Thursday 10 July 2014

Midsummer Reflections



When the year get to Midsummer I find myself in a reflective  mood, the Summer Solstice brings the  the longest day and this  marks the begin of the slow lengthening of the night and shortening of the day until the Winter Solstice,when the cycle of year begins again and the light slowly returns.


I love the light evening and often Pops and I go for late walks just wandering quietly, unless a fox or a cat crosses our path when Pops will lunge forward ready for a chase in which case I hang onto her lead and we fly along until the quarry has disappeared.  then she goes into sniffer dog mode. As we walked  last night we saw the moon rise in the East, It is nearly full, as I look at it I imagine the  Moon Goddess Cerridwen sending down silver rays of love and blessings from  sky above. In the West  the clouds were straggling across the blue sky colored pink by the setting sun.

As we walk in the evening the air is full of the perfume of summer jasmine, honey suckle, plants that attract moths to pollinate them, and we can see ethereal shapes flitting across our paths as moths are drawn fragrance of the plants.  In my own garden the fragrance from night scented stocks evening primrose, honeysuckle  buddleia and myrtle on warm night make it a delightful place to sit in the dark and watch the moths  and reflect on 2014 and  write my journal.

In the  early morning  the air in my garden full of fragrance  from the shrubs and plants which draw into the garden bees butterflies, moths, hover flies and numerous insects to feed on the nectar or collect pollen   The myrtle plant has just started flowering and will soon be filled with the buzzing of bees, some of which get quite dizzy on its heady nectar..The white Buddleia Davidii  has tall arching branches and clusters of white flowers with yellow eyes. Its fragrance attracts ladybirds, lacewings and on a warm day and evening is full of interest and scent, it towers nearly twelve foot high and through it can be seen the summer jasmine full of flowers and the insects flit from one shrub  to the next and onto the honeysuckle where bumble bees dive into the center of the flower and their "pollen  buzz" vibrates the pollen loose and showers them with gold which they brush into their pollen sacks, sometimes they bite into the base of the flowers to drink the nectar and then zig zag off to another plant.

On my plot  the red clover is now finished flowering so are the poppies, borage, logan berry cransbils, but the cosmos flowers are nearly ready to open as are many others, the blackberry hedge is full of flowers, as is the dog rose hedge and the wild flower among the fruit bushes, but the rich easy food sources of late, spring and early summer have finished for the moment and insects have to fly further to find pollen and nectar.  But   soon there will be a flush of bee and  insect friendly flowers opening.

The herbs are  beginning to flower, the buddliea-mint,the thyme in the fragrant lawn are full of  flower buds, white, blue red magenta, the marjoram are sending up spikes of flowers, the hyssop, nasturtiums are flowering, and the tansy is sending up flower spikes which are loved by hover flies, lady birds but not the bees.

Somewhere  on my desk must be the my to do lists for my plot but they do not seems to be so important now, the last vegetables of the summer season are ready to be planted and carrot seeds, beetroot seeds have been sown, The cold frame is filled wallflower, foxgloves, sweet williams, poppies, cornflowers all growing to be ready for planting in spring, in September more herbs and flowers will be sown  to be planted out in 2015

For now, mowing the grass, watering and weeding are the main tasks of summer and of course harvesting the crops as they become ready. It is a time for friends to visit and share a picnic and while away a sunny evening. talking, reflecting and feeling gratitude for the all the living things that make our gardens and plots so fascinatingly interesting, bountiful  and beautiful


With Reiki golden light  and gratitude For Mother Earth
and

May the long time sun
Shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light
within you
Guide your way home.

Rumi

MerryB