Garden time

Trust September to be the best weather month of the year. It almost always is in this country. The summers can be cold, wet and miserable, but come September it just settles, with comfortably warm temperatures and lots of sun. As a result I seem to be spending all of my afternoons in the garden.

I sit there and read, and yesterday I started a new book, with the ugliest cover ever.

Buddy comes out too, and he just chills out like a dog, staying put.

Not much is flowering in our garden anymore, but these verbena bonarienses are still going strong. Once we feel more flush with money I’d like to change up the planting and have more of an all year garden Piet Oudolf style.

The suns retreats behind the houses earlier and earlier but I don’t mind.

Oomoo sat outside doing his homework when he got back from school.

And Mr Famapa conked out for an afternoon nap.

So many helicopters have been flying over since lockdown; I wonder if it’s the super rich commuting between their country piles and their offices in the City?

Looking ahead on the weather forecast it looks like I’ve jinxed it - it says it’ll rain everyday from Tuesday onwards. I better make the most of it until then. If you need me you know where to find me :0)

Buddy picture of the week VII

It’s been a while since I posted one of these. I was just in the process of texting someone when Buddy came and laid in front of me and started giving himself a clean, so I just had to quickly snap this before the moment was over. Happy new week everyone!

Not a usual Sunday

Still hot the following day. We decided to walk up to the nearby woods and check out some old deserted army barracks.

We thought that this little bunker might have been a coal store, but we’re no experts. We are at taking pictures though. HA HA

I walked into this building on my own only to be told to get the hell out immediately as the floor was covered in broken asbestos. Handy to have a friend who’s an architect who can spot that sort of thing, eh?

What is it about abandoned buildings that’s so alluring? Insert shrug emoji here.

Walking back towards the house we came across this herd of cows. Care to share any tips on herd immunity guys? GUYS??

Knowing that it would be hot during our stay in the Cotswolds I did some research on places to swim nearby. I found some river spots online that looked promising, but my uncle-in-law said that there was also a lake that would be much quieter, and therefor less busy. He was not wrong. When I went in the water I totally forgot about everything else and just kept swimming out in a straight line for about 15 minutes. It didn’t occur to me to check on how Oomoo was doing, it was like I was in a trance. It had been over three months since I’d been in the water, and being back made me very selfish. I finally remembered and turned around to see how he was doing, but fortunately Mr Famapa had gone in with him, even though he hadn’t brought swimming trunks. Bad mamma!

The Ladies Pond opened in July but I had no interest in trying to book one of the allotted time slots, all of which would sell out within seconds of being released. Besides, it’s the cold water I’m after. Anyway, we left the lake just as groups of younger people started arriving with crates of beer. Perfect timing.

Nothing says a field in August as much as this picture.

Finally, two pictures from the following day; L reading, with a compulsory cup of tea in the morning…

… and Oomoo through the window in the evening. So grateful for being able to go to this lovely place. Until the next time!

A hot Saturday in August

7.07am, our first full day in the house in the Cotwolds.
Oomoo crept down the stairs as quietly as he could as we were the only ones awake.

7.12am
We were soon joined by R, and I left them to chat and read on their Kindles. I stopped using mine years ago, but in lockdown it came into it’s own with Oomoo being such a bookworm. Saves us a lot of money, and bookshelf space.

7.32am
Can’t start the day without a huge cup of tea. This is cup is one fine specimen made by my father-in-law’s brother, who’s a potter, and lives next door. Much fancier than my regular morning mug at home from Ikea.

12.17pm
It was +31c or something, so out came this slide, which R and Oomoo kept cool with.

4.09pm
This day felt like such a treat. Usually when we go away I feel that we have to do something or go somewhere, but it was way too hot to move, so we stayed under this tree most of the day, reading, chatting and napping. It felt like the first day in ages we could really relax.

5.16pm
R’s older sister finally joined us after a long drive from Cornwall, and we thought it best to all go for a walk and a short game of frisbee, as the sun and heat wasn’t as intense anymore.

5.27pm
The little village where we were staying - from a distance.

5.51pm
Walky walk.

5.54pm
Sheepy sheep.

6.17pm
Back at the house. The younger peeps really felt the heat by this point, and Mr Famapa was more than happy to help them cool down.

6.19pm
It’s good to have a sister who’ll help you get warm afterwards.

6.20pm
Warm enough to have another go that is.

6.21pm
Oomoo’s turn! He either filmed this or took a picture at the same time - I want to see how it came out.

6.22pm
I love this picture. Oomoo’s cropped head, all of them in their own worlds but together, that green and the deep long shadows.

6.58pm
There’s an army base not far from the village, and we saw lots of unfamiliar looking planes fly over.

9.29pm
After dinner we tried a round of Balderdash, but we were all too fried for it to be fun and had to give up.

It’s so nice to be behind here, so I can prolong summer a bit. I don’t know about you, but for us it felt that it went by in a flash, even though we didn’t get up too much. In fact, I can’t believe we’re already in the ninth month of the year. 2020, what a strange year you have been.