Crispin in Autumn

On the morning I was born there was the first night touch of autumn frost. The air and the fallen leaves were crisp, and that was how they chose my name. I've always loved autumn, I love the sense of everything being gathered in from this year and made ready for the next. All over the island, animals are cramming larders and storing up leaves and feather for nests. Tell you what, let's just shin up Urchin's favourite tree and see what's going on.

The otters aren't that bothered about food. They can find fish in the sea all year round. But they've organised a bucket chain to move stones and driftwood from the shore to anyone inland who needs them. The wood is mainly for firewood, but also for household repairs, and the stones are useful for holding down any bits of your home that might blow away in a high wind. Oh, and there's Fingal giving Fionn rides on his back. If he's had enough he just rolls over and she falls off. There she goes.

The squirrels have been weaving nets and baskets for storing winter nuts and are organising them into 'hazels' 'walnuts' and so on. Sepia gets the littlies to sing while they do that, otherwise they'd eat the lot. Urchin's taken about a dozen small animals to collect blackberries, and nobody minds if they eat half of those. A sword is very useful for chopping down the more vicious branches. It's a great way of keeping the youngsters happy. They spend all morning hunting, gathering and eating, all afternoon getting their fur clean, and all night sleeping like tops because they're exhausted. Hope and Scatter are - what are they doing? oh, they're planting a garden for next year. Mother Huggen and Wren are watching a lot of baby moles and hedgehogs rolling about in the leaves for the fun of it. Oh, and here's Almondflower coming to join them. Catkin and Oakleaf are gathering firewood. Smoke rises from bonfires, and from...

.. yes, from the gigantic pot where Apple is brewing up her latest batch of cordial. You can tell when it's the smoke from the cordial because it's faintly yellow and so is the grass around it. Animals give it a wide berth. Apple likes to keep it for a year before drinking. Urchin would say, a lifetime. For myself, I'd rather go back to the Tower, sit down with Cedar to some hot spiced blackberry and cinnamon, and hear about the plans for the Autumn Festival. If you see Urchin and Needle, get them to come up and join us, will you?