Not every month, but from time to time, I like to take the occasion of turning another leaf in the calendar to write about either the past month, or the one that has just started, or both. The last time I did this was in June.
August has begun today, and for me, it is the first month of permanent employment with my new boss. The trial period of three months ended on Friday, and I received a very good email from him on Friday evening - not that I had doubts about me passing the trial period, but one can never be 100% sure of such things.
So, in terms of business, July was really good.
Healthwise, it was less good, but I am alright now.
In terms of private life, it was really good, too.
But as a summer month, July was disappointing.
Some mornings, it was so cold I had the heating on, and it rained almost every day. Several times I meant to go for a run but couldn't (well, I know I "can" go for a run when it rains, but I don't want to), and attempts to spend some sunny hours in the park like I did last summer were usually thwarted before I even left the house.
Still, it can't have been too bad - look at the rich bounty I got from my parents' garden the other day!
The flowers, by the way, were given to my mum from the parents at the kindergarden where she reads stories to the little ones once a week, to thank her for her voluntary work.
And August may be even better! The bounty looks delicious, particularly the berries!
ReplyDeleteWhat yummmy pictures! But I'm afraid I hate August. It always seems to me a drab, dark green, stuffy, empty kind of month.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe this one will be better.
Depends on where you are Frances...here on the high desert area of southern California August brings us brilliant blue ski, hot days and even nights; usually nights in the desert tend to be cold even in mid summer. Already the trees and shrubs are beginning to look a tad wilted from the heat.
ReplyDeleteWell, my b-day and my daughter's birthdays are in August, so I love it, of course! BTW, the fruit looks yum!
ReplyDeleteFlowers, fruits and vegetables... beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLove both of your photos...I must admit that I clicked and made them larger to enjoy them even more! Are those plums in the plastic container at the top right? Not sure about those, everything else I can identify. I wish so much I could send you some Georgia humid heat...I would love to get rid of it. Roll on Autumn, I say.
Kay, I'm a native Georgian born in Atlanta and reared in Smyrna. I can't say I really miss the humidity, but this dry desert air is disaster on your skin. Makes you look like a dried up old prune! You have to slather on the lotions every day or your skin will just dry up and flake off.
ReplyDeleteI do miss the Georgia greenery and the wonderful spring in and around north Georgia; the azaleas and dog wood especially.
Mark, those berries were indeed lovely - of course they were gone first, on the very next morning I added them to my muesli.
ReplyDeleteFrances, August empty? It is so FULL of ripening fruit and days filled with plenty of activities, preferably outdoors in the sun!
Sonia, thank you! It is my mum's birthday this month, too.
Kay, thank you! I am glad you clicked on the pictures. I usually do that for a better view on other people's blogs, too. The fruit in the plastic container top right are plums indeed; Mirabelles, to be precise. Botanically speaking, they belong to the plum family. And they were sweet and juicy and gone on the second day!
Jill, I love to slather on lotions every day even without living in a desert area. I just don't feel complete without it, maybe in the way some ladies do not feel complete if they do not apply tons of make-up (which I don't) :-)
I thought that your four line summary was pretty positive. All in all a month for which to be thankful.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in New Zealand I spend much of my day outside in the sun (playing croquet mainly!) and I always think it's a bit ironic that as soon as I've showered every morning (and got rid of all the 'stuff' on my skin) the first thing I have to do is slather sun lotion all over my legs and arms and so on to prevent sun-burn.
Why was your month of July not very good healthwise? Did I totally miss something or did you just not mention it? You don't have to say, but I am glad that you are better now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another reason that I really must have my own blog, so that I may "speak" with Jill, another Georgia girl! Oh yes, Spring is still lovely here, to me even more beautiful at Stone Mountain, which is where I spent my April birthday enjoying the wildflowers and the newly green trees. The dogwoods and azaleas ARE beautiful. Trouble is, Spring only seems to last for 10 minutes and then, it's HOT SUMMER!
GB, you are right in that the positive way outweighed the negative bits of the past month. I do hope my disappointment with the July weather did not make me sound like an ungrateful brat.
ReplyDeleteKay, I did not mention it on here before, but I had (and still have) back problems (ongoing thing ever since I was 15 or 16 years old) and on top of that, had shingles. As I said, though, I am alright now, and usually I simply ignore any health problems for as long as possible, anyway :-)
If every time I mentioned my disappointment with the weather I thought I sounded like a brat I'd never be saying anything 'cos we seem to have so much poor weather. It's just part of life's trials and tribulations. Anyway if we've got the weather to complain about it stops us complaining about other things.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you have back problems. That's so debilitating. Shingles, too, is a real horror.
GB, I got away incredibly lightly with my bout of shingles. My immune system kicked in before it had a chance to really get hold of me, and it did not stop me from participating in my hometown's city run.
ReplyDeleteWhen I complain about the weather, it usually has to do with temperature more than anything; you will never hear me moaning about anything above 25 Celsius - I thrive in the heat!
I confess to complaining about the rain and cold and wind when it's supposed to be summer. I can cope with it in the winter 'cos that's what it's supposed to be like! Like you I thrive in the heat.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful harvest - I think the plants liked the weather. I've noticed that they don't seem keen on it being too hot. (Not that I am much of a gardener...)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post! How wonderful is your mom to volunteer weekly! Love the harvest too!
ReplyDeleteGB, I can never quite cope with cold, but in winter, I guess I accept it easier.
ReplyDeleteJenny, gardeners and farmers here were very worried about their plants earlier this year; we didn't have a drop of rain all of May, so July with all that water was probably what it took to make the plants happy.
Mary, my mum is indeed wonderful!