Wednesday 3 August 2016

August is ...

 


 August is like the Sunday of summer.  Month of my birth . . .  summer's golden hours  . . .

  

The season of berries  . . .  blueberries, raspberries, early blackberries, tayberries . . .    As a child, I spent many a back breaking hour in the blueberry bush picking berries for the family.  We would fill ice cream buckets with them and my mother would freeze them for the winter months, but not before she had treated us to a delicious blueberry pie first.

Still when I go home, I treat myself to a wild blueberry pie . . .



Ripening fields of corn  . . .  freshly picked and steamed corn on the cob slathered in butter and salt, eaten until you can't eat anymore, chins dripping with melted butter and a sweet smile on your face from having just eaten summer.  We used to buy it by the bagful from trucks at the edges of the cornfields, baker's dozens upon dozens.  That was supper . . .  just ear after ear of delicious sweet corn . . .

I miss sweet corn like that, but am grateful that I experienced it.

 

The last of the wildflowers before they go to seed . . .  fields and meadows filled with daisies, red poppies, batchelor buttons, buttercups  . . . soon they will be dry husks of what they once were, but filled with promise of next year . . .



Trips to the seaside . . .  sandcastles, wading in the cool water, icecreams with flakes, Punch and Judy, fish and chips, walks along the pier . . . the smell of salt water and sea kelp . . .  seagulls squawking . . . candy rock and cotton floss . . . winkles and welks . . . collecting shells . . . skimming stones . . . magical sunsets . . .

 

Summer Fetes with strawberries and cream, cups of tea and glasses of lemonade . . . book stalls, coconut shies, dunking tanks and games of chance . . .musical rides . . . the risk of showers . . . an air of gaiety . . . bunting . . . Morris Dancers . . . races and competitions . . . who has the biggest tomatoes, prettiest flowers, sweetest jams, etc. . . .

 

Country rambles along dirt roads, canals, through fields and across dale . . . fields of sheep . . .  heather on the hillsides . . . impromptu picnics . . . babbling streams and brooks

I remember Todd and I discovering a small picnic area outside of Llangollen many moons ago and we sat at a picnic bench under a green canopy of leaves and enjoyed our sandwiches whilst we listened to the toots of the steam train echoing across the Welsh valleys . . . so quaint, and then afterwards a short ramble down to a very old church, and a poke through the stone garden of old gravestones . . .

An afternoon well spent and a beautiful memory to take with us through the years . . .

 

Enjoying the delights of fresh summer tomatoes, and cucumbers, beans, peas, courgettes, peppers . . .  there is so much available in August.  Fresh.  Local.  Delicious.

When I was a girl we could eat our fill of tomatoes and cucumbers, there was always too many and my mother didn't mind.   Supper was often a huge plate of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers served with thick slices of bread and butter, and it was delicious.

 Early potatoes  . . .  the smell of freshly mown hay . . .  cut grass . . . and barbeque . . .

Its just a delightful month, and our last chance to have our fill of summer before the year starts to turn towards winter.  We must enjoy it while we can.   The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer  . . .

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .


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“And so with the sunshine 
and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, 
just as things grow in fast movies, 
I had that familiar conviction that life 
was beginning over again with the summer.” 
~F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Great Gatsby
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Spiritual Enlightenment

 photo SAM_5051_zpsf228b081.jpg

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Glazed Cherry Danish Turnovers.


I hope you have a brilliant day!  Don't forget along the way that . . .

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ ⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
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And I do too!!


9 comments:

  1. Marie you have painted such a lovely picture of England and her summers. Thank you.

    My Will has popped in today. He drove me to have fish and chips for lunch and then he helped prep dinner. He did all the tougher jobs with such ease.

    God bless your day and I hope there is a little sunshine to warm your heart and soul.

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  2. Sounds a lovely day for you Suzan! Fish and chips, Will and help with dinner! You can't go far wrong from that! xoxo

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  3. A lovely sunshiny post Marie, I love the summertime. In a bit of a panic today, I've accepted an offer for my house but they want to move in 28 days!!!! Got to find somewhere to go pretty sharpish! I'm feeling excited, sad and terrified all at once! Xxx

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  4. Yikes Katie! That is really quick! You have a lot on your plate for the next month! Keeping you in my prayers and hoping all goes well with it all! xoxo

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  5. You have a stellar day:)
    I love August too,but it's bittersweet ..

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  6. It is a bit bittersweet Monique for sure! Xoxo

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  7. I'm longing for these balmy August days Marie !...do hope they arrive. Not been much of a summer so far, it would just be nice to be able to look forward to a few weeks of warm sunshine,,...This has been a tough day for me as a dear friend confirmed what I suspected....she is terminally ill with bone cancer that is spreading quite rapidly, she has great faith which is a blessing..but it is very very sad and I have a heavy heart......."......we need the sunshine. Xxxx

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  8. Wow, I loved following you along on all the fun of August pasts. Many of the things I enjoyed too. Those that I didn't get to do I will live through your words. You always manage to bring some memories and I just love you for that.
    I look forward to our area cooling down a bit so we can enjoy being outdoors more. This year we have our patio fixed better than it has been and I want to have some meals out there and perhaps some friends over a few times. We are wishing for a lovely fall.
    Sending love and hugs and wished for blessings for you two, too!

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  9. Sybil, I am so very sorry to read about your friend. (((((hugs))))) I will be keeping her in my prayers and you too. Such devastating news. We could use more sunshine for sure. It's been very blah that way, but not a lot of rain. Love, hugs and blessings to you! xoxo

    Thanks LeAnn! A new porch can't be bad, but I am with you, if it's too hot I can't be dealing with it. Thankfully it only ever very rarely gets that hot here! Autumn is my favourite time of year. Love and hugs. xoxo

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