Monday, August 25, 2014

August Is Passing!




This morning I noticed how dark it was at 6 a.m. It felt like the middle of the night instead of a time for dawn. I read in my chair a while before starting the kettle. Then Miss Biscuit and I took our tea tray outside where it was so obviously a late week in August.  The wrens were gone; the hummers had begun to migrate and hit the disappointment of red geraniums before moving on; the verbenas had yellow leaves and marigolds were drying up. The crickets were singing, reminding us that autumn was coming. Spiders were spinning webs from deck posts to flower pots.  The summer was passing right before my eyes.

While early mornings whisper autumn, a few hours later summer’s force lets us know he hasn’t gone yet. Temperatures are so hot that breathing is a challenge. Sweat pours off our skins with any exertion. Lunch is no longer pleasant on the deck so we retreat to the kitchen for cool salads using the last of the tomatoes. Afternoon means a “sit down” in recliners with books.  Evenings might be (boring) television because the air still burns the skin, and then there are the “no seeums” which blister my bare legs and ankles being a high price to be outside at dusk.

This afternoon I looked through a book that did not live up to my expectations. Consider the Fork: a History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson is packed full of facts, but something about the presentation left me uninspired. The one chapter on spoons was more interesting than most. There was quite a variety of spoons such as bone or pearl spoons for eating soft boiled eggs since egg yolk tarnished silver. There was also some info on silver marrow spoons. The 18th century Georgians had a fondness for bone marrow and a special spoon for digging it out was useful. But the most interesting was the development of the teaspoon in the 17th century when the English began adding milk and sugar to their tea cups. The teaspoon moved from being just for tea service to the dining table.


The summer has slipped by fast. After winter woes and spring situations, summer has been loaded with issues too. September looks inviting at the moment. I can hope that this year will end with some good things maybe. I am ready for cooler air….some writing….some walks…some pleasant moments outside other than just morning tea. I pulled my Cranberry Autumn tea out this morning, but I thought, “No, not yet. It will be savored more in a week or two when real autumn arrives.”

9 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Spring is flirting with us here. She edged into the room for most of last week, and we made her welcome. But no, she scuttled out the door (or was dragged back out by winter) and we have had a few chilly grey days. With some blessed rain. I will be more than happy to invite her back for the long haul. Her big sister Summer? Not so much.
I hope Autumn settles down with you soon - in a blaze of colour with refreshing days and nights.

Rebecca said...

Similar "stuff" going on here, too, Claudia! The rain falling this evening is doing little to alleviate the heavy heat that has hovered over us all day today...Walnuts weigh down the branches of our old Black Walnut tree. Cicada songs fill our evenings.

As for mornings on the back porch, it was a strange summer--almost too cool to be comfortable early in the mornings and now too dark.
I AM ready for September.

Sioux Roslawski said...

I hope cooler weather DOES come soon. This is too hot.

Linda O'Connell said...

Where do you find cranberry almond tea? It sounds yummy? I'm with you on the weather changes. Early morning or late day is perfect for me, but truthfully, I'll take a summer day anytime over a freezing winter one.

Have a great day.

pat couch laster said...

I notice your flower "vase." I have an African violet growing in an o-l-d red Folgers Coffee tin.
The trailing violets-red)are spinning out trailers that reach for the light. Mother Nature and I have kept the house-plants-on-the-porch alive by recycling AC drippings.
The tansy blooms have blackened and the mullein pinks have set seeds. The mums are in bud and the grass has invaded. Soon... we can work outside again. Love your writing. Glad I know you.

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Our weather is morphing to Indian Summer. Cool mornings, hot afternoons, and then cool evenings. Autumn is just around the corner!

Susan said...

Hi Claudia...

I'm not ready to say "autumn's here," either. Nope. want to stretch out the tail of summer for as long as humanly possible.

Hope you enjoy the last, lingering days, too. Susan p.s. Thanks for your visit.

Sioux Roslawski said...

I too am awaiting the cooler weather. Crisp fall days...seque into snowy days...seque into snow days! ;)

Marylin Warner said...

It is SO good to finally find my way back to your blog, Caludia. Thanks for the help. Sometimes Wordpress and Blogspot don't seem to play well together!
My favorite tea is Cranberry Autumn with a slice of fresh orange stirred in. And your picture of the flowers in the oil can made me call out to my husband Jim to come and see. I was so excited. Our neighbor's husband was a mechanic, and she used to make flower bouquets of black-eyed susans, daisies and anything else wonderful that was growing in her yard, and deliver them in oil clean oil cans to all her friends. We were so glad to be her friends, for many more reasons than than, and this post made me remember.
Happy September, Claudia!