It’s getting on for late August and that means blackberries. I went to my favourite blackberry patch (two roofless derelict garages that warm up the plants and ripen the fruit sooner) and picked enough to make a batch of Crème De Mure using this recipe. Today I went back and gathered more for a crumble. Over the next few weeks I’ll do more trips around different nearby places and pick some to freeze to have in my porridge.
It seems to be a particularly good year for blackberries, maybe because of all the wet days with sudden burst of hot sunshine, so I may be able to get enough for a second batch of Crème De Mure, because it’s bloody lovely after it’s had three months or more to mature and it’s nice having enough to give away. Not to mention I have most of a big bottle of cheap vodka left so I may as well use it, and I think I’ll have enough to make Limoncello too.
There’s something about late August that makes me wistful. Summer is fading and on early mornings when I sit outside I smell Autumn on the air. The smallest birds are visiting the feeder in busy little flocks, working hard on fattening up for Winter. Squirrels are bounding back and forth through the conifers at the bottom of the garden with peanuts and chunks of fat ball, eating what the can and hiding the rest.
This year for the first time I’m trying not to mentally resist the reality of the colder months approaching. It helps that the Summer has been chilly and wet as there’s less contrast between Summer and Autumn than usual. The animals around me naturally know Autumn and Winter are coming and are preparing accordingly, without question so why do I try to resist and focus on the negatives of the changing seasons? Instead I can prepare too, getting jobs done around the house that will benefit us in Winter, getting the high energy tasks done, get into a pattern of healthier food and gentle exercise: laying the ground for a happy, healthy Winter.