It's well and truly Autumn here on the Mainland of New Zealand and it cannot be ignored that Winter is fast approaching.

Canterbury sure put on a beautiful and colourful show this year with little wet weather or winds to blow away the muted rainbow of leaves.

We've been making the most of this lingering warm dry weather, with walks in the park and my fairies happily adding to their Autumn treasure collections with chestnuts, acorns and more leaves.

At home we've been collecting the walnuts from our own tree and picking up the most precious apples from our much smaller yielding trees. All of which you will see are put to tasty use in this issue.