Eggs and Bears

Half way through September and it feels like Summer is here to stay.  Fruit has ripened and wizened on it's branches as the sun beats down and scorches the earth.  Barely any rain has fallen for weeks on end but for some unknown reason, my garden is thriving.  Flowers are in abundance, sweetcorn is fattening and next years allium bulbs are pushing up through the parched ground.  The children leave for school dressed in long sleeved shirts and thick jumpers but return home with knitwear stuffed in bags and shirts hanging out.  The days are hot and the nights heavy.  It is blissful and I love every minute!

The fruitless search for a job continues to no avail.  I have put the whole thing to one side for the time being; it is way too depressing.  Anyway, just as I am getting used to not doing the school run at each end of the day, Pea will be starting her study leave next week, so I will be fetching her from school at lunchtime twice a week.  Proof positive that I am still needed to ferry my children around.

H2 is settling well in his new school and on the whole seems to be enjoying it.  He has been invited to join the after school drama group, also starting next week and on the same night as my line dancing class.  If I juggle things about a bit and eat my tea in very small bites, I can just about manage to do it all.  I really don't want H2 to miss out on something he may love but neither can I give up line dancing.  I absolutely love it and it is fair to say I am completely addicted to it.  I dance about at home, practising the new dances we have learnt.  The boys banish me to the kitchen saying I am way too embarrassing to do it in the lounge where I can be seen.  The kitchen is quite small, so I have to keep my steps tight in order to fit them in without crashing into the cupboards or kicking the washing machine.  Better than not doing it at all though and it really lifts my spirits, even if they are not really flagging in the first place.  Half an hour of dancing is seriously good exercise but it gives such a huge buzz.  That alone has a massive benefit to health.

 The children and I have been looking after our neighbour's hens this week and in payment we have been allowed to keep all the eggs.  Oh my! We must have had about 40 by now.  H1 makes pancakes almost every night, I have made my You-Know-What cake, baked a rather large egg custard tart and made a chocolate courgette loaf and still we have more than we know what to do with.  Fortunately they keep for a few weeks, so I'm sure a bit more baking will solve the problem.

All this lovely sunshine is keeping my garden blooming.  The sweet peas are going on and on, no matter how many bunches I pick for the house and to give away.  I love pottering about in the garden with a bucket and a pair of scissors, dead heading the cornflowers, calendula, cosmos and sweet peas.  They really appreciate it and reward our efforts with more blooms and buds for weeks on end.  It is such a relaxing task after the heavy jobs of the Spring.  The weeds are still growing, but I am not taking much notice of them now.  They are easy enough to pull out as the ground is so dry but I don't make it my life's work to have a weed free garden.  There are so many crickets and grass hoppers, I would be depriving them of a home if I pulled everything out.  Pea and I have bought a few daffodil and tulip bulbs to plant this weekend and I have a long list of things the boys can help with; much to their obvious disgust.  The drive needs weeding (that I do bother about) and there is a load of bind weed climbing it's way heavenward through the trees.  All manly stuff the boys can do without needing to have a thorough knowledge of all things botanical.

Despite the heat and the sun there is a very strange feeling in the air.  I met a bear the other day - well not a real bear, but a man who is quite big and has kind eyes.  He gives the impression that if he enveloped you in a bear hug, you would be quite happy to spend all eternity snuggled against his chest and never want to come up for air.  He was hopping about like a child saying he would have driven me mad by Christmas.  Why?  I wondered.  'Do you like Christmas then?'  I asked.  'Oh, I love it!' He replied.  Here then was a man after my own heart.  I began hopping too.  'Me too, me too!'  I exclaimed,  'You know what though, even though we're having summer weather...'  He jumped in and finished my sentence,  'You can feel Christmas in the air.  I know!'  Wow, a real live grown up human being who is as daft as I am about sentimental stuff.  Wonder if he likes snow....I must ask him.

Have a lovely day, what ever you do and thank you for reading.xxx