Autumn.

I love the change of seasons between Summer and Winter; when the sticky hot days slowly disappear and the cool winds of Autumn make their presence known. And the nights are lovely too; right down to the crispness of the night air when the sun vanishes below the horizon. It's just lovely. My Mum loves it too. I think it might be the English/Scottish blood in us that makes us look forward to the slow-cooker meals, cold nights in front of the oil heater and hot chocolate. But Summer just doesn't cut it for me.

In Summer, I get the heat rashes, heat pimples, sun burnt, heat stroke, dehydration and sleepless nights (because it's too darn hot) and stupid television shows because our Summer goes over Christmas and New Years and it's not a great time to show repeats of old shows.
But when the seasons change and it becomes cooler, you can really get into the hot meals, dress warmly, jump into the garden (because most of your plants turn dormant and it's the best time to repot anything that needs it). And then, there's the freezing cold nights where you can cocoon yourself in your duvet and sleep like the dead and wake to a darkened cold morning, peek out the top of your covers and think: 'Nope, not yet! It's too dark and cold to leave the confines of this toasty burrow!'.
Yep, I love Winter. It makes me get in and do things. I dress in lovely long-sleeved, turtle-necks and highly-polished shoes. I eat the most delicious home-made pastas and sauces. I knit long, long scarves and get into reading wonderful books about other countries and other places while it's freezing cold outside. My art takes off too; with paintings about anything and everything; with warm colours abound and cool colours touching the edges.

Winter here in Brisbane may not initially last all that long, but there's a run-up to it; where we have cold days and warm days and the cold nights and warm days. Even though we're in a tropical climate, it can still get quite chilly here and people don't realise it. Anyway, I wouldn't mind a little bit of snow once in a while. It'd be a lovely change to a cold day; besides, the last time I saw it, I was 19 and in New Zealand.