Last Day of June

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It seems strange to think that July starts tomorrow. It seems only yesterday that it was winter and I'd just started blogging. That was over three months ago. In other parts of the country it has been much hotter and I'm glad that it's milder down in Cornwall. We usually just have lots of rain but then that's what makes the grass here so green. Roses and honeysuckle are flowering in the garden and the St John's Wort in the front garden has also just come into flower. The bush is quite something to see with its wealth of yellow flowers which are also much appreciated by the bees for the pollen and the birds, later in the year, for the seeds.

Mazey Day

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Every year in Penzance, usually around the end of June, there is the Feast of Golowan. This is a festival which celebrates, depending on your point of view and religious outlook, the Summer Solstice or the feast day of St John. This is a week of celebration, music, plays, talks and exhibitions amongst other entertainments. On the Saturday after the start of the Golowan, is Mazey Day. The centre of Penzance is closed to traffic and there are stalls, processions and a variety of entertainment. One of the choirs I sing with sang during Mazey Day this year and I really enjoyed it. It was a holiday atmosphere with lots to look at and listen to as well as the concert in which I took part. Even the weather was kind to us with hot sun and just a little breeze to prevent it from becoming too warm.

Buzzards

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For us who live in the south west UK, the buzzard is the closest bird we have in size to an eagle. You can hear their cry over the fields and see them fly and play in the air when they court each other and have a young family. I love to watch their effortless soaring and am somewhat envious of the skill and apparent ease that they employ. I often hear them call to each other from my house. My happiest memory was after we first moved into our house in January and watching and hearing the buzzards two fields away. Often their favourite perches are on telegraph poles.

Summer Breeze

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Today, it's quite humid in West Penwith but with lovely sunshine and a few fluffy clouds. What makes it much more pleasant is the coolish breeze that is blowing in through my window as I write this. Often, down here we complain about the wind because it can be both strong and cold in the winter but it's most welcome now that the heat and humidity are beginning to set in.

Stonehenge

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Thinking of the Summer Solstice always makes me think of Stonehenge and the Druids who worship there during the Summer and Winter Solstices. I can remember the site from when I was a little girl and we could go right up and touch the stones. At that time I wondered what the fuss was about but I still found it a fascinating place. Now, of course, the stones are cordoned off and you have to get special permission to go up and touch the stones.

Warm Sunday Afternoon

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I love Sunday afternoons when everything is quiet around me and I have time to relax and enjoy myself. This afternoon it was warm enough to go out into the garden to have my lunch and I sat there entranced by the roses and the honeysuckle which are flowering at the moment and watched a damselfly on a leaf waiting for a mate.

Tourism

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Living in Cornwall, we depend a huge amount on tourism, which starts to get going after Easter and is at its height during the end of July and through August. Many people come down to the west of Cornwall to enjoy walks along the coast. Of course much depends on the weather as it can be very wet here even in the middle of July and August. Hopefully, it will be sunnier here than it has been over the past two years, which have been disappointingly grey and wet. Today is perfect, bright sunshine with a few cotton wool clouds and a breeze. Perfect weather for walking but probably a little too cold to bathe in the sea. I don't go on holidays much myself unless it's connected to something else like a concert tour with one of the choirs I sing with. Living where I do, especially when the weather is good, I don't need to be anywhere else. When it's cold, grey and wet, however, I have fantasies of warm beaches in the Mediterranean!

Palm Trees

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Palm trees are often associated with hot and exotic locations. But I have one in my back garden which is currently in flower. Down in this part of the UK it is warm enough for us to grow a regional variety of palm known as the Cornish Palm, which stands up to the salt blown inland from the sea and the strong winds that we often experience.

Friends

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I met up with an old friend who had moved away from the area yesterday to live about 500 miles away. We went swimming and chatted over coffee and a snack. It was really good to see her again but I felt sad when we parted that it might be another year before we could meet up again.

Concerts

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Since I belong in three choirs currently, I end up singing in concerts quite a lot. I often feel a little ambivalent about this, as I love singing but I don't necessarily enjoy performing and become nervous. But there is nothing like a really good concert where you feel everyone has performed well and you have an appreciative audience. I'm singing in a choir concert tonight and hope that it will go very well.

Busy Week

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This week has been busy for me with music lessons, choral rehearsals and other appointments. Although I enjoy all of these things I find that I have less energy and motivation to do any creative writing which is a little frustrating as I know that there are ideas that I have which I could put down on paper (or computer) and don't. Am hoping that I will adjust to the busy-ness and be able to take it more in my stride as time passes.

Flaming June

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Well it did for the first week down here in Cornwall. Now it is glooming rather than flaming with heavy clouds and fairly frequent showers. Good thing I didn't move down here for the weather!

History

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One of my favourite subjects at school was History. I found it really interesting what concerns people in the past had, what motivated them. Later I went on to study English Social History which was even more fascinating as that was about the lives of everyday people not rulers or governments. When you consider how quickly technology has changed in even the last 20 or so years and how that has affected the lives of so many of us you can begin to get the feeling of what it was like in the Industrial Revolution when so many people moved from the country to the towns to find work and often lived in appalling conditions. We are moving now from an industrial to a technological revolution and people's lives have been greatly affected by the change. Who is to say where it will end? There are times when I have considerable sympathy for the everyday people of the early nineteenth century whenI think about the future ahead of us now with all the changes which are occurring politically, economically and enviromentally.

Strawberries

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I love strawberries and always have. One of my fondest memories was coming back from boarding school in July and helping my father pick bowls of home grown strawberries for the family to eat. It was essentially organic growing although nobody needed to call it that then. They were the best strawberries that I've ever tasted - full of flavour. We also used to get wild strawberries growing in the hedgebanks at about the same time. Although much smaller than the cultivated variety, they have their own slightly tart, fresh taste. With Devonshire cream the strawberries were unbelievably delicious.

Maturation

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Maturation means many things to different people. To me it means growing up emotionally, not being the little kid who throws a tantrum (metaphorically speaking) when things go wrong, which they inevitably do sooner or later - after all that's just how life is sometimes. It also means learning to cope with life in a more adult fashion which is no easy feat when you consider some of the childish and greedy behaviours of a large section of our society. What I find particularly liberating is not needing inessential items. When I was much younger, it was important for me to go shopping for clothes, to have this whole image thing. Now, except for dying my hair, I care very little for what I wear providing it's comfortable and reasonably colourful. I don't need to follow fashion any more. And what a relief that is. Being able to show that I'm comfortable in the way I dress without having to worry about what fashion gurus would think. Even if I had as much money as I could ever dream, I don't think I would worry about fashion again. I really don't see the point and don't feel the need to show off to others how much I can afford to spend. Perhaps that's maturation too.

Coffee

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I love coffee. I sometimes think that it's the only thing that keeps me going. After I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is go to get a cup of coffee to help me to organise my thoughts. I have given it up for a while but thenI have totally missed the buzz that I get so have always returned to some kind of coffee consumption. Not long ago I read that drinking coffee helped to prevent the onset of Alzheimers Disease which is encouraging. Not that I need any excuse to drink coffee at all.