Hello August!

Another month has arrived, I can't quite believe that we are in August already!

Look at what is happening in my neck of the woods...

...soon it will be blackberrying time! It is an annual tradition in our family to go blackberrying and cook up all manner of delicious things. Blackberry and Apple Crumbles and jams are amongst our favourite things to make with this hedgerow fruit. To be honest, I think this particular bramble is sitting in a sheltered, sunny spot which is why it is ripening now, most of the brambles are about three weeks away from ripening berries which is about right. Still, lovely to see.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you know I'm all about family, homeschooling, faith and of course celebrating the seasons and nature. 

I am always mindful of what is happening in the natural world through the seasons, but I am also mindful of what is happening in my garden on a day to day basis. There is always something lovely to watch or listen to. One of my daily routines is to take a little stroll around the garden in the quiet of the morning with a cup of coffee, before the day begins, and have a look at what is happening.

Yesterday morning we spotted a young hedgehog foraging for food. Seeing hedgehogs in our garden is not unusual, we have a family of 5 that come and feast on the food we put out for them every single evening. We delight in watching them.

What is unusual about this is that it was during the day. He seemed healthy and happy so I can only assume he is taking every opportunity to put on some winter weight. I spotted his small sibling this morning doing the same thing so we are making sure that we put food out every evening and morning to help them. They are seriously adorable. Hedgehogs, foxes and robins are my most favourite creatures of all.

My bird feeder is a hub of activity these days! We have a small flock of Long-tailed Tits that are constantly fluttering between our feeder and the surrounding trees. They are fearless and quite happy to eat while we are sitting outside nearby.

On the homeschooling front...

Planning for our new school year has been slow, in fact, I had the best intentions of sitting down and getting all our nature, composer and art plans done for the year, but it has turned out to have been much busier than expected and I have struggled to find time to just sit and immerse myself in planning.

However, I have kept my diary free of appointments and 'must-do's' next week so I will make sure that I have plenty of pretty pens, paper, our homeschool planners and coffee at the ready for next week. I really do love planning out our school year so the fewer distractions the better. I can fully immerse myself in one of my favourite things about homeschooling.

Now August has a few seasonal observances, some natural, some local to my area. Here are a few things we will be doing this month:

9th & 10th - Plymouth Firework Championships. We are going to see them the same way we did last year. With friends, from the roof of my husband's hotel, with a hot mug of hot chocolate - and our cameras of course.

12th - The annual Perseids Meteor Shower peaks in the UK. Sadly this year there is a full moon just before which means visibility will be halved by the light but we will still give it a go.

13th - 15th - My lovely friend from South Africa is visiting! So excited to see her, it's been almost 8 years since we last sat down face to face and put the world to rights.

26th - Exam results day!

28th - August Bank Holiday

Most of all, we are going to enjoy every moment of the summer holiday. We are going to visit a pick-your-own farm, have picnics (weather allowing), perhaps go to the beach. By the time September comes along and lessons begin, I'm hoping we will all have renewed energy and will be refreshed, ready to tackle a new school year.

Have a lovely weekend 😊