matches
    My laundry.

    Martin - who are these people of whom you speak?

    hausfrau - see above

    I'm Crayon - The Lemony Snickets style - love it!

    ted and bunny - me thinks not. I love the word 'tad' though. Tad. Tad. Tad. Tad. Tad.

    Diane - We once looked at a black and white cat at a rescue centre and actually decided not to rescue it because its hairs wouldn't have matched our brown furniture. Was this cruel?

    ReplyDelete
  16. SmitoniusAndSonata29/9/11 08:21

    This whole entry is scarily Homes And Gardens . I'm wondering if your blog hasn't become a bit too glamourous for the likes of me ?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Suzanne Ross Jones29/9/11 13:09

    That bedding's lovely.

    XX

    ReplyDelete
  18. BadPenny30/9/11 10:03

    Ha ! My bedding is a sort of Duck egg blue ...not sure what that means ! I also have little cat paw prints & hairs all over it ( bad kitties- but way too adorable to move when curled up asleep on the beds )

    Your bedding looks glamerous & I'm very glad to hear that your neighbours were considerate enough to plant a co-ordinating tree !

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fran Hill30/9/11 13:57

    SmitandSon - No, just keep visiting. It will soon return to stories about dead frogs or how to wrap your baby in cling film.

    Suzanne - I'm just about to get underneath it. Best time of the day ...

    BadPenny - I'm guessing your neighbours have grown no duck-egg blue foliage for you.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Friko30/9/11 15:27

    Fran

    very good.
    but there's a syllable missing in the last line.

    tick, but could do better.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Fran Hill30/9/11 15:31

    Friko - these days, that's an A*. Wot u on abaht?

    ReplyDelete

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