Towards Lammas

It's difficult to even contemplate Lammas without sunshine. We've had a long spell of showers accompanied by thick grey clouds in every shade of grey. The sun occasionally peeps through the grey carpet and I rush frantically to sit in the sun chair with a coffee, trying to capture a few precious rays. It doesn't last for long and I end up sitting in the dullness with a cold coffee.

Last week there was a short bright spell and I took the children to the local beach to make the most of it. Now this is a special beach. There's miles ofl fat sand and plenty of dunes to explore, in fact it's a wildlife sanctuary and at the moment home to nesting ringed plover.

This is the place known in Welsh mythology as Cantre'r Gwaelod (one hundred beneath). An ancient land sunken beneath the waves where there lay many villages and forests. It's part of the story of Cerridwen and Gwion. Some say that the floods occurred when Cerridwens cauldron cracked and spilt over, others say that the surrounding walls fell down when a drunken guard failed to secure the gates. Who knows? It certainly is a special place and I'll be heading back there for Lammas with the children for my personal celebration. Hope the sun comes out.

More rain

And yes there's more! Even though the sun is trying to peep out it would seem that the rain is not far away. Will it stay for the whole school summer holidays? I wonder. The thought of an incarceration in the house for six weeks is not a promising thought but at least it is warm and there are a few dry sunny spells, well, just a few.

The garden is bursting with ripefulness, even the sunflower has a few small new leaves so there is hope.

Sunflowers

Despite other parts of the UK melting in the heat, it's still raining here. Raining heavily. There's been no glimpse of the sun in 3 days and despite the forecast proudly proclaiming a heatwave, there's no sign of it. Well, unless you live in the south east of England...or to be precise, London.
There must be centimetres of flooding by now. Huge puddles, wellies and brollies everywhere.

And in the garden no sign of the sunflowers. Mainly because they are being noshed ceremoniously by mega slugs enjoying the wet weather as they feed.This is the problem with organic gardening.No slug pellets equals some sad looking half eaten plants with the rain to urge them on.

How depressing this weather is. School holidays and grey, wet skies. The weeks forecast looks grim . Looks like we'll all have to find our wellies

The heart of the home

What exactly is the heart of a home? The fireplace, the kitchen or the family that live there? I explored this recently when, for the first time both my children were away on school trips at the same time. Approaching this with feelings of discomfort I quickly realised that I had not prepared myself for the feelings of loss and emptiness as I missed my children for the few days that we spent apart.

Initially, the separation was difficult but gradually things began to improve as I wondered what we had done with our time all those years ago in our child free days. I needed to fill my time doing all those things that I intended to do but not got round to yet. But I did miss them. Loads.

It was an absolute joy to see them return and have the house filled with people, sweet wrappers and arguements about what to watch on TV. I'll never complain again! The house seemed so quiet and empty without them. The family really is the heart of the home.

Summer

The heatwave of the last few weeks is diminishing rapidly. The temperature remains very warm but now the rain seems here to stay. There's a heavy downpour outside, which is great for the garden The plants and flowers bending under heavy ripe flowerheads. The summer solstice has now passed, but the sun remains high in the sky as we hurtle towards Lammas. Even though its shrouded in thick grey rain clouds. Alas its nowhere to be seen albeit for a brief interlude yesterday.

Everything looks lush and green in the garden. Just as it should be. The Land has been fertilised at Beltaine. The seeds planted and the vegetables ripening towards fruition and the inevitable first harvest at Lammas.