On an August Evening

 

It's 9:00 pm and the lamps are on. Long summer evenings will soon be a thing of the past. This season seems to fly by. I don't want to think of the end of summer yet and am resolutely ignoring advertisements and social media posts that show autumn. Like Shakespeare, I think that "summer lease hath all too short a date." But I know that our summers are pleasant affairs without excessive heat and humidity, unlike other places in the world. Are you enjoying these summer days or wishing for autumn? 

We've been away for a couple of days, visiting my parents on the mainland. I had hoped to write a blog before we left, but that didn't happen. There have been outdoor meals with friends and family, morning walks, time in the garden, reading, and all the usual things that make up daily life. 

Our apricot tree was very generous this year. I made a big batch of Apricot Jam. It's my favourite - I can taste the sunshine and warmth when I eat it in the darker, colder days of winter. There were a few upside-down cakes and an apricot-blueberry platz - a dish from my Mennonite heritage. Here's a link to a plum version, the same dough, just different fruit. And of course, we ate a few sweet apricots out of hand, juice dripping down as we took a first bite.

We arrived home from the ferry around 1:00 pm this afternoon, quickly unpacked, and then I worked in the garden in spite of the heat. Later, I cut flowers for the house and had fun photographing them with different settings. I think the increased light exposure adds softness to the dahlias now on the mantel.

Several of my rosebushes are between blooms, but Lichfield Angel is a mass of creamy flowers. It's so luxurious to pick a big bouquet of them. I chose a moodier setting for them and think they look almost like an old painting. These are for the dining room table. 

Hydrangeas are the most generous shrubs, producing long-lasting blooms. The crystal vase was a wedding gift of many years ago, and I use it regularly. 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote, "Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning sun can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem, or saying a prayer." Filling vases with flowers or greenery is one of my favourite things to do, and I love catching glimpses of them as I pass through the various rooms of our home. Plants and flowers make a house come alive. 

On the window sill by the breakfast table a row of old glass food and drink containers hold just a few stems - feverfew, roses, rudbeckia, hydrangea - bits and pieces from around the garden. 

This weekend we'll be doing a couple of airport runs, picking up children and grandchildren from vacation trips. Friends of one daughter will be staying in our guest room since hers is already full. Fortunately, they live close by and there will be much going and coming. 

Darkness has fallen completely now. My pillow is calling me. Tomorrow will soon arrive, another beautiful August day.