This August has been great, one where the weather has been good enough to not need to worry about if you need a jacket, coat, umbrella etc - well mostly anyway. The end of the month saw a couple of yellow thunderstorm warnings, and boy did they arrive in style, and they brought plenty of rain with them too, which of course we needed.
The thunderstorms were pretty close by, or it sounded like that at the time - we later discovered that we weren’t wrong and were hit by two supercells joining together. I’m not really sure what that means, but I know it was bright as the lightening struck, and it’s the first storm I remember thinking was quite scary. The next morning we discovered that the accompanying rains had brought mud off the fields and one of the roads leading to the main crossroads in the village was a bit muddy!
Earlier in the month when the number of heatwaves were racking up we also had our first experience of sheep escapees, aiding the village cattle (not sheep) farmer to get them out of our neighbour’s garden and back into a field. Not the field they escaped from, but much safer than them patrolling the village and much preferable to the gardens in the village. They are peculiar creatures, and fast when they want to be as we saw first hand!
We’ve been out and about a fair bit too with a lovely afternoon in one of my patchwork group’s garden, with partners and no actual sewing in sight though of course the conversation did include a stitch or two.
We had a tasty meal on the rather elegant Bluebell Railway in Sussex, and I decided to make myself a dress to wear - giving myself a week to do it. I made it, and I wore it but I think giving myself more time would be preferable!
There was also the annual ‘home air show’ towards the end of the month, and the weather had turned so while the Red Arrows were able to give a fantastic display, more of the ‘noisier’ aircrafts were unable to fly, which is a shame - but there’s always next year.
We finally made it back to one of our favourite farm pop-ups at Gelston buying some of their tasty lamb to support our commitment to healthier eating. Though on the way home we stopped off at a relatively nearby cafe to see the Alpacas, and share a scone - so the healthier eating is still a work in progress, though we did share a scone rather than have one each so that’s something.
I was just as much taken by the pompoms strung across the cafe’s outside container seating area, as I was with the perfect view of the ‘mums and babies’ alpaca paddock and it’s residents. I could have spent so much more time watching them, so I’m sure we’ll be back - and the scone was good too!
Our gallivanting hasn’t stopped there though, after sharing my thoughts on the first Rutland Flower Show we were back there in the middle of the month, but it was so hot we didn’t last perhaps as long as we would normally. We’d already decided that we wouldn’t be buying any plants as keeping them alive would be tricky, and I’d lost one of the plants we’d bought earlier in the summer - though I’m hopeful that there’s a small chance it may come back.
I felt for the traders too as they had a job to keep their displays and produce looking fresh - they were all in good spirits though, and the weather did cool a little for the subsequent days of the show. We didn’t leave empty handed though and left with the sensible options of some bulbs to plant in the autumn, so more on those another time.
We finally got along to visit Doddington Hall, which is just outside Lincoln, while their sculpture trail was still on - it finishes this weekend. Again it was a warm day, but one that threatened rain so armed with our waterproofs we saw many, many sculptures, walked around the parched gardens and looked inside the house before having lunch in the courtyard. The volunteers there told us that the house is also good to visit when it’s decorated for Christmas, and from the photos we saw they’re right so I think we’ll be back here later in the year all being well.
Our timing was impeccable with the rain arriving on the short drive home, we arrived back with a very wet car to find that it hadn’t rained at home at all. Most peculiar!
And still we weren’t done. The last weekend of August saw us climb the 198 steps in the church tower in Newark, as part of their Newark Festival offerings, to get some great views over the market place and surrounding areas, learning about the history as we did. It was a great thing to do, and even though I’m not great with heights, I’m glad I did it.
And then on the Sunday we headed back to the tropical garden in nearby Bottesford - I’ve not had a chance to even look at my photos from there yet, but it will be interesting to compare and contrast them to our visit there last year when I get some time.
There hasn’t been a lot of time left for making this month, and apart from the dress in a week project mentioned above my main outputs have been though ‘playing with patchwork and scraps’ which has been the perfect mindful activity required.
I still did find time for some craft related shopping though - you knew I would - but I’ll share more on those tomorrow - let’s hope September is just as much fun, perhaps a little drier and so bring some more time with my sewing machine!
