Moments of Calm

It has been a little while since I have written one of these posts, so it is good to sit down for a few moments and reflect on the week(s) gone by and the special moments I have had.  If you read my newsletter last week, you will know how much I  love these summer days.  I have always loved summer.

Early Summer Mornings

There is something very special about the long light days and nights.  I love the sun streaming through the curtains from the early hours of summer mornings, and the smell of the honeysuckle when I open my back door to step outside with the first cup of tea of the day.  For me there is a calmness which is  unique to the gentle days of summer.

Early Mornings in the Garden are my favourite time on those very hot days.  A little potter around our small London garden, deadheading the cosmos and snipping cosmos and zinnia to put into old glass bottles which sit on my desk. All this before getting on with the business of the day has become my current routine, and it suits me very well. If I can manage a quick few pages of my book with my cup of tea too, then all the better

By the River

In years gone by we owned a boat which we kept on the Thames in Chertsey.  On probably the rainiest day of the summer this year we took a walk along this part of the river and revisited the scenery which once upon a time was so familiar to us.  The rain meant there were few other people around and we wandered along the river enjoying the scent of fresh rain and jasmine reminiscing about the fun we used to have ‘messing about on the water’.  Since reading Wind in the Willows earlier this year, when I am by a river, my thoughts always turn to ratty and mole. I imagine them floating gently along the river, ratty at the helm of their little boat packed with a picnic and cold drinks. Mole is dangling his small feet in the water and thinking about  his good fortune to have a friend such as ratty.

This week is busy with work and I shall be making a special effort to  make sure little pockets of calm are entwined amongst the to do lists and deadlines.  I hope you are able to do the same.