Meteorological autumn may have started a week ago, but for me, it began yesterday… for three reasons. I moved the winter clothes from storage and into the cupboards (creating two bagfuls of clothes for the charity shop in the process), I had to light a fire last night… and it was the launch show of Strictly!

I fall in love with each season as it arrives, although I know that I’ll soon be mourning the loss of the long hours of daylight, autumn is no different. There is something of the order of nature in watching the leaves losing their vibrancy, as they singe and crisp over the coming weeks. Our lawn is already scattered with the first offerings, the runner beans are becoming tougher, and there was a sniff of a chill first thing this morning (we are in Cornwall, so frost is unlikely for a while yet). September is the new January, or so I read a couple of years back, and it’s become a tradition of mine to sharpen up on some of the excesses that crept in over the summer months and the endless feeling of being on holiday. Eating a little leaner, exercising a little harder… although I think that three sessions of gig rowing yesterday might have been a bit overkill. It was pilates over running this morning, as I think that the latter would have overstressed my body.

And how ‘gorgeous darling’ (in CRH voice) was it to welcome back Strictly onto my TV last night. It’s the first thing I’ve watched since Poldark exited earlier this summer! I was annoyed to hear The Mirror had leaked the pairings in their paper (what’s the point?), but that’s a paper that’s easy to avoid! The whole enjoyment is the drama, even though it’s a bit like a cross between watching school teams being picked, and a school disco (both of which I have memories of being left ’til last for), and therefore almost painful. I will forgive Claudia Winkleman anything, for she makes the whole process a delight. Mrs Glossy Hair and Smouldering Eyes. I definitely have a girl crush on her. I don’t really care who has who in the pairings, because when it all gets going, I’ll be lost in the glitter and the stories.

After last year’s experience, my friend Barbara and I have decided not to apply for tickets. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I don’t want to cloud it. Speaking of which, I’ve had a spike in traffic to my website, it turns out courtesy of The Telegraph (another paper I don’t read), who attribute my blog an “excellent report” (can this go in my writer’s CV, I wonder? Haha!). Well that explains the numbers. Good luck to anyone opting for tickets, it will be amazing, provided you’ve queued in time, and you’re wearing clothes appropriate to the season… Autumn, yes, hello to autumn.