Monday
The first day of the new working week layout - volunteers and I worked in a sweltering warm kitchen garden where one of the many daily tasks was to start harvesting the heavenly scented strawberries. Their perfume intensified by the warm air was intoxicating and we kept lifting up a choice morsel and saying ... this one is absolutely perfect.... No this one is even better! .... look at the size of this one! ...
TuesdayToday was set aside for private gardens which are a complete contrast to the hot and bustling kitchen garden, these are cooler, greener, and despite the amount of work completed, seem both more calmer and relaxing. Being surrounded by flowers, hedges and meadows is good for the soul!
WednesdayAnother day in the kitchen garden, a constant stream of people popping in to walk around the raised vegetable beds, asking garden advice or just wanting to chat. Thank goodness for the volunteers as they continue working while I feel to be standing and talking and itching to get on with my almost never ending list of 'Do it RIGHT now' tasks that summer seems to trigger.
ThursdayA different day - teaching. This time instructing 12 lovely ladies how to make a
midsommerkrans or mid summer crown or wreath. Buckets of fresh flowers collected, foliage, grasses, green flower pods are coaxed into swirling 'nests' to celebrate the richness and bountiful moments of mid summer.
FridayBack into the kitchen garden - the day is the warmest of the year so we retreat after lunch into the cool and lushness of the young orchard. I have to firmly encourage the volunteers to enjoy the slowness of weeding around the mini meadows beneath each tree and relish the cool breeze. I start summer pruning the young trees and celebrate the surrounding greenness in stark contrast to the formal construction of the kitchen garden. I also discover my favourite 'tree' - a 'tea-tree' !
Saturday
Himself and I wake up over looking Sunderland Point having set off the night before in the van. After a blissful and much needed good night's sleep we collect Youngest's goods and chattels from his uni digs because this particular lanky loon has finished university and bar the final 'extrav' and graduation day is now a free man (until the next step) - where has time gone? We load up the van while Moss sits in the front and 'guards'.
Sunday
Father's day, the boys send Himself some wonderfully disrespectful cards which amuse us both greatly, then we spend the morning pottering in the garden, baking and tinkering with the van before my folks come for afternoon tea and still slightly warm oaty biscuits.
Seven days, seven photos, many stories briefly mentioned and many which have not. My feet seem not to have touched ground for some weeks now however, with the new hours at work, I am hoping that things will be easier - not because I am doing less or doing more - but doing them at a better pace for me.
Happy summer solstice - this may be the half point of the calendar year but it is the beginning of the astrological summer with all the lushness and warmth and sunshine (being positive here seeing I do live in the north of the uk!!!) that summer can bring!
And, I shall leave you with the toast we shared at the midsommerkrans workshop ....
May the flowers in your hair stay fresh and your dance around the maypole be strong....
skål !
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Love your new heading photo, the heart shaped strawberries (yummy), the big bunch of rhubarb, your quirky tea tree (not like our native ones) and your own garden is looking gorgeous. Your boys have definitely grown up, if ones already leaving uni. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you - that photo in the heading was from our week away, we were camping about20 metres away from that point. Both boys have left uni now - they have blossomed into amazing young men :)
DeleteSolstice blessings, Kate. Those wreaths are lovely. I think that would have been a very enjoyable workshop. X
ReplyDeleteSolstice blessings to you and Lily :) it was a lovely workshop and certainly a very fragrant one :) xx
DeleteLove the tea tree! Just looked up where Sunderland Point is. Could be a place for us to visit. My greenhouse strawberries are coming to an end but I've a few escapee plants in the garden and one has an almost-ripe berry! I might get to it before the birds do! Have fun. x
ReplyDeleteI think you would really like Sunderland Point, check the tide times and go when you can park in the village - there are some rather gentle but pretty walks, one is towards the very point of the point (!!) where my favourite house sits nestled in a garden and the other path which takes you to the less pretty side of the peninsular but has such character and several interesting houses, Sambo's Grave and a stone viewing optical building.
ReplyDeleteI still need to get to Sunderland Point. I feel like it gets mentioned in every blog I follow, to me it seems like a mythical place. I like your tea tree and nice to see Moss doing a good security job. X
ReplyDeleteYou would have a lovely day out :) Plenty to keep a Hugo happy!
DeleteI'm Midsummer dancing round the maypole whilst typing Kate! Lovely pictures. Coorrrr, look at the size of those strawberries! Super idea to make crowns / wreaths. Good ol' Moss guarding the van. Must be funny having one lad through Uni xXx
ReplyDeleteDance away dear Lulu - make sure your hair is full of flowers! Both my boys have gone through uni - where has time gone!?!
DeleteBusy, but a beautiful seven days . . .
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you they were xx😊
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