Ah, August. Boy, is the weather weird. One day it’s really warm and sunny; next we’re on the edge of a storm and rain comes and goes but isn’t in the forecast. It’s sleep-inducing weather. I can hear the dog making dream noises as I write.
We’re sort of half way through summer so I thought I’d do a vague examination of things I’ve noted.
What of this summer? Beyond marking time by which house task I’ve managed to accomplish…
- I’ve noticed far fewer rabbits this year. Which is odd because a number of the big fields haven’t been touched (ie, mowed), leaving them lots of cover (I’ve stood at the edges looking for movement – nothing). Even in the decaying farm — which developers having been buying and then re-selling over the past eight years — which used to be one of their fave hangouts, the numbers are way down. And I haven’t seen very many baby bunnies. Maybe the weather…
- I was reminded we’re now in tourist season after Tom’s post last week in which his car was damaged by some useless woman. Here, during school hols, strange things happen on the roads and I remind myself to go out early or late or take public transport. Things like people crashing into the car in front of them because they are ooing and ahing over the cow in the field and neglect to notice the SUV in front of them has stopped. Then, the single road in and out of the coast will be stopped for hours while things are sorted out. Usually on one of the hottest days of the year.
- The brown fig tree, next to the recalcitrant jasmine (apparently that jasmine really is a grumpy plant, according to the garden centre women), has got its grow on this year. Loads of figs. I’ve read that figs don’t have a long enough season of hot weather to ripen here but this summer’s been like the Mediterranean. So, we may get lucky. I’m thinking about fig jam …
- With the braces food has become a bit of a chore. As I think I mentioned almost no bread (I’ve discovered that if I cut bagels into baby-sized pieces I can eat the outstanding one I discovered recently – in fact, to mark the onset of August it was an everything bagel with Emmental and a hash brown, and a superlative iced latte).
- I have been gravitating towards a small number of perfumes due to the weather. And oddly that has not included my cheap as chips cologne. Rather, the re-emerged Strange Invisible Perfumes Magazine Street has seen a lot of wear. As has Serge Lutens Dompteuse and Le Labo Ylang 49. The sample of Clinique Aromatics Elixir from alityke gets taken out on grey, heavy, close, humid days sprayed sparingly. Even Arpege – which is so not this season. And each time I spray a smidge of Neela Vermeire Eshal I’m more convinced a bottle will come my way in the future.
So, how about you if you’re experiencing summer (Portia: winter thoughts?) – how has your summer unfolded so far? Have you noticed something specific out of the ordinary?
Pics: Pexels
If I had a fig tree it probably would be overloaded this Summer – extraordinary heat and a squickton of rain ..
Wearing Kilian Sun-kissed Goddess a lot! But… I dunno… Hawaiian Tropic tends to just stomp all over it so… ( shrug) For that kinda simoleans …
We’re doing another heatwave from this coming weekend. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it. I check the figs every few weeks. Maybe they’ll come good in late September …
Oh I do kind of miss those summer rainstorms we got in New England as a kid. We get storms sometimes in the mountains in the summer but rarely to they reach the basin.
Our summer is just starting (as is usual.) The high will get up to 90F by Friday before dropping back into the 80’s. It’s hotter in the Valley and much hotter in the desert (where a lot of my friends have decamped to- less traffic, less everything. But small animals in that weather might spontaneously combust..)
Our tourist season is kind of a bust here in the old USofA. Seems that people don’t want to chance out borders. Or chance leaving the house. I suppose it’s kept gasoline prices down, so that’s something.
I used to be fascinated by the NYC sudden storms: high 90s and baking but then all of a sudden a huge downpour with the temp dropping 20 degrees.
Thanks Cinnamon for a lovely post, a window into your world. Our Virginia weather has been very typical for this summer: hot, humid, with lots of late afternoon thunderstorms. My neighborhood has had an enormous amount of power outages. Apparently there’s some underground switch that’s faulty. It doesn’t even have to be rainy or windy for the power to go out. I’ve mostly worn my summer favorites but today I broke out Jolie Madame, and it smells amazing. The leather blooms beautifully. Arpege is a year-round favorite of mine, so that doesn’t seem odd to me!
Glad you enjoyed it. We hardly ever have thunderstorms — and our infrequent outages usually only last 15 mins. Leather in heat. I haven’t tried Dark Lord but we’re due another heatwave next weekend so will maybe give it a go.
It’s been hot and humid here. I have the AC running more often than not. Our tomato plants are growing faster than the weeds here in northern Ohio. Even I haven’t seen too many rabbits this year and I haven’t seen bumper crop after bumper crop of them. Been wearing quite a bit of Cheirosa 62 this summer.
Even though our weather is getting warmer I don’t know anyone with AC. Maybe people in the fancy new builds. It’s just not a thing. I am perplexed regarding the rabbits. Last year there were loads.
I’m on a sampling binge, ordering things from Surrender to Chance and playing in housemate Carolyn’s stash — it’s fun! We’ve had a (relatively) cool summer, only a few days in the 90s. I turn on the AC in the mid afternoons and off again and windows open when the sun goes down. It’s glorious. In DC it was basically all AC from May until October. I do miss the humidity sometimes, but only because it made my hair nicely curly (it’s so flat here) and it would be a LOT easier on my house plants. Figs: mine come from a jar now. I had two fig trees in DC and the season was never long enough to ripen, which is odd.
Ooops, meant to translate that to celsius — 32C and hotter.
Sigh. I would love to visit NM but along with so many other US cities/places it’s very unlikely to happen. The current fantasy is if doing Japan becomes possible I’d do cruise to Canada, train across the country and then another boat from Vancouver. Would take a long time. I am cautiously hopeful about the figs this year.
If I were a tourist from outside the US I would … be giving some hard thought to whether I wanted to come here, given the TSA / border nonsense.
Hey Cinnamon,
We are in the middle of a wet period. The good news is that Sydney has heavy rain followed by decent breaks in the same afternoon so the dogs are still getting fairly dry walks. Today was a rainy 12-18C. I love our mild winter, piling on clothes and wearing the perfume big guns.
Creed Centaurus and Carmina, Headspace Myrrh and Rose, some Patchoulis including the newish Guerlain A&M offering and a slew of other delights are getting spritzed.
Portia xx
I mean to visit the Guerlain concessions next time I’m up-country. I had such a good time with you at Harrods. Joe the lab does not mind a wet walk but he’s got an oily coat so gets a bit stinky.
That was a fantastic afternoon Cinnamon, I’m hoping for another London visit soon.
HA! contrary to popular opinion I love the smell of wet hound.
The days of the heatwaves died as soon as I bought a beautiful pink maxi sundress. How did the weather know I was now prepared for it?
Currently we’re on the edge of Storm Floris, it’s chucking it down, there’s a gusting wind yet it’s still over 20c. It feels like sitting on an already warm toilet seat but all over! Gak!!!
I too wear Aromatics Elixir in weird weather. It fits perfectly.
Eshal has only had one outing as yet, it was cherry cooking day & Eshal lost out to the cherries. Probably a good sign.
Cherries. What did you cook? I did a swoop of the blackberries the other day and will get more. They are very good this year. AE is perfect for unsettled weather. In fact, it’s perfect for unsettled anything. I hope the storm passes by you quickly.
The cherries would have benefited from a few more days to ripen, but a bird got in & tore the netting, so we had to pick there & then.
I made a huge Bakewell pudding. It’s an almond custard filling & puff pastry rather than frangipane & shortcrust. Absolutely delicious. Made a pie for the freezer & preserved the rest in a port syrup. Kept the stones in for extra flavour & the house smelled like amaretto for days. Eshal raised the white flag to the cherry fug.
Had to pick the apples today, the wind was making them fall. The neighbours have started benefiting. We’ll be swapping apples for pears with No 5. The apples are a James Grieve & Discovery cross. Crop early & don’t keep
I think AE works very well in weird weather. And for some reason “Storm Floris” made me giggle- it brought to mind a lantern-jawed overly tanned TV presenter in a secondary TV market. “And now here’s Storm Floris with today’s Channel 5 farm report..”
Hahaha the UK actually has a Channel 5!
Tomas Schaffernacker the BBC weatherman isn’t lantern jawed or tanned & he does the weather on Countryfile, a farming programme that is a huge ratings winner & national institution on Sunday evenings here.
Brits are a strange race