August

I'm sure you will understand the reason for my lack of posts this month. I have been the sole source of entertainment for a (very) lively four year old which, although tough going at times, has also been a enormous amount of fun.

This month has flown by.

When I initially booked our holiday for the end of July I naively thought the rest of the Summer would stretch on forever and yet now, here we are, almost at its end.

I've really enjoyed the time off and it seems that, once again, we've spent most of the month outdoors. I've made up endless picnics, cleaned muddy boots and swept up A LOT of sand.

We've visited the picturesque towns of Kirkby Lonsdale, Settle and Skipton, walked up Wansfell Pike, overlooking Ambleside and, of course, spent a lot of time at the beach.

In the middle of the month I spent my birthday by the lake at Grasmere. It was a gloriously sunny day and Lily and I had a wonderful time paddling at the soft shingle shoreline. Her confidence has grown in leaps and bounds over the Summer, mastering the zip wire and fireman's pole at the local park and learning to read. We have spent so much time together it is going to be such a wrench when she starts at school in a couple of weeks time.

We've collected plenty of blackberries. Or rather I collected blackberries while Lily stood and kept me company. They are in abundance around here this year and I have a freezer drawer full of them just waiting to be made into jam and possibly some blackberry vodka.

Over the last week the weather has hinted at Autumn, but with the temperatures set to rise again towards the weekend I will be making the most of Summer while it lasts.

J. X