September

September has been hot and humid. We've had cloud and rain as well as sunshine, but the main thing to note is that it has been very warm. We are still wearing summer clothes. This weekend is supposed to be 22 degrees, which is a lot for October.

Of course we were all thrilled that the heatwave coincided with the new term, after a cold and wet summer holiday. Just ecstatic. A classroom with a temperature of 29 degrees filled with hot children, what's not to love?

So we went to the beach. There's nowhere else to be when it's this warm. We went late afternoon as it turned into evening, The water was warm and clear. I had a glass of rose and my first (and last) sea swim of the year. We contemplated fish and chips but then, seeing the queue, drove home and ordered take away.

As the traffic slowly trundled over the bridge on the way home, I snapped a couple of blurry pictures of the sunset.

It's been a month where we've been outdoors a lot, but I'm trying to bring a bit of autumn into the house. 

It briefly cooled down enough for me to get excited and get out my blanket, but then it got too warm again, so it's back under the bed.

I always enjoy the way the light moves around the house in different ways at this time of year. 

Lower and sharper, briefly illuminating corners before dipping behind the houses opposite us.

We've had a couple of big thunderstorms, really loud ones, and days where it's suddenly gotten very, very dark in the middle of the day, so dark you need to switch the lights on, before the torrential rain comes. 

I've been trying to will it to be autumn through my cooking. We've had apple pie, apple crumble, spiced banana bread, and beef stew with dumplings.

None of this has brought autumn, but it has all been delicious.

The garden is starting to look a bit scrappy but the sedum is doing it's thing, turning from green to pale pink to deepest rusty-raspberry with each week that goes by.

Our walk have been local and functional. Long enough to stretch the legs but not too long, partly for the heat and partly because there is no time.

But there are whispers of autumn here and there.

I have finally finished by Iceland holiday embroidery and need to take it to the framers.

It seems strange to be finishing this almost eight months after we went but I could not have sewn it any faster.

Life has been busy. The week days are full of work, school and college. Weekends have been functional, involving things like housework, chores, food shopping, DIY, jobs like tidying the garage and going to the tip. The garden still needs a fair bit of attention as, thanks to all the sun and rain, everything is still growing. I need to buy bulbs. A lot of my previous ones came up blind this spring so I need to invest in some new ones. I like planting bulbs. Such a simple task, but whenever they come up I always wish I had planted more. 

It is three weeks until half term and we cannot wait. The start of any new school year is always intense, so much to do, to plan, to remember. I hope the weather finally cools down enough for me to start wearing jumpers and boots and crocheting socks. I haven't even got my crochet pumpkins out yet, it just feels wrong when it's so warm.

August Postcards

I don't feel that these photos represent the truly awful weather we had in August, the days of unrelenting cloud and humidity, the times it rained all day. So it is nice to look back at the last weeks of the school holidays and see that yes, there was sunshine, and blue skies, and we did so many lovely things!

There have been many walks in the ever-changing countryside. I always think the transition of the seasons is more noticeable in late summer than at any other time. You can feel autumn slowly creeping up on us in the cobwebs and evening chill. Our walks have been accompanied by the hum of tractors harvesting the crops and the sight of rows of sunflowers. 

We have enjoyed some days out with family. Mottisfont is a favourite of ours and we have been coming with the whole family for years. 

Picnics, nature, history, ice cream, walled gardens - all good, and something for everyone.

We went to London for the day and got the boat up to Greenwich. It was a bit of a flying visit as, between trains to and from London and boat timings, we only had a few hours in Greenwich, but long enough to buy some delicious lunch in the market and explore the Maritime Museum.

There has been lots of meeting up with friends which has been so nice. We've had people to stay, or for lunch, or for coffee. Trying to cram all my socialising in before I go back to work tomorrow and there just isn't time or energy much social life.

The garden is looking unusually green for the time of year, the one good thing about a wet summer. 

I've spent very little time working on it this year, it's had to look after itself. Over the holidays I had a really big weed and tidy up, pulled up some dead plants, but I don't anticipate doing much more until I plant bulbs in October/November.

This patch of cosmos and Japanese anemones has been a delight. 

I have picked so many bunches of them, and the Montbretia above, and put them in a little jar I bought in Paris.

We've been busy decorating this holiday, with lots of help from my parents. We painted the spare room (which has in the past been Angus's bedroom, then Bella's before that) and gave it a good tidy up and reorganisation.

The black out blind had a water mark on the bottom so, rather than buy a new one, I drew a scallop shape along the edge and filled it in with emulsion paint leftover from the bathroom.

It came out pretty well. We also got rid of the very old, cheap, wobbly IKEA children's wardrobe as it did not give very useful storage, and replaced it with an IKEA Kallax unit, which is much more helpful.

It's a bit of a squash when the double sofa bed is extended, but it is enough space for a spare room. 

I have mostly been crocheting this throw over the summer, and am making very slow but steady progress. More and more with my crochet and sewing, I am realising that there is no rush. It takes as long as it takes. If I get bored, I put it to one side and pick something else up, then maybe come back to it in a few months. It's about the process. 

Which is my justification for why my patchwork quilt has taken five years (on and off) so far, with no sign of being finished.

It is getting really hard to photograph now.

And now we move on to postcards from the kitchen.

The blackberries were really good this year, shiny and juicy (again, the rain). I have picked a few, enough for a couple of crumbles, but not enough for jelly. But that's ok, the world will not stop spinning if I do not make bramble jelly.

My sourdough has been a rollercoaster.

I made one a few weeks ago which rose more than any other sourdough I have made, honestly it was a triumph. As round as a ball!

My last two have been awful, flat and sad looking. I don't think I fed my starter enough before baking, it was more sleepy than lively.

I made pesto.

Basil pesto. Gloriously green.

It was nice on pasta - of course - but best on top of this summer chicken traybake.

They day after we got back from France, it rained all day and I felt unwell. I was sad that it was raining, that we were not in Paris, and that we had never gotten around to eating a croque monsieur sandwich in Paris. So I made some.

I ate a lot of cherry compote in August. On granola, on porridge, on pancakes, on yogurt. 

My sister gave me some courgettes from her garden so I made fritters.

We had pulled pork with rolls, coleslaw, salad and corn on the cob,

Today I made a chocolate banana bread, ready for lunchboxes and after school snacks. I have my salad ready to go for lunch tomorrow. Bella starts college on Wednesday. We have sorted enrollment and a bus pass so that she can make her way to college every day (she is doing A Levels in English Lit, History and Law - I'm so excited for her!). Angus starts Year 10 on Tuesday, and I meet my new Year 6 class tomorrow. I can't promise that I will eat breakfast, but I will take a banana to eat at morning breaktime. I've had my nails done. I can't wear my shiny new loafers because it's going to be very warm this week, so I will be in my sandals a little longer. Autumn is not quite here yet, even if summer is over.