Or not, depending on my mood
We’re lucky to live in such a temperate climate here in the UK.
OK, so it means we never have really scorching hot summers or really freezing cold winters, and inevitably it means it rains a lot here, giving us every possible shade of grey clouds and a potential multitude of damp, dull, dismal days all year round.
But it also means we get to have beautiful lush greenery and gorgeous roses growing in our gardens, so all in all I have no complaints. 🙂
It was never my intention to let my garden become so under-loved and over-grown this summer, but since I went back to work I’ve found it surprisingly hard to find days when (1) I’m off work, (2) I have nothing else important to do and (3) the weather is actually nice enough to give the garden the attention it deserves. So in honour of today’s shift-free sunshine, here are a few shots from my newly weeded, front garden flower beds taken this afternoon 🙂
‘Plums are just like giant grapes with bums’
Here are just some of the ripe plums we’ve picked from the rickety old plum tree in our garden over the last couple of days – we’ve eaten some as they are, stewed some, frozen some, and given loads away to friends and family… And still they keep on coming!
PS Eldest granddaughter commented that our delicious juicy plums were just like giant grapes with bums – ha ha ha ha! 🙂
As well as the three broken gladioli stems I’ve rescued from the garden and put in a vase on the dining room table, my husband also brought home a bunch of deep purple blooms to fill out the arrangement.
I tried to photograph them looking all dramatic and interesting, but instead they just looked boring and dull so I’ve applied an online artistic creative filter effect (free to use) to give them a more abstract finish 🙂
Red and green always seems such a Christmassy combination, even at the beginning of September! And for the past couple of days as well as a trio of bluetits a little robin with its fluffy orange-red breast has been feeding at our bird feeder, so nature seems keen to remind me that winter will be coming soon. Thanks nature, I know the fast-cooling weather has been a little uncertain lately but personally I haven’t actually quite finished with summer yet, and surely autumn still needs to have her beautiful blaze of glory before chilly winter blows over us with her icy breath and frozen fingers… 🙂
My Weekly Smile this week just has to be the sheer delight on my husband’s face to actually be picking fat juicy plums daily from his own plum tree! I grew up with a plum tree growing in my mum and dad’s garden so I guess I just don’t share the same novelty factor of having an over-abundance of fresh plums available on the doorstep. We’ve already had a yummy plum crumble made with the first batch, as well as just eating the plums au naturel of course! Plenty more where they came from… I’m sure we’ll both be sick of the sight of them before long, but luckily we have plenty of family who have offerred to help eat as many as we can spare 🙂
A medley of flowers from my garden bidding a final farewell to August for today’s Flower of the Day 🙂
Reflecting on my life experience always tells me a lot of things. Right now it tells me not to worry too much when I have a down day or two, or three or four or even more, because I know that this too shall pass – and sure enough, so far it always has done. Thankfully this miserable depression I struggle with never lasts for too long these days, and even when it does linger more than I would like I understand enough of life to know that now is not forever.
Understanding my life experience allows me just to sit tight and breathe my way through the dismal down days, to distract myself by looking for the inherent beauty in the natural world around me. On closer inspection even the simplest of red flowers in my conservatory where I sit shows such beautiful dark rivulets delicately threading the back of its throat, its finely-veined petals gently flushed with the deepest pink shading as if its life-blood also pumps through a vibrant beating heart. I listen intently until I almost hear its heartbeat mirror my own, and I feel strangely comforted.
Nothing in life is ever as simple as it seems, things are rarely starkly black or white, good or bad, and nuance colours us in a variety of shades with each hue bringing its own specific spectrum of understanding to our lives. I feel blue at times and I see red at other times, I have dark moods and bright moments and very occasionally find myself bathed in glorious rainbows of hopefulness. But however much I stumble or falter along the way in times of darkness, I always know I’m travelling along the right road and my still-beating heart, fragile as a flower, tells me I’m doing just fine… 🙂
Delicate and dreamy pastel shades for today’s Flower of the Day ❤
Another damp drizzly day, so hopefully the delicateness of the pastel-coloured flower heads pictured against the wispy pale green fern fronds makes up for the dull light 🙂
