August Notebook: Everything is Golden
Stop and soak it all in
Hello!
A very happy August to you. I hope you’re enjoying all the warm, golden goodness of this lazy summer month. (well, slightly less lazy if you have school-age children and are currently in the school-holiday juggle zone. But hopefully some micro moments of relaxation can still be found.)
Now, before we begin, I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who left such lovely feedback on my Seasonal Living Membership launch last weekend. I wasn’t at all sure what the response would be, but you were all very kind and encouraging, so thank you!
Just a reminder that the first online retreat week will be happening next month, so if you were thinking about signing up, now’s the time to do it. Retreat members will receive their exclusive package of emails in September, packed with recipes, book recommendations and rituals to guide you gently through the Autumn Equinox. So if that sounds good to you, get more details and sign up here.
Right, now back to August…
If each month was a colour (and in my mind they all are), August would be a deep, golden yellow. The colour of a corn field at sunset. Or a field of Sunflowers stretching as far as the eye can see. Everything outside has that dusty sun-baked warmth that you can only get right at the end of the summer.
And as much as I hate to use the expression ‘end of the Summer’, we are now entering the last full month of Summer. So now is the time to really stop and soak it all in.
In this newsletter we’ll be celebrating by frolicking (carefully) in flower fields, eating oven-fresh bread, and embracing some early Harvest rituals.
Who’s with me?
Things to love about August
1. Harvest time
I know we’re all still in Summer holiday mode, but did you know this is actually peak harvest season? In fact, the whole reason we have school holidays in August is because traditionally, children were given the month off school as they were needed to help in the fields. Forget your package holidays, August meant hard manual labour, with a quick break for a ploughman’s lunch in the fields if you were lucky!
Luckily most of us don’t have to do any proper harvest work these days, but we can still appreciate all the hard work of those who do (respect to your local farmers) while enjoying the fruits of their hard work; see ‘eating fresh bread’ below.
2 Flower farms
Flower farms seem to be taking off in the UK in a big way, and they are glorious at this time of year; late summer flowers have the most intense colours. There are two flowers that peak in the UK in August; Dahlias and Lavender (OK, lavender is technically a herb, but you know what I mean).
Here are a list of lavender farms in the UK that are open to visit this month. You can’t usually pick your own lavender at these farms, but you can get some beautiful photos and, of course, visit the gift shop. Everyone loves a gift shop.
Dahlia farms usually are pick-your-own though, and I can report that the one near me has just opened it’s doors for the whole of August. So hopefully there will be one local to you too. Take your scissors and your camera. You know you’ll want a photo. Happy days.
Just a final point: Now you’re all a sensible lot, so I know really don’t need to say this, but just a reminder not to lay down and roll around in the flower fields when you visit. Tempting as it might be.
3. Ancient Harvest rituals
Lammas or Lughnasadh, is the first of three harvest festivals in the ancient pagan calendar (us pagans can’t get enough of Harvest season!) and it’s celebrated on the 1st August. It’s a gentle, sunny festival that focuses on warmth, abundance and gratitude. And freshly baked bread. Which, let's face it, is reason enough for a festival. It’s one of my favourites and you can see my ideas for celebrating it here.
Things to do in August
Feeling suitably August-y yet? I hope so. Right, here are three things to do, see and eat this month:
1. Eat fresh bread
(See Lammas festival above) When I was little my mum used to make a harvest loaf in the shape of a sheaf of wheat. It had a plaited bread rope around the stalks to keep them together and there was always a little bread mouse hiding somewhere too. It was golden-coloured and glazed on the top and it clearly it had a profound effect on me as I can describe it exactly! Obviously a bread lover even back then.
If you fancy making your own wheat-sheaf harvest loaf this month, this is what I’m talking about. Equally, buying a nice loaf of bread would be perfectly acceptable too.
2. Fully appreciate the last month of Summer
It’s definitely still Summer. But also… there’s just a hint of early-autumn in the air isn’t there? Blackberries creeping through the hedgerows, hazelnuts growing quietly on trees and a definite shortening of the days. If you’re an autumn-lover like me, these signs will fill your heart with woodsmoke-scented joy, but if your heart lays in the Summertime you might feel a bit differently.
All this to say, while Autumn might be close, it’s not here yet. August is our last full month of Summer, so if there was ever a time for living in the moment, this is it. Make the very most of the month, soak in all the sunshine, rest and relax as much as you’re able, because this is what Summer is for (unless you’re a farmer).
3. Make jam (or buy local)
The garden and hedgerow are filling up rapidly with delicious berries and soft fruits, so now is the time to get the jam pan out if you want to preserve them for the winter.
I shared this last year, but there’s no better place to get advice on jam making than the WI, so here are their pearls of wisdom on the topic again. I really like point no. 10 on their no-nonsense list titled: ‘if things go wrong’.
To be strictly transparent here, I’ve never yet made my own jam, despite announcing each year that I’m going to. The closest I got this year was picking a huge bag of wild plums then casually dropping them off at my mum’s house in case she ‘wanted to do anything with them’. She turned them into jam within 24 hours. So that worked brilliantly.
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your August newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with fresh bread, long golden days and jam that someone else made for you. Now it’s over to you to share your August rituals and traditions in the Comments. I’m all ears.
I’ll see you next month for a September edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be diving into Autumn Equinox rituals, harvest moon gazing and some delicious seasonal recipes.
And of course, my first ever Seasonal Retreat week will also be happening next month, so make sure to sign up for that now if you’ve been considering it. I don’t think you’ll regret it!
Take care,
Vicky xx
Well that’s made me feel all sunny and joyful, thank you. Although, it’s the last month of proper summer, I am secretly hoping for an Indian one too! Excited for berry picking and jam making. X
I am feeling all golden and warm and summery after reading your words. What a blissful month this is!