The hot weather has finally arrived. The summer heat dictates the rhythm of my days. We go out early to cycle and spend the
mornings doing chores or pottering in the garden. There are too many bees buzzing around on the rockery for me to get close. The lavender bushes are alive with butterflies and hummingbird moths gathering their nectar.
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| hummingbird moth |
Lunches are long, leisurely affairs on the shady
terrace when we chat and put the world to rights; I try hard to restrict myself
to just one glass of cold rosé wine. Warm
afternoons are for reading and dozing before I retreat into the coolness of the
house. The wooden shutters have been
half closed to keep the heat out and the terracotta tiles are wonderfully cool
underfoot.
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| bees at work on the passion flowers |
Time now to watch some Wimbledon or Tour de France. Towards the end of the day we drift outside
again and enjoy a long, cool drink. We
watch the lizards skittering across the gravel and the young swallows
practising their acrobatic flying. I just love summer.
I love summer. It is good here too. I like seasons and sometimes in the winter I try to imagine summer. But it is impossible. But now it is summer I don't try to imagine winter.
ReplyDeleteLife always seems easier in the summer. But I like cold, snowy winters too.
DeleteYour life sounds wonderful! You must be retired. If so, how I envy you!
ReplyDeleteNice photos. I love the lavender!
Thank you Jennifer. I retired early when I was 49!
DeleteWe used to have a Passion Flower here; I wonder what happened to it?
ReplyDeleteOurs sometimes gets knocked right back in cold winters but eventually re-appears. The flower heads fascinate me.
DeleteLike I said yesterday, forget about the bike ride substitute a hour out with The Dog and everything else purfik (or how David Jason used to say it to Ma).
ReplyDeleteDarling Buds of May - it was always summer wasn't it?
DeleteWhat glorious days you have and such beauty in your garden. Here in New England I have my passion flowers in pots as they would never survive our winters. They and my agapanthus are my triumphs in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI like agapanthus, they are quite stunning. Never tried to grow them though.
ReplyDelete