Thursday, 

September 3rd, 2020

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;  To bend with apples the moss'd cottage trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core......" (John Keats - To Autumn - an excerpt....)

I had to go and check to see what day it was, in September.

Yesterday I lost myself in the garden, so I couldn't decide if I had added a wonderful day to September, or somehow lost one!!   I did have a great afternoon in the garden, but it wasn't an afternoon when I relaxed and enjoyed the bees buzzing in the asters, which are just beginning to bloom, -

 I put on my forty year old aura and started making order out of chaos amongst the barn flowers and the Jerusalem artichokes and the remnants of the golden daisies and the shaggy red Bee Balm.  After a short while my 'forty year old aura' slipped away from reality and I had to come in and rest my back and have a little brandy to recover!! And re-discover, to my great chagrin, just how many years my willing body had been gardening, and how it reacted, despite my delight in being outside amongst the summer's yield of greenery!!

Today I stayed indoors and read a bit and had the nice Thursday afternoon happy hour with my youngest daughter, when we get all caught up on the week's news and gossip!

Not much news these days, as Covid 19 constraints cause everyone to be on their toes and watch their P's and Q's, - so to speak.l  My daughter works at "The Manor", a home for people who are not confined, but are in need of assistance, and so when she first arrives there she changes her clothes and dons a mask, and her poor hands show the results of constant sanitizing.

Will we ever get back to normal?  I suppose we all have different definitions of 'normal', and I cannot complain as my life changes little.  Age makes home and garden lovely places to be, and the door is always open for company, and for family, so I am never lonely, even though I don't get out and into the village.  

There is a fruit stand just down the road and up a block, and one of these days I plan to take Charles' scooter and see what they have to offer, now that autumn is here and the peach, pear and apple seasons are in full swing.

Picking up peaches, and I always ask if they might have some over ripes out back because they bring back such wonderful memories of the orchard and the peach block and the scent of ripe, fuzzy peaches.  The children would perhaps question my nostalgia, as what they remember is Mum coming in, hot and uncomfortable and covered with peach fuzz, - not too often with a smiling countenance or in a happy mood!!   Cranky!!!  Nevertheless......there is always the shower to restore one's equilibrium.

And with that I will say good-night and go and visit with my youngest son, who has just arrived!