In mid-August, during my one day trip to St-Malo in Brittany, I needed to kill time in a quiet space. Someone had recommended a tea shop and though it was just a block away from the hordes that paced the main shopping artery, the shop was calm and had a few empty tables. I ordered, well, a pot of tea of course. Rooibos. As with all these rooibos red teas, this one was "theine-free"-- a new word for me. It's caffeine free as applied to tea leaves. I liked it enough that I bought a container to take home (I'm drinking it now), in part, I suppose, because I felt guilty about lingering there over an hour with just a cup of tea. But what I liked even more, was the tea pot which they brought to the table. Talk about a clever way to keep your tea warm! I asked if they could part with one (yes, I'm that bold!) and they said: yes of course, in fact, we have a few for customers like you who request them. So I'm not the only wo is bold! Then proudly -- they're made in France. So among my two bottles of alcohol free wines and my large jar of honey, I packed a tea pot to bring home.
And as I sip this tea now, I'm thinking -- my, but August has been good to me! Lots of calm moments, lots of nature walks and even a few city walks. Lots of social activity but also quiet times with Ed. I haven't seen family as much as usual, but I'll be making up for it in the months ahead. And of course it has been the month of great flowers for the table, and great corn! And that's just from the short list of superlatives.
Of course, the country is falling apart, but that just provides you with more reason to look inside your own back yard to find comfort and joy. Pleasure does not come from reading the news.
Morning at the farmette: time to look at pockets of color rather than with a sweeping gaze at the entirety.
(the gladiolus murielae bulbs are in full blossom now)
(all three roses are doing well! let's see how they come through the winter)
(the sunflowers that the deer ate sprouted offshoots and bloomed anyway!)
(and yes, these are the most prolific lilies; almost done, but not quite)
Breakfast, outside. I think it's a little on the cool side, so I make oatmeal.
And then we do not one but two bike rides! The first -- to Stoneman's, for their corn. These are the last days of their harvest. By next weekend, the Stoneman family will no longer wake with dawn to hand pick corn for us. Sad (for us) but true.
I have the carrying basket on my bike, so I fill it with a dozen+1 ears. We give some greens to Rosie the goat and Buttercup the sheep.
Our second ride is later and longer: to the next town, at the other side of Lake Waubesa, where we like to stop by a cafe. Ed eats a lunch, I sip a coffee. It is a nothing-special place, but the ride there is exceptionally pretty...
(well, I'm not as fast as Ed)
And besides, we have kind of adopted this cafe as our own. Today we sit outside for a really long while. Ed finds a paper to read, I'm totally engrossed in my novel (The God of the Woods). I'm 79% through it and I have no idea who the culprit in the drama was! I will not go to sleep tonight until I find out.
Such a beautiful day! Gorgeous sunshine, clean air, cool breezes, a scattering of lingering blooms. August goes out with a blast of beauty!
Evening? I am so engrossed in my book that I forget about time. It's 7 o'clock and I have no dinner plans. So Ed makes supper for the both of us. We have been together for 20 years and I believe this is the first time that he has prepared dinner for me. It's not for lack of trying -- he offers every now and then, and I usually respond with a "no thank you." I admit it -- I do not trust his cooking, which oftentimes has him stuff tortillas with stuff I regard as suspect. But today, I'm all in!
Now shhhh! Don't bother me! I have to finish my book!
with love...
