Every leaf that falls in autumn is a little different from its neighbour. They each have their own story to tell - like the lines revealed on an open palm. Over the last week, the tree friendly southern suburbs of Sheffield have been carpeted with leaves and sometimes you walk ankle deep along the pavements, listening to the leaves' crinkly soundtrack. The air has been still but yet there are nooks and crannies, corners and gateways where the autumn dead have drifted. Yesterday, I raked and swept up a great pile of leaves in our garden then I decanted them into an old dustbin where they can gradually rot down for a year or so ready to enrich the soil. A virtuous circle perhaps. "Leaves" is a word used more than its synonym - "departs" and on Thursday our decorators left after a two week stint of meticulous work - preparing, sanding, undercoating, coating and recoating. They have done a great job of our hallway, staircase and landing. Although five different youn...