I personally love this time of year – lots of walking out along the lanes with crunchy leaves ensuring we don’t forget  to look up at the newly denuded trees and relish the natural turn of events.  We come home full of joy and optimism – and immediately check the thermostat . . . . . .  usually upwards, but these days we have to be that bit more thoughtful about climate change globally and not be tempted to whack it up!  Some of my friends are even now thinking in terms of changing their heating and water systems to try and get a more environmentally effective system to take them forward.  It’s no easy task.  Every system has some effect on the environment and unless we are able and prepared to sit it out without using any boilers or coal burners, just as the cavemen and others originally did, we  have a lot more work to do.  But keeping our current systems clean and well serviced will do much to ensure our own personal ‘footprint’ is slightly less harmful – for at least another 12 months.