ホモテナシ

New tea year!, which gives a fresh, festive mood!

紅葉狩り: viewing of the red leaves, held outside; with the 炉 dug out of the ground.

畳 are refaced, new paper on the sliding doors in preparation of the 口切り茶事 and opening of 炉 called 開炉（かいろ）or 炉開き（ろ　びらき）.

The date is not fixed, but 利休 says 炉開き should be when the ゆず turns yellow. Ideally, it's when it's slightly cold, so it's more touching.

Because of the change to 炉, a whole bunch of different 道具 are used, which refreshes the mood.

At 炉開き, there should be always something 織部 (even if it's just 織部饅頭 as sweets).

壺飾り, of course!

I also like to practise 点前 that are specifically tea related to highlight the fact that we're originally opening a new batch of tea here: 茶通箱 and 和巾.

Traditionally, 三べ are used at 炉開き: 織部, ふくべ and 備前 (which used to be called いんべ).

HY23 used a 老松 茶器, which I paired with せき松葉 as a 御銘.

小雪（しょう　せつ) (little snow)

冬の朝（ふゆ　の　あさ）(cold winter morning）

小春 (when the weather is spring-like)

木枯し — I love this name, and there's also a sweet by this name.

Chestnuts are a big topic, as 八寸, for example, or as sweets, of course.

Often you serve 善哉 soup here, which is quite easy to make: It's sweet adzuki soup with grilled 餅!

Recipe: 山苞

織部饅頭（おりべ　まんじゅう）

亥の子餅 (little boars), originally made from seven flours (soy, azuki, sesame, chestnut, persimmon, sugar cane and cowpeas)

千 suggest: Konoma no nishiki (autumn brocade) sweets. The last leaves of autumn form a brilliant brocade on the mountains. For these sweets, white-bean paste is wrapped in rice dough and sprinkled with ground poppy seeds, calling to mind the frost on the late-autumn trees.

Recipe: きな粉ボル

吹寄せ（ふきよせ）, which is not so hard to make

To this, you can add 松笠, which can be flavoured with 小豆粉

千: Icho (gingko leaf) sweets. Sugar cakes colored and pressed to resemble the golden glory of the gingko leaf in autumn. LEFT: Shimeji (mushroom) sweets. Sugar cakes colored and shaped like mushrooms.

Mittwer proposes Job's tears, shrubby althea, aster, agrimony, and butterfly bush

Sen in Chadō proposes camelia