FO Friday 51: The Wheel Turns

THE END OF SUMMER

The summer days are fading, as they must
From endless hours to short and fleeting light
The bird's once bright, immortal tune, now cries
A melancholy aura to the dusk
The children fiercely climb, and dream, and race
Before their wild and unchained days depart
And yet beneath the zeal lies a half heart
For there isn't time, there's only enough space
The sun seems low, a hazy orange sphere
Now reminiscing sweetly of the days
When endlessly before you summer lay
And as in the deep, crimson dusk you stir
Your soul joins with the birds in wistful brood
Crying for lost summer days, for childhood

[author's name removed by her own request, received via email 26 Sept. 2011]


The wheel of the seasons definitely feels like it's turned this week: what with the gales, rain, clouds, gray skies and chilly evenings, it seems like a switch was flicked: beginning of term = autumn. And looking at our patio reinforces that:


May 2011


end July 2011


beginning Sept. 2011

It's clearly time to pull the summer bedding and get ready for planting spring bulbs, and winter/spring bedding.

Another FO today is a batch of Aztec Queen Soap: loaded with cocoa butter, a creamy mix of vanilla and chocolate makes this a smooth and special soap ....



Head over to Tami's Amis to see who else is talking about Autumn ....

End of the Season

A fantabulous weekend was had by all, in spite of DH having read my last blog post; I told him he was free to start his own and say whatever he wanted about me ... within reason. It'll never happen.

Destructo Boy and three friends went to the matinee at the cinema to see Space Chimps 2; DH's bet was that there'd be a minimum of one poop joke: there were none. What a wasted opportunity. The tickets cost DH £5 all together; the popcorn and fizzy pop, over £16 ... but how can you not buy it for a bunch of 5 year olds ?

Nanny arrived, and took the kids to their favorite place, Christchurch Park, for the afternoon while DH and I ran up to B&Q for some winter bedding: a tray of 18 primulas, 6 cyclamen, 6 heathers, and an ornamental sedge (so potbound I could divide it into 3 plants), all for a mere £9: everything was in the reduced section, and at B&Q it usually means that either someone only forgot to water the plant, or it has finished flowering ....

Sunday, after Destructo Boy had ripped and torn his way through his stash of gifts, which included his tickets to see ITFC play, a pogo stick, a Kung Zhu Battle Hamster, a metal detector (a huge hit) and the Ferrari steering wheel for the PS2, we went to check out a potential place/group for Destructo Boy to go play football. We have 3 other possible groups, all kindly suggested by John Potter of Ransomes Sports Club, which we'll check out by phone this week.

I have planted the winter bedding, the summer bedding is all in the recycling bin, so now the patio is looking kinda empty and sparse ... a small trough of cut-and-come-again lettuces, a chilli plant, and the lemon verbena is all that remains of the summer ....







































The sun is out, but there is a chilly breeze ....

Blog Hub Swap: Day 6

And now, the end is near, and now I face the final curtain ....




I almost can't believe I actually managed to leave the squishy package til last. I must be finally all growed-up. It's not like all the other gifts weren't lovely - they were, absolutely; but I think most people will be itching to check out their yarn. I didn't blog about this yesterday, although it could be counted as a WIP, for rather a rather sneaky reason: when my swap partner recipient Stephcuddles received my box, she was on occasion tardy at blogging about the contents (justifiably - she was in the middle of moving house, and had no internet) and I was surpised to find out just how much I wanted to read her reactions to what I'd chosen for her.

Of course, I extrapolated from that, that everyone feels identically about it. So I thought I'd extend Mooncalf's torture and blog about it today instead. Inside the squish was this:




100g of Colinette Jitterbug in the colorway 'Ginger Cinnabar'; 100% merino superwash fingering (4ply) wool. The name is almost as good as the color; and the color is well within my palette of favorites. So I think Mooncalf might be suggesting I make Liesel using the 3.75mm Addi Lace needles and this lovely autumn-hued yarn .... the drooping elm leaf stitch pattern it involves will certainly suit it nicely.

Thanks so much, Mooncalf, for being a thoughtful swap partner, and for all the lovely gifts.

WIP Wednesday 3

So the meme today is WIP Wednesday, and all I haven't got to show for it is Mini Diva's school cardigan, an old pattern I got from somewhere that is acres of stocking stitch only enlivened by a minor cable on the front side edges. So there's no photo of that seeing as how a) I can't stand the color and b) I'm only on the back, and it's boring to look at.

Instead we will talk about the end of the season: recently we've suffered from very high winds and heavy rain. Apart from having to pick up the tub the green beans are in quite a few times - and they are much the worse for being blown over - it has done for me 'matoes too, even though it was only a cherry tumbler bush, its low profile did not save it:




And while I was out there, I cut back the petunias very harshly: they were blowsy and done, so if they come back with just one more flush, that'll be lovely; but if they die - Gallic shrug - then at least they're tidy deaths. That's them, along with the dead lavender flower stems, lying in the messy heap there ...



I find it just all too melancholy, heart-sinking and weep-making, the turn of the season from summer into autumn: I despise and hate the winter with a vengeance, the short, cold, dark, wet days of perpetually feeling miserably yuk. And of course this year we have had a small, tiny, meagre, grudging summer - all the nicest, hottest sunny days were back in June and a bit of July; and since we had that horrible long winter that just seemed to drag on for ever, you'd think that'd be balanced out by a lovely long hot summer, wouldn't you ? Although I haven't quite given up hope of a summerly redux: an Indian summer ....

So I cheered myself up by posting off my Blog Hub Swap box to its recipient well before the deadline date:



I think they should get it either today or tomorrow ....

You can find a list of other bloggers taking part in WIP Wednesday at Tami's blog, here.