Week 31

Apple and blackberry crumble; autumn hawkbit; the last swoops of the swifts

Hello! I hope you have had a good week - soggy and sunny by turns here, yet again.

Before we begin, last week I promised to get better at posting links to my podcast with Ffern, and sure enough the August edition came out this week. In this episode we wander country lanes at night - coming across glow worms, observing the Milky Way, and hearing the haunting love song 'Gwen Lliw'r Lili', or 'Gwen the Colour of the Lily'. We visit the rivers of the Peak District, explore the uses of meadowsweet and climb the cliffs of St Kilda.

And if you would like to vote for us in the British Podcast Awards Listeners’ Choice award you can do so here, thank you:

To business. This is my weekly post about the seasonal changes in the week just past. What has been particularly seasonal about this week? What have we noticed, eaten, smelt and done? I begin with a round up of your last week’s comments, which are particularly word-picturey this week. Also you had a theme: butterflies! Even more of you mentioned them than I have included here, so it really was a big butterfly week, and how great is that?

Here’s your Week 30:

The long golden grasses; a meal of homegrown potatoes, peas and broad beans; the solar lights switching on earlier; intense Tennessee heat, eating the best watermelon, playing in the creek and loud cicadas; the sun coming onto the porch and into the western facing rooms at a new angle; Buddleia in gaudy purples full of the flicking wings of butterflies; crocosomia against the emerald greens; chasing chickens and fireflies and swimming in mountain lakes; butterflies on buddleias; fingers stained with blackberry juice; tomatoes starting to turn a bit red; a fiesta of butterflies and a hummingbird hawk moth; tithonia and rudbeckia marking the transition to the orange time in the garden; the big, bright autumn-y ness of dahlias; tangy, tasty courgette relish taking over the shelves; magical sunny and soggy times at Latitude Festival; a walk along a forest path beneath the mountains, lined with heather and bilberries; the scent of mushrooms; a country fair vibe at the market with shiny green squash, leafy greens and herbs, vibrant dahlias, and the first tomatoes; making raspberry jam; lively foxes chasing one another around the garden, just before dusk.

Beautiful!

Here’s my Week 31:

Apple and blackberry crumble

I declare crumble season OPEN! And on Lammas Day too. And also with the best crumble in the world. Look at that colour. There is no better crumble filling, to my mind. I know that I love it, but I forget how much until this time rolls around again. The scent of the apples and the blackberries together is absolutely one of the major scents of my childhood, and it has wafted up to my nose not once but twice this week.

This colour too makes me so happy, and I like to stew the apples and blackberries with sugar and lemon juice a little to really get the juices flowing and the apples stained pre baking. By the time this one was cooked, the apple slices were wine red and almost slippy, so soft and tender. A triumph of a first crumble though I say it myself.

Autumn hawkbit

There are great constellations of these all over the common and at first I thought we had had a new flush of dandelions, but on looking closer (and looking them up) I find that they are a herald of the coming season, autumn hawkbit, which blooms from July to October. Pretty, but apologies for saying the ‘A’ word, though from your comments many of you seem much more at peace with the coming season than me. It is very helpful. Speaking of which…

The last swoops of the swifts

In all of the rain of a few days ago I got quite glum, convinced that the swifts had gone. Then the sun came out and there they were, and I even, finally, got an actual photograph of them (this is one frame in the middle of about 39 frames of swiftless sky). But it’s a short-lived reprieve. I think these were some of the last swoops and already the sky is much quieter than it has been all summer. They are gone or going. A bit of magic has gone with them.

[EDIT: it is now late Thursday evening and a vast group of them is swooping around outside my window. I just counted 18! EIGHTEEN!!! But their behaviour is different - they normally go around in smaller groups but now they seem to be all ganging up together for big group swoops. Could this be getting ready for the off? Rallying the troops? I would love to know if anyone has any thoughts. I am soaking up the screeches, anyway, window open].

On that slightly melancholy note that’s it from me. Please tell me the things that you have noticed that have felt particularly THIS WEEK about this week, cheery or otherwise. I’d love to hear about your gluts, your Lammas festivities, your holiday swims and anything else you have done, eaten or spotted. And don’t forget that Sunday is the first Sunday of the month so we will all be showing off our ‘usual spots’ over in the chat - though I would also really love to see your blackberry cakes and so on too.

Have a lovely week!