Summers end….

Last night which I’m hoping will live up to its word,(being the last night!)hopefully Bringing with it an end to the unbearable unrelenting oppressive heat, this past week has left me feeling somewhat jaded and exhausted,..there has been no escaping the humidity, air feeling thick hot and soupy, . Even with my large tower fan blowing the heated air about both day and night my sleep was at best fitful, on the whole not enough to feel either recovered, much less rejuvenated.

Even my beloved coffee, as bitterly strong as I commenced making my brew, now only accomplished staining my mug, it did nothing to give me the slightest zip or zing, I guess my Zipperdy do dah had signed out for the day then😁, I spent most days just doing things as and when I deemed them absolutely necessary, and believe me I rationed out anything that required more energy that I was prepared to give, relocating my more energetic chores to either late evening or even sometimes into the night.

I was even fast becoming obsessed with the online weather forecast system, checking several times daily,. Alas though the map of England was not cooperating, instead of the much hoped for little umbrella symbols, grey clouds with lightening flashes, we were covered with a lemon yellow blanket, what was worse later in the week it turned for yellow to a fetching shade of peachy orange(always hated bloody orange)..relief was not to be seen anyplace till Sunday at the earliest,..I felt somewhat tense and ill at ease, . Twitchy and nervy, as though the very blood in my veins was not only boiling, but sending mini shockwaves throughout me, my head throbbed every now and again, normally this signals not only the end of a heatwave but an oncoming storm….this time it just mocked me, teased and tormented,.

Some days the odd cloud braved the searing heat, my hopes growing only for it to be slighted, the sun burning them off just as quickly as they had appeared…all week we had weather warnings of storms and flash flooding, but even I thought it was even too hot for storms to come out of hiding…I braved the heat just long enough to peg out my laundry, water my plants and fill the waiting pigeons water trough, early each morning as I pulled open the living room curtains, throwing open the Windows, in some vain attempt to catch even the slightest passing breeze, I was treating to the birds splashing about in the cool water,, as I watched their play, it reminded me of children squealing and playing about in a paddling pool, some of the birds sat waiting for their turn, getting covered in fat droplets thrown up into the air, from the wings of their playmates mates…always makes my morning.

By Late afternoon yesterday, finally dark ashen grey clouds gathered in numbers as well as in strength, heavy and swollen,. Enough to block out the sun, with it a welcome faint warm breeze, slowly stirring the very tops of trees, birds began chirruping excitedly amongst the cool green dancing leaves,(they knew something was about to happen) I got to hoping here at last was that breakthrough, a fitting end, grand finale to summer..But before ending, mother nature had one last sting in her tail…the clouds parted, the sun like some old on stage performer not willing to share the lime light, pushed them aside, I swear it smiled, almost as if to say fooled you!!!!, I glared up at it harshly, giving it that woman’s stink eye, (guys you know the one,, If I had to go out there soon and do the most energetic thing I had all week, a rain dance, by now Theresa was more than willing😊,

As I cleaned off the top of my garden bin later that evening though, ready to put it out next day, I saw the cloud building once more…I shoke my head at it, yeah right your not fooling me again…..but just as I walked in to get more water, I heard distant rumbling move across the sky, lightening streaked through the silver clouds, lighting them up, making an unexpected floor show, clouds glowed lilacs, orange and gold, it was breathtakingly beautiful,. big fat drops of rain, finally fell to earth with a pattering sound, leaving dark circles in their wake.

In the night the temperature began to drop slowly, I still relied on the fan as the house held defiantly onto the last of its heat…the bricks acting like mini radiators, throwing out all the warmth they had soaked in during the day…But sleep when it came, was deep, I slept for hours, dreams floating in and out of my body, I too tired to give them notice,

It was all too tempting…

I had to take out the recycling earlier, which I always do bare foot, I stood briefly taking in the fresh cool air, feeling the rain soaked pavement beneath my feet, without a care in the world I stretched the crook out of my back, arms up into the dark sky, splotches of rain patted my eyelids gently, my body, the earth sighed with relief,…tiny drops of rain bent over blades of refreshed grass, and I couldn’t help myself, I stepped onto its cool moist surface, feeling it tickle my toes, I’ve always loved the sense of oneness with the earth when I do this( and urge everyone to give it a go..(dont let kids have all the fun😁), While I enjoyed this sense of freedom, I stood plucking off the odd leaves of a tomato plant I grew from seed,(taken from a real live tomato no less😁) pleased to see it has several small vines of green tomatoes, I didn’t expect it to survive let alone bear fruit..it’s deep green leaves staining my fingers, the smell rich and pungent.

Just before coming in I noted several fairly large puddles forming, ripples circling from the rain, before I could stop myself I found myself stood in the centre of the nearest one, it felt wonderful, I felt wonderful, the inner child escaping, splashing the water up my trouser covered legs, I had no care of the neighbours watching from twitching net curtained windows, I cared even less about the tutting, for a moment I was five again splashing in puddles, for a time I was defying age itself, I was free and fabulous…….take care of yourselves folks with whatever you get upto most of all enjoy…❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧,