August days, long, lazy and hazy. We’ve had blistering sun and taken shade under our apple tree and listened to late night storms and rain falling on the single in our garden. The second flush of roses and bright blooms are colouring the garden for summers finale and my dahlias have flowered like crazy – the first time they have survived the slugs!  Amongst the travel and DIY, we have been collecting seed from our garden to sow in empty patches next year, visited the Jacobean house and home of Rudyard Kipling – Bateman’s, grown a scraggly meadow in our back garden to see how many butterflies we could attract for the Big Butterfly Count, moved the shed around a few times to accommodate cooking, gin drinking and restful moments and really soaked up all that August brings to the table.Nigella seeds to sow star bursts all around the front and back gardens. The pods are so amazing aren’t they?! I love gathering seed and seeing how intricate and individual each seed looks. We have also collected seed from poppies, valerian, aquilegia, quaking grass and phacelia.My gin of the summer, I bought this bottle of Porter’s when we were in the Scottish Highlands in May.Summer colour and my snoozing shed companion, Marlo xGrasses and wild flowers taking over the back yard, the amount of butterflies visiting has been amazing this year.Half of our front garden has been taken over with swathes of Verbena, bright purple swaying in the breeze.So many varieties of our tiny winged friends!Sundown in our meadow has been quite magical.We are still cooking in the tea Shed, it has actually been quite fun and we will probably continue the tradition once a week even when our kitchen is finished.Old time interiors, inspiring figures from history and beautiful grounds at Bateman’s in Burwash.Sneaking a peek into the greenhouse full of peppers, chillies and flowers was a highlight.I am planning what fruit trees we’d love to plant next spring and a crab apple is on the list.More tea shed action to share soon as we have updated the seating arrangements for autumn reading and cosy evenings. Did your August swish by too fast or were you able to take it slow? x