Not content to be winter’s plainer cousin, autumn was showing her beauty in Helsinki today with blue skies and earthy colours.

We enjoyed her show on the island of Seurasaari.  Connected to the mainland by a footbridge, this open-air museum is home to buildings from around Finland from across the ages.

We’ve been at Christmas and at Midsummer but hadn’t yet visited at this time of year.

Even though most the buildings are now closed for winter it is still worth a visit for a walk and a picnic and the trails are popular with joggers.

We enjoyed walking around and choosing which house we would live in (as long as it has good insulation).

Despite having been before, we found new things to enjoy, including signs of Finnish ingenuity from time gone by.

Autumn was all around us and as always, nature was left untamed and free to grow.

We were soon joined by the island’s residents, who I assume are starting to squirrel away stores for the Nordic winter.

Autumn showed us that she is no shrinking violet – and her display will only get stronger between now and November.

And we finally found the house we might like to live in – or at least have as our summer home.