The End of Summer

Hello again! I'm a bit late perhaps with a post entitled 'The End of Summer' but I thought I'd post it before the autumnal equinox tomorrow, which is when autumn most definitely begins. It's been a lovely summer this year, and I must confess that, autumn-lover though I am, I have been rather reluctant to say goodbye to it. The heatwave of the last two weeks was a bit much for me, but I have enjoyed the golden sunshine - we had some this afternoon - and the rich colour palette that goes with it. 

There have been the deepest blue skies.

The cultivated blackberries have been the best I can remember for a long time, and I have picked punnets and punnets of them. We've eaten some straight away, cooked with them and frozen the rest. For me they epitomise early autumn with their perfumed flavour.

In contrast the sweet peas haven't been great this year. I picked these magenta ones, and with the berries they made a darkly purple harvest.



The flowers have just kept going in the garden: tall, pale evening primroses,

 sweet-scented phlox,

peppery nasturtiums

 and a bright pink (yes, pink) strawberry.





We were busy outside this summer. P put a new edging around our raised flowerbed,



and I gave our table and chairs a makeover with antique white metal paint. Here they are before ...







... and after, looking much smarter. My goodness, it was fiddly work - I'll use spray paint next time, I think.

I'm really enjoying putting cut asters from the supermarket on the dining table at the moment.

I love their soft pastel and jewel colours.

I've not been around much as life has been getting in the way lately, and opportunities to open my laptop have been few and far between. I do have lots to share with you, though, and will try to catch up with you as soon as possible. Happy autumn for tomorrow! x