I WON’T be making pea/mint/courgette/goat’s cheese frittata for a while.

My summer clothes are falling by the wayside.

The X Factor is back. (Does it start earlier every year?)

Although I’m still holding out for the final hurrah of an Indian Summer, autumn is in the air and our TV scheduling.

There are entertainments on offer in Salisbury over the coming months, such as the usual mainstream comedy and musical nostalgia acts at City Hall, and folk music/indie film offerings at the Arts Centre, but I'm turning my attentions outside. (Apart from on Saturday nights, obviously. Back-to-back X Factor/Strictly will see me through till Christmas.)

It’s a novelty to me that there are so many things specific to this time of year.

Since I took a photography course I've been wanting to photograph the deer during rutting season (from a safe distance), so this year I’m going to set my alarm early and venture into the New Forest.

Likewise, I've always wanted to go and photograph the Bewick swans in one of the wetland centres after they’ve flown over from Siberia for the winter.

And then – family and friends look away if you don't want to know what your Christmas present is – I'm going to attempt to make sloe gin, too.

Because of the recent summer storms, the berries are apparently ripe earlier this year so we currently have a ‘go’ situation.

I have also recently stumbled upon Secret Sunday Mushroom Club.

Not literally – I imagine they are so secretive that if I did happen upon them on a gathering mission they would have a cover story and secret identities.

No, I have discovered that there is such a thing as organised foraging groups.

Locally, The Wild Side of Life have mushrooming groups leaving from Avebury, while Hedgerow Harvest run fungus forays in October, and a fruit and nut expedition at the end of September. I’m in.

I've always thought it would be useful to learn about which fresh ingredients will kill at a dinner party and which will be the killer ingredients at a dinner party.