Summer days August 2019

The slow summer days I’d dreamed of have slipped through my fingers all too quickly as exam results, plans and preparations for next year have jolted us back into reality.

I remember a song in “Mama Mia” when Meryl Streep sits with her daughter as the latter approaches her wedding and recalls, through song of course, all those childhood days and sweet memories. They’ve slipped through her fingers, and my sentiments are similar, with a family growing so well, and yet so quickly!

So here are some of the memories I treasure, from the snatched days when we did manage, just for a little while, to gently close the door on the demands of the outside world.

During our first week back from Guernsey, the girls attended a Bible week in our town; a traditional white tent, like a beach mission, games, crafts and stories and all the hope of the gospel message. They had a wonderful time and it also gave me a couple of hours each day to myself. I spent a good chunk of this walking and praying which did my soul (and no doubt my body) good.

Despite now having equal numbers of weeds and produce, we’ve enjoyed the fresh salad and veg from our garden, and I’ve been able to sneak in one of my best soul restoring activities, listening to a podcast while I pull up the weeds.

We planted some fruit trees in our field about ten years ago, and this year they are producing bounteously. I do a lot of the picking, but it’s fun when everyone joins in.

Our bees have done better than they have for a while, and we even got some honey.

I spent a fun afternoon with my Bee Keeping Buddy removing the caps from the frames,

spinning them,

and finally watching the golden harvest of our bees’ hard work glug into a jug.

It’s been lovely being able to give so much fruit away, but I’ve also been able to make a couple of batches of jam; I am still waiting for some time to make chutney, something I associate with autumn.

Our pigs are not cute anymore….big and in need of lots of water.

Had to put a hen picture in! I do enjoy them clucking away in the back garden, but at night they climb up the apple tree and are very difficult to catch and deposit safely in the hen house. After several attempts to reach one, she flapped out of my hands and landed awkwardly on the ground. She was obviously hurt and I felt dreadful. Fortunately with prayer and time and tlc she seems to be making a slow recovery.

The boys and some of their mates did a Coast to Coast backpack across Cornwall. They looked keen and clean shaven before they set off!

We had a girls’ week end while they were away, with fruit slushies

and cake made by Dancing Toes

and Poetry Tea another day.

The girls and I have been studying “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”

and we all had the privilege of a magical evening watching it performed by “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men” in the dreamy grounds of the Bishop’s Palace in Wells.

We’ve also enjoyed some lovely visitors and had time to eat an ice cream and watch a game of bowls (well, a few minutes of one, before Sparkly Eyes was off again).

I am very aware that these seasons are precious and I don’t take lightly the times when everyone seems to be ok and we are all under one roof. Life is messy, hard work and often doesn’t go to plan, but, as my final photo shows, I continue to pray that we will be able to find fruit and colour in amongst the tangles of weeds.