August

I always think of August as a drowsy month: long, hot and sleepy, everything slowly dying off and coming to an end as the seasons shift towards autumn, bringing with the cooler breezes and a new-year burst of energy.

This August has felt a little like that due to the heat. Even when it has not been sunny, the air has often felt oppressively humid and warm. We returned from Suffolk two weeks ago to another heat wave, a hot house and a very parched garden. I became obsessed with saving any grey water and was amazed (I still am) by how much we could save when washing our hands, rinsing fruit and vegetables, running the tap for hot or cold water, or lightly used washing up water. I even saved water from boiling eggs and vegetables! It all helped and, combined with a couple of days of rain, the garden has recovered two weeks on.

But it was warm. Dog walks had to happen very late at night.....

...or very early in the morning. We got to our usual dog-walking field at 7.30 am on a Sunday morning and were surprised to find it full of people with the same idea. 

John was finishing off the decking before he went back to work and he would be sawing away until about 11, then is was too hot to do anything, the kind of heat where you don't really know what to do with yourself as sitting in the garden is unpleasant and the house is boiling too. So we went to the beach and swam in the sea.

I found that this would cool down my body temperature enough that the hours after we returned from the beach felt much more comfortable, plus it did prolong the holiday feeling a bit which was nice.

I settled back into a gentle home routine, finishing off decorating jobs, doing lots of washing and unpacking holiday souvenirs. The village we stayed in had a nice little antiques shop in which I bought this oval platter (lemon for scale), Moroccan bread basket, and French linen tea towel and pottery "dairy bowl" in which I keep eggs. All inexpensive and already much used, especially that platter which I'm pleased with as I had been after a serving dish for a while. It's big enough for the Christmas turkey! 

We also bought what I thought was called a "spirit measurer" but is actually a "jigger" from the Adnams shop (Adnams are a brewing company based in Southwold). Holiday memories every time we pour a gin and tonic.

Still making the most of the holidays, we had a day out in London with my sisters, five out of six of the cousins and my parents. We started at the Imperial War Museum before walking over to Tower Bridge. 

London was very wet and humid that day, and we got caught in one exceptionally heavy downpour during which I kept thinking "I really hope it's raining at home too - the garden needs it."

Tower Bridge was fun. John and the kids and I had visited at Easter, but we went again as it's a fairy inexpensive visit, is interesting and give fantastic views of the surrounding area. Walking over the glass floor always tickles me. 

We narrowly avoided another drenching by popping into a coffee shop just in time, and got to watch the rain bounce off the pavement from the comfort of a chair with a cup of tea. 

It was a great day out though - I always find a trip to London energising and exhausting all at once.

Back home, I have been in the garden lots, composting things like the the dead herbs, and replacing planters and window boxes with ivy, cyclamen and brassicas with will hopefully take us well into autumn. 

We visited this local sunflower farm which was an absolute treat for the senses in every way and just what I needed after a morning spent painting Bella's bedroom and fighting off a cold. 

It's definitely a place to go to take photos - here and there throughout the fields are props like bicycles, benches, haybales - this hammock - which are lovely if you want to persuade your reluctant children into having their photos taken.

In addition to the sunflowers, there are large areas of wild flowers bordering paths through the fields. 

It was all very restorative, all that colour and beauty. It made me wish I could paint.

The fields are only open for as long as the flowers are in bloom (and I think they have now closed for the season) but it was so thoughtfully planned and nicely done, I will definitely go again. Plus you get to pick a bunch sunflowers for your £5 admission price. 

Since then we have been making the most of the last days of the holidays - seeing friends, spending time outdoors, enjoying days out and just generally trying to suck the marrow out of August.