So here we are, racing through June at such a pace I can hardly catch my breath. Just this morning I happened to catch sight of the date and was astounded to find out that we are already in the middle of the month and goodness me, the Summer Solstice is less than a week away! Say what???!!! I remember it was just the same last year, so maybe this is what May-June feels like at this time in my life? I think it's because our winter season seems to take foreeeeeveeer to be over and done with, that once Spring finally arrives it rushes in and out like a flood tide.
Towards the end of May my Dad and Lady B journeyed all the way from Dorset to visit for a week, it was a holiday that had been postponed since 2020. Back then in pre-covid times my Dad's memory and general health was very much more robust, so I was a little worried about how he would cope with the lengthy train travel and also being out of his usual environment and routine. Lets just say it was a challenge - whether he was really aware of it or not I'm unsure, but his level of general confusion was pretty heart breaking. So yeah, it was a very intense week, not stressful as such, but highly emotional and draining nevertheless.
On top of the worry about my Dad's health decline, I also tend to experience a surge of emotions at this time of year - ever since I lost my Mum five years ago, the month of May weighs heavy on me. I'm the kind of person who tends to deal with these things silently and inwardly which is probably not the best way, but keeping everything tightly wrapped up is just the way I am. I'm still trying to come to terms with many things to do with my Mum and the way her life came to a very sad and abrupt end, gosh this kind of deep rooted stuff isn't easy is it?
Anyhow, I'm not here to dig into my past because my childhood and my relationship with my parents has always been quite the messy tangle which I keep locked down tight, but I did just want to let you know a little of what I've been going through lately. Thankfully these times never seem to last for long and I'm pretty adept at bouncing back - boing! I'm here, it's mid June with summer almost upon us and all is warm and well.
At the beginning of June the UK commemorated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and as such we were treated to a four day bank holiday weekend. The weather was mixed (of course it was) but it mostly held dry if a bit on the chilly-breezy side. The town was hugely busy with visitors, both on the pavements and the waterways and I love the hustle and bustle of a high season holiday weekend when the atmosphere is joyful and celebratory.
On my friendly little street with it's terraced houses all tucked together in close proximity, we collectively organised a laid back Jubilee street party. We applied to the council for a permit to close the road to traffic, hung up strings of red, white and blue bunting and gathered together enough food and drink to feed a small army.
It was a lot of fun just being able to sit in the middle of the road and chat to neighbours from up and down the street, most of whom we did already know (thirty houses in total). There was cake....
....and of course there was Pimms served in paper cups. It was really ever so British and made me remember how very much I love Pimms (and cake) in the summertime.
May and early June is such a l-u-s-h time in the countryside and the abundance of greenery and general floral frothiness has really lifted my spirits lately.
My daily morning walks in the woodland have continued to keep me simultaneously grounded and uplifted and I'm so thankful for this place that I call home.
Up until this week, the weather has been unseasonably cold (and very windy) during the past few months. I really hope that Summer will bring plenty of warmth and sunshine as I desperately feel a need for both.
I've been keeping an eye on the elderflowers around and about as I'm hoping to make a nice big batch of cordial again this year. The above photo was taken nine days ago, and since then most of the bushes I walk past are now in full floral froth. It's a glorious time of year and I absolutely love to (literally) bottle it up - I'll go and buy the sugar, lemons and oranges tomorrow so that I can get busy with it over the weekend if it stays dry. The recipe is on my blog here >> {Elderflower Cordial recipe, scroll down through the long-winded chatty blog post to find it}
What else to tell you? Building work finished here early last week, resulting in the safe dismantling of an old disused chimney stack and the back wall of our house being repaired and repointed. We asked the builders if they could leave the actual chimney pot for us as I thought it would be fun to plant something in it - my goodness, we were totally unprepared for the monstrous size of it, it's gigantic! It must stand four feet tall and was on top of a stack of heavy stone which was as high again - imagine, an eight foot tall chimney sitting very precariously on top of our bathroom roof, it blows my mind every time I think about it.
Our back yard is still in disarray because the scaffolding hasn't yet come down. I'm impatiently waiting for that to happen and then I can get busy with cleaning and tidying and planting up my pots for the summer.
The past few weeks I've been in full Mum-mode, supporting Little Lady as she revises and sits her A level exams. I think she's doing remarkably well in terms of managing both her time and her wellbeing, putting in many hours of revision and coping with a certain inevitable level of daily anxiety. She's only got two more exams left to do now, so next Tuesday I anticipate there will be much rejoicing, and I will finally be able to breathe out again.
This past week or two I've been working steadily away behind the scenes, finalising the colour palette for my next CAL blanket which will be revealed in November. I generally work around five months in advance which can be quite challenging for someone like me who much prefers the do-it-right-now spontaneous approach. Ahhhh......I can't wait to show you more, so exciting! I'm now working on the stitch design and it's been the usual frustrating, stop-start affair, but I spent a good few hours noodling with yarn and hook today and think I'm finally getting somewhere.
Goodness knows how many hours I've spent at the dining table during these past few weeks as it takes a LOT of time to work through the colour and pattern design process for one of my blankets. My whole heart and soul goes into each and every blanket and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Well I think that's about all for now, I hope you are doing ok out there in the world and enjoying these mid year months. Despite the emotional ups and downs, this really is my very best favourite time of year by far.
Thanks as always for popping into the Attic to visit, it's always so good to be here for a chat and a catch up....see you again soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
