It's autumn - the perfect time to be alive.  We had half term last week, and celebrated in style by hill walking in the Peak District, doing Halloween, visiting Grandpa and Grandpa Bleakley, and going to the London Temple.
     The first hill walk we did was up and around Mam Tor, on Monday.  Apparently it was an old Roman Fortress, but all I have to say for it was that it was very windy on the top.  The views were wonderful, though.

     After we walked down the peak of the hill, the wind subsided.  We continued walking along the ridge and without the strong winds, everything was very, very still. 

It was late afternoon, so it was a bit dusky, damp and chilly, wtih autumn leaves around us.  The perfect autumn day, made even more perfect by the perfect autumn treat to keep us going:  gingerbread!

     We spent the night in Sheffield with the angelic Dyson family, who fed us beef and pumpkin stew with yorkshire puddings to revive us.  The next day Tim had to go to a work meeting, but the rest of us braved the hills again and did another walk, this time near a place called Froggart.  We went with Pat Dyson and his grandchildren, Tom and Anna, and his son-in-law, Richard.  We got a little lost at the end, and the walk ended up being about four hours long - more than I had anticipated, but the fresh air and scenery were worth it.

     One purpose of these walks is to get my children to enjoy the seasons, of which I think autumn is the most distinctive.  I was constantly encouraging them to 'look at the autumn colors', an injunction which I was convinced was falling on deaf ears, until suddenly Samuel to me, when we were looking at this beautiful view, 'Look at the colors!'

     There were also boulders upon which to climb,

    
     Edges off which to fall,

    
     Mud in which to lose our shoes (this particular shoe is Georgie's),

    
     Mushrooms on which we could not dine,



     And fairy-tale forests in which to get lost.



     We ended it with a trip to Chatsworth Farm Shop, where we saw their Christmas fair.  The three little girls were going wild over all the Christmas merchandise, and then all of a sudden Georgiana realized that there weren't any other children around and said, 'Shhhh, we need to be quiet - no one else seems to be talking.'  Is this a sign of growing up?  The childlike innocence is fading ....
     I left with smoked wild boar and sticky toffee pudding. Can't think of anything more seasonal.