Happy holidays! I spent every summer from babe-in-arms to early twenties visiting the Padstow/Newquay area, so that picture sings August to me. Hope you're having a fab time. My seasonal observations for the week: I spent yesterday evening clambering through nettles to pick blackberries, admiring sloes and elderberries and haws and rosehips along the way, and now they're happily steeping in gin. Lots of brambles in my future. We also cracked open the sloe vodka we made last November.
The slow vodka was delicious! We had it over ice. Sort of forgot it was vodka because it was so plummy, so drank a bit more than advisable... We've only tried eating nettles once, as greens. Should try the tea!
Ah yes, it is easy to forget that it is alcoholic, isn't it? I used to be like that with Elderberry wine :-) I hope you try the tea, it makes for such a nourishing tonic.
Have a brilliant- and restful - time away Lia. Love that part of Cornwall! No need to apologise for the lack of weekly round up - we’d all much rather you had a break. As you can see everyone keeping the faith and carrying on sharing these wonderful seasonal moments of joy ! You’ve trained us well!
My moments this week have been - being captivated by the Blue harvest moon shining benevolently over us nightly most of the week. Picking all the plums off our Victoria tree ( planted by my Mum, so I always think of her as I pick) and turning them into Mulled Wine Plum Jam to give away to friends at Christmas - it’s a yearly joy and pleasure! And everyone loves it!
Finally making the most of this golden, late summer vibe as the harvest is gathered in, schools go back, and the garden produce goes into a final flurry of plenty! I’m a retired teacher, the child of 2 teachers ( in fact all my family were teachers) so this is the New Year for me! It’s wonderful to be able to relax and enjoy September!
I had a little moment of creative pleasure last night during my “ golden hour” stroll round the garden...I decided to give the bird bath a good clean and scrub, and when I re-filled it to the brim I floated some gorgeous golden rudbeckia flowers in it decorated with leaves and small purple petals. It was a lovely moment.
This week I climbed up on our rooftop terrace every week to sit and watch the moon at around sundown. Every night it got dark a teeny bit earlier. Every night the moon's placement in the sky around that time grew steadily more eastward. The rise of the full moon on 30 August was a highlight! And then last night hadn't risen yet at the time I was there.
Like others, this week has been bringing in the glut of tomatoes, courgettes (or are they marrows?) and picking blackberries. I cannot resist saying ‘yes please!’ To the kind offers of more produce, plums, pears and even more courgettes from kind friends and neighbours. I can recommend the courgette chutney recipe from River Cottage to spice the kitchen up and goes so well with cheese! Have a great week everyone and happy holidays Lia 🙏🏻
A friend - with an envy-inducing greenhouse - gave me 2kg of plump tomatoes. Which is more than enough, but also not quite for all the things I wanted to do with them. So I kept it simple and made a passata with the rest of a bulb of smoked garlic and a good handful of marjoram. End of August summed up in a sauce!
Sorry, I should have said good luck to all the teaching assistants and everyone else who works in a school and so often gets overlooked. Can’t believe I did that 🙄
Enjoy the rest of your holiday, Lia! Here in Sheffield, there’s a robin singing in the misty drizzle and the weather forecast says we’ll have 24 degrees and sunshine next week. Definitely back to school time! I’ve retired from teaching, but this is still the real new year resolution time of year. Good luck to all students and teachers as they start the new school year!
What always amuses us is that September often heralds the start of some warm settled weather- just as the schools go back. Now that it’s just us two at home, we usually book a holiday in France or SW England (Dorset this year), to enjoy this wonderful season of very yellow sunlight and harvest.
A hurricane inconveniently swept through central NC on the night of the super blue moon, but after it passed we were rewarded with much cooler weather (the windows are open!) and a just as beautiful super not-quite-full moon the next night. It’s gorgeous outside right now. Autumnal, even.
We have had overcast or rainy skies for every one of the full moons this summer, I haven't managed to catch sight of any! SO inconvenient! But at least seen some pretty special crescents now and then on a warm summer night x
Glad you still put the post up - today does feel quite “back to school for me” - even though I don’t go back to university until October (!). I do love September though. Some of the seasonal things I’ve seen this week are: fireweed going to seed in great fluffy plumes, with just a few bright pink flowers crowding at the top. Second, beautiful bright bouquets of dahlias and zinnias being sold in Clifton shops - fiery oranges and pinks lighting up the doorway entrance. And lastly, coming in yesterday after the rain (the rain feeling like autumny rain) with leaf litter sticking to my shoes (!) to rush into the kitchen with my basket of foraged apples and make delightfully pink apple cordial. Looking forward to hearing more from you next week Lia x
I feel a little melancholic at this time of year...
Here we are wrestling with A Level choices - to be decided for the return to school next week, I've had my last early morning swim in the local lido (it was raining and a little bit too cold even for me!), and I'm making registers for my yoga classes which start again next week too!
Hi Frankie, yes I do too. I find the seasonal transitions hard for a week or two. Doesn't help that I had a great summer which is even harder to let go of! Now I'm setting into the slowness and back into Substack instead of Instagram. I'm enjoying the wistfulness. I love wild swimming too and also teach yoga!
Blackberries now dropping, melting, luscious; my garden has turned into a jungle with all this rain; and at last my enormous sunflower looks about to flower
The chillies have finally turned red so I have made chilli jam this week ready for (dare I say it) Christmas. We also had a lovely day out to the marshes on the Ribble estuary, and spotted lots of different wading birds, plus a magnificent marsh harrier. And then it was back to work after my summer holiday (boo!).
My good things? Finally got the clear on covid test today. Sloes and blackberries, a gift from a friend. Finished a cardigan that’s been on the needles a long while because I kept getting sidetrack3d.
Happy holidays! I spent every summer from babe-in-arms to early twenties visiting the Padstow/Newquay area, so that picture sings August to me. Hope you're having a fab time. My seasonal observations for the week: I spent yesterday evening clambering through nettles to pick blackberries, admiring sloes and elderberries and haws and rosehips along the way, and now they're happily steeping in gin. Lots of brambles in my future. We also cracked open the sloe vodka we made last November.
Ooh how was your home made sloe vodka? Do you use the nettles? They make for a nourishing tea with oh so many benefits ☘️
The slow vodka was delicious! We had it over ice. Sort of forgot it was vodka because it was so plummy, so drank a bit more than advisable... We've only tried eating nettles once, as greens. Should try the tea!
Ah yes, it is easy to forget that it is alcoholic, isn't it? I used to be like that with Elderberry wine :-) I hope you try the tea, it makes for such a nourishing tonic.
Have a brilliant- and restful - time away Lia. Love that part of Cornwall! No need to apologise for the lack of weekly round up - we’d all much rather you had a break. As you can see everyone keeping the faith and carrying on sharing these wonderful seasonal moments of joy ! You’ve trained us well!
My moments this week have been - being captivated by the Blue harvest moon shining benevolently over us nightly most of the week. Picking all the plums off our Victoria tree ( planted by my Mum, so I always think of her as I pick) and turning them into Mulled Wine Plum Jam to give away to friends at Christmas - it’s a yearly joy and pleasure! And everyone loves it!
Finally making the most of this golden, late summer vibe as the harvest is gathered in, schools go back, and the garden produce goes into a final flurry of plenty! I’m a retired teacher, the child of 2 teachers ( in fact all my family were teachers) so this is the New Year for me! It’s wonderful to be able to relax and enjoy September!
I had a little moment of creative pleasure last night during my “ golden hour” stroll round the garden...I decided to give the bird bath a good clean and scrub, and when I re-filled it to the brim I floated some gorgeous golden rudbeckia flowers in it decorated with leaves and small purple petals. It was a lovely moment.
I’ll post a picture when we get to that point tomorrow
That sun down moment sounds just epic 👏☺️
This week I climbed up on our rooftop terrace every week to sit and watch the moon at around sundown. Every night it got dark a teeny bit earlier. Every night the moon's placement in the sky around that time grew steadily more eastward. The rise of the full moon on 30 August was a highlight! And then last night hadn't risen yet at the time I was there.
Like others, this week has been bringing in the glut of tomatoes, courgettes (or are they marrows?) and picking blackberries. I cannot resist saying ‘yes please!’ To the kind offers of more produce, plums, pears and even more courgettes from kind friends and neighbours. I can recommend the courgette chutney recipe from River Cottage to spice the kitchen up and goes so well with cheese! Have a great week everyone and happy holidays Lia 🙏🏻
A friend - with an envy-inducing greenhouse - gave me 2kg of plump tomatoes. Which is more than enough, but also not quite for all the things I wanted to do with them. So I kept it simple and made a passata with the rest of a bulb of smoked garlic and a good handful of marjoram. End of August summed up in a sauce!
Sounds delicious!
Sounds perfect Lucy!
Sorry, I should have said good luck to all the teaching assistants and everyone else who works in a school and so often gets overlooked. Can’t believe I did that 🙄
Enjoy the rest of your holiday, Lia! Here in Sheffield, there’s a robin singing in the misty drizzle and the weather forecast says we’ll have 24 degrees and sunshine next week. Definitely back to school time! I’ve retired from teaching, but this is still the real new year resolution time of year. Good luck to all students and teachers as they start the new school year!
I love robins!
The Fallow Deer are gathering in Sussex woodlands, and Haws have ripened resembling clusters of rubies
What always amuses us is that September often heralds the start of some warm settled weather- just as the schools go back. Now that it’s just us two at home, we usually book a holiday in France or SW England (Dorset this year), to enjoy this wonderful season of very yellow sunlight and harvest.
A hurricane inconveniently swept through central NC on the night of the super blue moon, but after it passed we were rewarded with much cooler weather (the windows are open!) and a just as beautiful super not-quite-full moon the next night. It’s gorgeous outside right now. Autumnal, even.
We have had overcast or rainy skies for every one of the full moons this summer, I haven't managed to catch sight of any! SO inconvenient! But at least seen some pretty special crescents now and then on a warm summer night x
Wasn't she a beautiful blue supermoon!
Glad you still put the post up - today does feel quite “back to school for me” - even though I don’t go back to university until October (!). I do love September though. Some of the seasonal things I’ve seen this week are: fireweed going to seed in great fluffy plumes, with just a few bright pink flowers crowding at the top. Second, beautiful bright bouquets of dahlias and zinnias being sold in Clifton shops - fiery oranges and pinks lighting up the doorway entrance. And lastly, coming in yesterday after the rain (the rain feeling like autumny rain) with leaf litter sticking to my shoes (!) to rush into the kitchen with my basket of foraged apples and make delightfully pink apple cordial. Looking forward to hearing more from you next week Lia x
I feel a little melancholic at this time of year...
Here we are wrestling with A Level choices - to be decided for the return to school next week, I've had my last early morning swim in the local lido (it was raining and a little bit too cold even for me!), and I'm making registers for my yoga classes which start again next week too!
Hi Frankie, yes I do too. I find the seasonal transitions hard for a week or two. Doesn't help that I had a great summer which is even harder to let go of! Now I'm setting into the slowness and back into Substack instead of Instagram. I'm enjoying the wistfulness. I love wild swimming too and also teach yoga!
Blackberries now dropping, melting, luscious; my garden has turned into a jungle with all this rain; and at last my enormous sunflower looks about to flower
I love a jungle garden. 💚
The chillies have finally turned red so I have made chilli jam this week ready for (dare I say it) Christmas. We also had a lovely day out to the marshes on the Ribble estuary, and spotted lots of different wading birds, plus a magnificent marsh harrier. And then it was back to work after my summer holiday (boo!).
Happy holidays, absolutely gorgeous pic. This week my Japanese anemones are beautiful, waving white outside my window.
Loooove Japanese anemones esp. white ones!
Enjoy your holiday
My good things? Finally got the clear on covid test today. Sloes and blackberries, a gift from a friend. Finished a cardigan that’s been on the needles a long while because I kept getting sidetrack3d.
Glad you’re clear of covid and hope you’re feeling completely better.
Hurrah for the clear Covid test!