Summer Catch Up

I’m back!  Back in the land of blogdom.

I’d planned to take the summer off….but summer only arrived here two days ago.  The whole country has had a pretty dire season.  But here in the Pennines we seem to have had it worst of all.  I’m now convinced we have the foulest weather on the entire planet.  For months, it’s been relentlessly grey with rain almost every day.  I’ve been trogging the moors in a winter coat and even, on occasion, gloves and scarf.  Some days Joss and I haven’t bothered at all.

Meanwhile, I’ve drooled over Instagram pictures of foreign friends in summer frocks and sunshine.  Read, with growing irritation, blog posts about picnics and outings to the beach.   Dismissed complaints of too hot weather with a snarl.  Wanted to slam the phone down on family in other parts of the UK who’ve said, ‘Isn’t it a lovely day!‘  No!  No!  No!  It’s not!!!

BUT….just when we’d given up hope altogether, summer has come!!!  And the relief is palpable.  People are happy!  I drove across the moor last night behind a cavalcade of ice cream vans.  It feels like one of those cataclysmic events that brings the nation together and makes even grumpy folk talk to strangers.

The weather gurus tell us the Indian summer is supposed to last for the rest of September ‘down south’.  Here ’up north’, we’re crossing everything for a few lingering weeks of sunshine.  While the rest of the hemisphere slips into autumn, we need to play summer catch up.

Summer Break

Last summer I announced I was taking a break from this blog – then proceeded to carry on posting as per usual.  I failed to skip even one solitary post.  Which didn’t constitute any kind of a break at all.  Pretty feeble.

This year, I mean it.  After three years of regular blogging, I’m finally taking a few weeks off.  Time to kick back, to reflect, to reorganise.  And time for the odd jaunt or two (like the one to Scotland this past weekend – see picture above).

I’ll be back here in September, all refreshed and raring to go again (I hope!).  If you’d like a reminder to start checking in here once more, then hit the Newsletter button on the right of this page and sign up to the Dixon Hill zine.  Or click the little orange symbol top right to subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed.

I hope your summer (or winter) is a good one – involving fun and some serious sunshine.

I’ll see you back here in September…

It's A Girl Thing

Preparing to go to a fancy wedding.  

Sea green or plum?

Decisions, decisions!

Changing Places: Tracy Verdugo on Mexico

Ode to Mexico

Mexico, sweet Mexico!

Land of vibrant colours, rich history and fiery foods. Where smells hit the senses with blunt and honest force, practicality rules and whimsical, fatalistic humour abounds.

Land of a thousand contradictions; outrageous wealth and brutal poverty, a deep seated reverence for Spirit intertwined with a stark and brutal violence.

We have travelled your potholed roads over mountains and from coast to coast, by plane, by bus, and in our old chevy truck complete with our little casa on top.

We have experienced your beauty as young childless travellers, and with our children, as babies, toddlers and teens. Every time you beguile me and I grow a little more into the person I was meant to become.

You have taught me the value of compassion, the beauty of difference and the wisdom of trusting in the journey.

You have filled my world with the joy of colour and helped me to recognise the dormant artist within.

I have learned to welcome new friends into our home as countless Mexicanos have welcomed us into theirs, and through these connections and experiences I have learned that there truly are no accidents in life.

I have come to realise that faith is a wondrous thing and that miracles and magic exist in all of our lives when we are willing to let them in.

I have learned that we don’t need as much as we think we do and that when you are generous in Spirit your own world becomes far more beautiful and bounteous.

I am still learning to laugh heartily and spontaneously and it may take many more visits before I can dance with freedom and without inhibition.

I cherish the memories and hold the future promise in my heart.

Tracy lives with her family in an eclectic adobe home in a small coastal village in Australia.  She’s an artist and creative workshop facilitator and will be taking her magic to the States later this year, leading workshops there.  Find all the details on her blog.

Changing Places is a guest post series about the power of place to change us.  You can find more stories in the series here.  If you’d like to share your own story, please contact me for submission details.

Tuesday Mornings

Tuesday morning is when my weekly fruit and vegetable box arrives.  And it always feels a bit like Christmas.  Jumping out of bed, dashing downstairs to unpack a big parcel of goodies.  Most of what Santa (aka Danny the driver) has left is expected; but there are generally one or two surprises, too.

After the ’Ooo!’s and ’Ah!’s comes the careful washing of produce.  Then the sorting – some things to be squirreled away in the larder; others to wait patiently in the fridge; some to sit in the fruit bowl; still others to ripen on the windowsill.

All the time, my mind is ruminating on possible taste combinations - a little of this with a pile of that, scattered with some of the other.  Tantalising flavours, delectable meals dancing through my head.

In the quiet of the morning kitchen, there’s ritual and promise and colour and scent.  My hands busy, my feet calmly padding about, my senses engaged, my imagination running amok amongst the fruit and flowers and vegetables and herbs.

In my excitement, I repeatedly forget to take a photo for you of all the abundance before I split it up.  So you’ll have to make do with a few lovely heirloom and vine tomatoes.  (The courgette flowers were prettier but I’ve already eaten those!)

P.S.  If you live in the UK, I highly recommend Abel and Cole.  Produce is great quality, ordering easy, service superb.  (Oh, and if you tell them I recommended them to you, we’ll both get some freebies!)