Friday Favourites: August Ends with Sunshine

 

I don't need the calendar to tell me that the end of August approaches. The patch of bright Rudbeckia under the birch tree is a sure sign that autumn is just around the corner. While I love that beautiful season, there is a corner of my heart that wants to hang onto summer. The bees are so busy among the flowers these sunny days. I wonder if there is a hive nearby for they have been so plentiful recently. 

We wait all year long for deliciously sweet Okanagan peaches. Last year we had none because of unexpectedly cold weather in January, but this year there is a bumper crop. How sweet and juicy they are. I wanted to use peaches for a cold beverage to serve to guests. After searching online, I put together this most refreshing drink. 

Peachy Mint Lemonade

1 cup water

1 cup sugar or honey

1 cup fresh mint leaves

4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks

1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 - 3 cups water or club soda

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add the mint leaves and let cool completely. 

Place the peaches in a blender and process until smooth. Press through a sieve, getting as much peach pulp through the sieve as possible. 

In a large pitcher, combine the mint syrup, peaches, and lemon juice. Add water or club soda. Taste to adjust the lemon juice and water to your liking. Chill well and serve over ice, if desired. 

Makes about 6 generous tumblerfuls. 

Best enjoyed outdoors on a summer evening.

Cosmos are blooming like crazy just now. Mostly this medium pink, but a few dark ones and I spied some white ones just opening. I love to watch the flowers dance on their delicate stems when a breeze passes through the garden. They remind me of ballet dancers swaying to the music. 

The garden is producing abundant green beans. I cut, blanch, and freeze most of them to use in soups throughout the winter. My zucchini is not producing as well as it has in the past. Some years are like that. The other day I made Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Avocado Sandwiches (shall I call them BLTAs?). There is absolutely nothing to compare with the sweet taste of a garden ripened tomato blessed by the sun. 

Sunflowers were planted late and I wondered if I would get any flowers at all. I'm watching the flowers forming now and think that in a few weeks they will open. Warm temperatures last through September here, so I'm confident I'll see some of those cheerful faces. I've noticed that it's not just the flower that turns toward the sun, but the entire plant. Throughout the day the plant shifts, following the path of the sun overhead. 

Another delicious dish using peaches is this Chickpea Peach Salad. It makes a lovely light lunch served along with bread. I substituted basil for the mint called for in the recipe, added cucumber chunks, and used lemon juice in place of lime because that's what was in the fridge. Leftovers keep well, too.

This week I've spent time with my two eldest granddaughters, on separate days. One wanted to sew a new book bag, and the other wanted to jazz up a pair of jeans. They both learned to use the rotary cutter and did very well. I neglected to take a photo of the book bag, but remembered for the jeans. Do they not have a 70s vibe? They just make me smile. Both girls enjoyed sorting through my stacks of fabric to find just the right ones for their projects. 

The jeans reminded me of my college days. Tim and I attended the same college and one day he asked me to mend his jeans. My roommate Carol and I decided to embellish the jeans with all sorts of floral embroidery. Oh, we had fun. Tim's face was a sight when he saw his jeans. He said he spent hours unpicking all of our hard work - he wasn't about to wear them in public! When I reminded him of the incident today, he said he would definitely wear them now. 

Labour Day is this weekend, followed by school starting on Tuesday. It's summer's last hurrah in many corners, and we've planned some family events to celebrate. 

I wish you all a most lovely end to August and a beautiful beginning in September. 

Friday Favourites: There and Back Again

"So where did your adventure take you, Bilbo?"

"There and back again."

J. R. R. Tolkien

Our adventure was much shorter than that of Bilbo's and much less eventful, but fun nonetheless. Above is our small boat (25 feet) in the very large and remote landscape of the Broughton Archipelago, a maze of islands and inlets between northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. It was very much like camping, but on the water, and we felt very very small. It's a rugged and weighty landscape, made even weightier when the fog rolled in and rain fell. 

Fog draped the mornings in ethereal mist for the first few days, mist that burned to sunshine by midday. Then the water sparkled and the colours shone. 

This coast is sparsely inhabited. Fewer people live here than once did around 100 years ago. Both First Nations communities and settlers have moved to larger centres, although the First Nations continue to hunt and fish on their traditional territories. 

There is little evidence remaining of the settlements where people eked out a living by fishing or farming. The stone wall above was built on the site of a former Catholic mission by a farmer/storekeeper who ringed his property with local stones. Artifacts such as glass bottles and broken fragments of pottery are found on the site. The doorway above was once an archway, now fallen and the stones scattered. 

Potts Lagoon is accessible only at high tide, with small watercraft. We took the dinghy through one day. Fields golden with grass bear witness to the man who cleared the land. Tides are inexorable and have made inroads into the fields, creating channels that twist and turn. 

One day there was a gale warning. Although there is little to no cell coverage, the Canadian Coast Guard provides weather updates via the marine radio on the boat. We hunkered down in Bootleg Cove, a very sheltered spot. Gusts of wind blew over and rain pounded down, but we were dry and cozy. We spent the afternoon indulging in a downloaded movie on Tim's tablet and I made hot chocolate and popcorn. 

Can you figure out the photo above? It's a seal, head and backside sticking up out of the water. He was playing peek-a-boo. 

Typical morning mist. Rocky islets and small islands dot the landscape, requiring close attention to the nautical charts. It was like being in a dream. 

After the fog left, the water looked almost tropical. Access to the land is difficult - there are few trails to walk as the forest is so dense. 

We were lucky to see three bear sightings. The first was a bear swimming across a narrow channel just in front of us. He paddled hard and paid little attention to us. 

Thousands of birds live here: Rhinocerus Auklets, related to Puffins with similar beaks, Gulls of all sorts, Eagles, Cormorants, Osprey. 

Sometimes, the islands look as if they were castle walls, impenetrable, rising straight out of the water, and making access difficult or impossible. 

We watched another two bears forage along the shore at low tide. They looked at us briefly, then returned to the business of filling their stomachs for soon-approaching winter. 

The sunny days ended after the gale passed and each day the rain fell, in drizzles and in sheets. We ventured into Simoom Sound where Captain George Vancouver anchored his ships, the Discovery and Chatham in 1792 and spent a week surveying the coastline. There is a small isthmus that he walked across, and I would have loved to do the same, but the weather precluded that.

One evening around 8:30 we were reading and heard a series of distinctive deep exhales. Dropping our books we ventured out and sat on the deck to watch a pod of orca whales swim into our anchorage and slowly circle out again. The light was fading resulting in poor quality photos. Magical. 

Despite the rain that caused us to return home earlier than planned, we had a wonderful time. I think that Simoom Sound, even drenched in rain, is one of the most beautiful places I've been. A thousand shades of green that shifted colour throughout the day. When the rain stopped the water looked as though it were a piece of charmeuse silk I could pick up and slip through my fingers, smooth and soft. 

Since our return a few days ago, I've been doing laundry, taking care of the garden, and visiting with family. It's always good to be home. Like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, I'll close with 

"If ever you are passing my way," said Bilbo, "don't wait to knock. Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome any time." 

J. R. R. Tolkien 

Friday Favourites: Here and There

 

Outside my window the faintest streaks of orange and pink are quickly fading into darkness. And it's only 9 pm. By the end of August our days will be about 1.5 hours shorter than at the beginning. It seems that the garden is well aware of the shortening days, too, and everything is in a hurry to ripen. There are many apples on our two trees this year and we'll be picking them in a few weeks. Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, fresh crunchy apples - such a delicious fruit. 

One of my hydrangea bushes produces enormous mopheads in a variety of colours - brighter then softening to these purple and blue hues. Just a single mophead is filling a low vase on the coffee table, like a pot wearing a flowery hat. 

When I paint I use a scrap of watercolour paper to test my colours. I had the idea to draw designs in those daubs, and quite like the effect. It's now a bookmark used by my husband. I think I'll plan on doing more of these. 

The roses are showing off just now with plentiful large blooms. Secret, above, glows in the evening light and smells wonderful. Another rosebush, Boscobel, is covered in coral-pink blossoms. Last summer when granddaughter Cora took a sniff, she said, "It smells like baked raspberries." Quite descriptive for a three-year-old. 

After reading about planting flowers among vegetables to encourage pollinators, I seeded some cosmos at the end of a couple of beds. They are blooming profusely now and are constantly full of bees. 

This morning I picked a pound of green beans, several tomatoes, much basil, and two fistfuls of sweet peas. With some of the basil I made a puree and froze it in ice cube trays. The rest I set on a platter to dry. There is much more basil in the garden and I'll be making pesto later. 

A few weeks ago my eldest daughter and I were chatting and I mentioned seeing an advertisement for 40% off David Austin roses at a local nursery. Cristal jumped up, "Let's go!" So we did, each bringing home two rosebushes. There wasn't a great selection, but we chose Harlow Carr, a pink rose, and Molineux, the yellow one above. How pretty it is. 

I am taking a blog break for a couple of weeks and look forward to catching up with you all on my return. 

Friday Favourites: Slow August Days

 

August - a month of contrast, of winding down, of full summer. Already the days are shortening. The sun glows with fierce intensity, but slipped over the horizon, coolness descends quickly. Now in the garden golden Rudbeckias add their brightness. Roses enjoy a second flush. Sweet Peas carry on with their abundant and fragrant blooms. 

"Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasn't raining, a diamond dust took over, which veiled and magnified all things."

Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie

Our across-the-fence neighbour grows thornless blackberries that droop over into our garden. "Help yourself," he says, and we do. He is disappointed that the berries never become very sweet, but they make wonderful sauces and jams. 

In every neglected corner of the city wild invasive blackberries sprawl. Armed with clippers, people wearing long-sleeves as armour against the fierce brambles, pick buckets of the sweet berries. I freeze them for baked crumbles in the cold of winter. 

"The kitchen smells of spices and syrups, mint and sweet pepper. It is the time of 'putting up,' a rewarding time for country folk. I believe it is an instinct in man to store things against the winter, even when there is a supermarket a few blocks or miles away. It is part of the rhythm of life."

Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Calendar

Dahlias are slow to bloom, but are coming along now. Soon there will be enough to clip a bouquet. They are such lovely long-lasting flowers and will bloom until the first frost, usually in October. I'm hoping some of the brighter varieties will soon show their faces. 

I love these lingering summer days and am in no hurry at all to see them pass. We sit and read on the deck in late afternoon and when dinner is done. Often, the book waits while I admire the garden. I notice the immense sprawl of the Red Kuri Squash plants with their huge leaves. There are at least eight squashes forming and I look forward to their harvest in another month or so. The Sugar Pumpkins planted by the little girls are growing round and orange, delighting them and me. Pole beans are climbing ever higher, with bees buzzing around its flowers. Tiny green beans are beginning to form. Almost every day I pick a cucumber to slice into a salad. 

"My garden - oh, the delight it has been to me this summer! I am positively revelling in flowers. Roses - such roses!

L. M. Montgomery, The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery, The PEI Years, 1901-1911

We had a Black Mission Fig tree for a number of years that produced a few early crop figs and lots of second crop ones that never had a chance to ripen before autumn. Three years ago we replaced that tree with a Desert King variety known for its plentiful early crop. This year dozens of figs hang heavy on the branches. I've made a delicious fig and onion jam to eat with crackers and cheese, and for this evening I'll be preparing a Fig and Blue Cheese Flatbread for guests. 

The sun has risen over the hedge now at 8:30 and dappled light covers the back garden. It's time to leave my computer and do the things I want to do today. There will be some inside chores and some time outside. All part of the rhythm of life. 

Wishing you a most lovely weekend.