July 2023 - A Seasonal Diary
Hello July
Oh July
How to some you up… I think the word plenty does a good job. Plenty of feelings, plenty of love, plenty of cuddles and kisses. Plenty of crying, plenty of mess, plenty of overwhelm. Plenty of nappies, tantrums, baby poo, toddler poo, dog poo, rainy days, beetroot, onion, eggs, and The Last Kingdom episodes. The only thing there isn’t plenty of is sleep. But that will come in time. For now, it’s a time of survival and joy, of hard days and happiness. Toby has turned our world upside down and yet it feels like he’s always been here. How excited I am to learn who he will become and how thrilled I am to watch his big brother love him.
As you maybe have guessed the bump has finally arrived! A week later than expected he has graced us with his purple wriggling self at 7:22 am on the 1st July. He’s everything we wanted and yet still a grunting non-sleeping menace all the same. He’s good until he’s not, he’s loud, demanding, will only be held, like a grenade, ready to go off on contact with anything not Mum shaped. He’s a boob addict and gives us glimmers of smiles followed by ear piercing cries. And he’s utterly perfect, just like his brother.
After an induced covid birth all alone until the last minute with Ted, Toby gave me the gift of a quick labour when the roads were quiet. I woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning with my contractions 2 minutes apart and off we set to the hospital. We drove like the clappers because we live an hour away! He arrived an hour after we did. And now here we are, one whole month on, it’s going so quickly, yet also quite slow, the nights and days have become one solid block of bleary-eyed time. The rain has pushed harvest further and further back giving us extra time together as a family which I am happy about, the farmer is not. You know how farmers curse the weather
Having Toby means I’ve spent more time than I would like breastfeeding inside watching TV and not that much time outside in the garden watching the seasons change. The allotment is growing wild, completely neglected, and I guess if I tried hard I could do something about that but I’m just tired and quite happy to not think and lose myself in a box set. Maybe that’s okay, maybe it’s lazy but I will never get this chance to rest again so I’m making the most of it. That being said I’m excited to tell you about Daphne our collared Dove that after 3 attempts has successfully built a nest on the post of our garden pergola. She sits there perilous in her scruffy barely held together home and I worry for the safety of her chicks when they hatch. I’ve googled it and these birds are notorious for their scruffy nests so I’m hoping the chicks will be ready for the strong winds and the lack of sides to their nursery.
Somewhat irksome is the arrival of more rabbits in the allotment. No flower or vegetable is safe. The artichokes however are towering beautifully well out of little garden bast**** reach. (Pardon my French). I’ve harvested all the onions and beetroot leaving them to dry out and be stored for the winter. My cosmos seedlings are finally blooming and the sweet peas are in continual supply, me and Toby have to pick them every other day to keep on top, it’s so nice to have the scent wafting around the kitchen, although the little black bugs they’re always covered in are not so nice.
"If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead.
-Roald Dahl
I’m not quite so sure I agree with old Roald Dahl on this one, although January is loathsome, I think there are better months to replace it with, maybe September? July with its first veg harvests and pretty flowers is lovely but it’s bang in the middle, it brooks no change, it stands on no cliff edge. September however hangs promisingly on the cusp of Autumn with the excitement of cosiness just around the corner and yet the heat of the summer is still on your back.
On the airfield harvest is finally underway although it’s somewhat intermittent with all this rain we’re getting. Maybe it’s the rain that’s shadowing my love for the month? On the odd days of no rain when the combine is out and the farm is busy, I love looking over the golden fields with the bales scattered across. Change in life is inevitable but the predictable, rotary nature of the changes in the landscape brings me a warm feeling of familiarity. Along the field sides the poppies are scattered and the red petals I always associate with summer here on the farm, the yarrow has also flowered and there’s lots of field chamomile, clover and chicory in the game strips.
Things I’ve been enjoying and buying this month…
I haven’t bought much aside from baby stuff - and this is not a parenting blog so I’ll not bore you with all the overpriced rubbish you buy when you have a baby. I also haven’t read much as I no longer have two spare hands to hold a book. I must buy a kindle. I do however have some Netflix recommendations which most people have already watched. Not of much use this month am I?
The Last Kingdom - feeding a newborn means an awful lot of time sat on the sofa in front of the box, especially with so much rain outside. So, I’m recommending the Last Kingdom on Netflix as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, the first season I found hard work getting used to all the funny names and violence but after that I couldn’t turn it off.
Bridgerton - Again, absolutely loved every minute of this one too. I’m embarrassingly late to the party on both of these as I’m usually more of a reader than watcher. If you’re expecting Jane Austen, you’ll be disappointed but if you keep an open mind and enjoy the humour of it, you’ll not be able to stop. If you haven’t watched either and have some spare time I would highly recommend.
July In Paint & Pen
What has July been like for you? Have you seen anything out in Nature that’s made you smile or just peeked your interest? I would love to know, tell me in the comments below...