Autumn in the Scottish Borders

I recently took my friends-and-photographers Rose and Julien to one of my favourite walks near Galashiels- the walk from Yair up to the Three Brethren on part of the Southern Upland Way. We had a beautiful crisp cold morning, with blue sky, and a very happy dog running all over the place!

The warm Autumn colours at beautiful at the moment, especially when the light is good, and we found some perfect red and white toadstools, beautiful glistening red berries, and flame coloured larch trees.

Leni, my apricot-coloured cockapoo blends in perfectly with the warm autumn colours just now, especially after she’s got herself a bit muddy.

This walk was really a morning off for all of us, but as it was cold we all wore warm winter scarves (in my case sometimes more than one!) and Rose brought her camera… You may be able to tell that we all dressed for the walk, rather than styling ourselves very carefully for a photoshoot. Rose (above) prefers wearing neutral shades, and so this is her Storm blanket scarf that she normally wears, which she brought with her for the hike.

I love a funny photo… Working outside in the wind can produce some hilarious results, and I think this photo of Julien with the Block scarf in Mist blown in his face is one of my favourites! Rose did manage to capture a good over-the-shoulder throw too though, but I sometimes find the out-takes more endearing.

Colours Of Autumn

The warm colours of Autumn are fantastic right now. I think it’s the last hurrah before it really feels like Winter, when most trees are suddenly bare and the beech and larch trees are magnificent. All the berries look delicious, and fungi of all kinds are everywhere in all sorts of colours.

This year I have added some reds to my collection to reflect some of these autumn gems. There’s something about wearing warm colours that makes you feel extra cosy I think!

It was so cold as we got higher up that I ended up wearing two warm scarves for half the walk, which is why they look so huge in some of these photos!

I love wearing colour, so I’m always easy to spot in the countryside! I particularly love blues, so these are the Lismore hat and blanket scarf that I wear the most, with my favourite Islay sweater.

Lambswool is the Ideal Fibre to Wear in Winter

The great thing about wearing wool when it comes to Autumn and Winter is that it’s warm but breathable. If you are planning to do some activities like hiking up a hill, wool will wick away any moisture, and won’t smell at the end of the day. Unlike synthetic fibres, you don’t have to wash it as much because of that, you can just air it out.

My sweaters are lightweight, but really warm- you you don’t have that feeling of being restricted by a bulky sweater, so they’re great for getting out and about in, and using to layer up.

Basically, wool is the ultimate performance fibre, AND it’s renewable and biodegradable. All the lambswool I use is cruelty free, spun in Scotland and dyed with GOTS approved dyes. The mill that spins it uses water from their nearby loch wash and dye the yarn, so all the water they return to the loch has to be clean in order for the local wildlife and the mill to survive.

All the photos in this post are by Rose Ellis and Julien Borghino of Rose and Julien- they took turns in being photographer and model.