Simple Abundance - September

In Sarah Ban Breathnach's book "Simple Abundance" she gives us suggestions each month for ways in which to enjoy the month.  Here are a few of Sarah's Joyful Simplicities for September:

🌻   L' été c'est fini, as the French say, so end summer on a high note.  Make a really big deal out of the last cookout of the summer.  Serve your favorite summer recipes with a final flourish.  Linger in the twilight, watch the sun go down, and bid summer a fond adieu.

🌻   On Labor Day weekend take 15 minutes to write down all the things you wanted to do over the summer but never got around to.  Put your list in an envelope.  When you get your next year's calendar, paperclip the envelope to the first day of June and open it then.  Try to block in some time on your calendar to make postponed pleasures a priority when summer returns.

🌻   Celebrate the autumn equinox (22nd) with a festive dinner of homestyle cooking.  Do this especially if you live alone and rarely cook a descent meal for yourself.  Bring home a small pot of mums for your dining table.  Draw hearthside and light the candles, pour the wine or cider, and enjoy the simple pleasure of comfort food.  Have you ever tried an English "fidget pie," a traditional harvest meal?  It's composed of potatoes, onions, apples, and ham pieces in a vegetable stock seasoned with a little brown sugar, salt and paper.  Pour into a pastry shell, cover with a top crust and bake as you would any filled pie.

🌻   Observe the autumnal festival of Michaelmas (29th), which is the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel.  This ancient English harvest festival dates back to the sixth century.  Legend has it that on this day the devil was driven out of Heaven by St. Michael and landed in a patch of blackberry brambles.  It's traditional to have blackberry treats--pies, tarts, or jam on scones for tea on this day.

🌻   Start making your Christmas list this month so that you won't be frantic in December.

🌻   Take a walk under the huntress moon (16th).

I always buy potted mums in September for my porch then plant them in the garden before winter. . . .

Sarah writes, "Since ancient times, September has been viewed as the beginning of the new year, a time for reflection and resolution....... It seems to me that January resolutions are about will;  September resolutions are about authentic wants."  Sarah asks this question:

What do you want more or less of in your life, so that you can love the life you're leading?

When my children started school September became the beginning of my year.  It's been hard to break the habit even though it's been seven years since my last child went off to college for his final year in September.  I always felt bittersweet this time of year.  I was glad to see the worst of the heat and humidity come to an end, but sad to no longer have my sons about, even as I was glad to have more time to myself. This time to myself allowed me to reflect on my life.  Making new resolutions would always come out of it.

September is also special for me because it's my husband's birthday month.  We spent a wonderful week on Martha's Vineyard in 2012 for his birthday.  We stayed in a carriage house that had a small garden behind it where I'd write in my journal each morning before we went off to explore more of the island.  You can read about it on Morning Musings starting with this Post and clicking on the next one for a total of eight more . . . .

And September is the month Gabriel came into my life in 2008. . . .

What about you?  What does September represent to you?  Do you have certain rituals or celebrations like Sarah suggests?  Special memories?

How would you answer Sarah's question?


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Take Joy!

August Celebrations

Mary Mason Campbell writes in "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac," illustrated by Tasha Tudor, that, "A day in August is the day to go blueberrying.  A full lunch basket, a blue sky and soft breeze, and a favorite blueberry pail are the only requisites."  She goes on to say, "A farmer's wife once told me, 'Blueberryin' is just like miklin' a cow; you pull the berries off the branch just the same way.'  A bunch of twenty-five or thirty blueberries is a good handful to grasp and pull with a quick gentle motion that does not tear the berries."

Ms. Campbell gives us her recipe for Blueberry Jam. . . .

For many of us Blueberry picking season is over, so I'm also including her Summer Squash recipe. . . .

In "A Time to Keep" Tasha Tudor tells us August was the month to celebrate her daughter, Bethany's birthday.  But it is also her own birth month.  This year we celebrate the anniversary of her 101st birthday on the 28th. . . .

The big surprise at the end of the day was the birthday cake floating down the river. . . .

Bethany's birthday celebration was delightfully told in Tasha's book, "Becky's Birthday". . . .

In Tasha's "Around the Year" August is the signaling of the end of summer. . . .

 It was also a time to do some canning of summer's bounty. . . .

This concludes my year of monthly celebrations with Tasha Tudor.  

The Take Joy Society is taking a break from our monthly activities as we gather around one of our members whose husband is under treatment for a serious illness.  

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Take Joy!

July Celebrations

Illustrated by Tasha tudor

Mary Mason Campbell writes in her book, "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac" illustrated by Tasha Tudor, "On the Fourth of July, we tug at the bell rope in the barn and put up the flag to wave in the hot breeze, remembering that after John Adams signed the Declaration of Indepen- dence on the first American Fourth of July, he wrote his wife Abigail that he hoped Americans would always make this day one of rejoicing and merry- making.  We follow his wishes willingly."

Ms. Campbell tells us that the Fourth of July signals the start of the clambake season in Rhode Island.  Here is her recipe for Clam Fritters. . . .

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Tasha Tudor shows us how her family celebrated in her book "A Time To Keep" with the traditional firing off of fireworks as well as watching them being set off at the fairgrounds in the village from the vantage point of their high pasture.   A picnic on a little island in the Black River reached by canoe was also part of their celebration. . . .  

In Tasha Tudor's "Around the Year" she celebrates the 4th of July. . . .

When I was a child we'd always go to my grandparents' farm to celebrate the 4th.  The cousins would be there and we'd have sparklers and firecrackers.  The cats would hide under the porch and us girls would cover our ears.  Watermelon and homemade ice cream could be counted on being a part of our celebration. . . .

How did your family celebrate the 4th of July when you were growing up?

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Take Joy!

Surreybrooke Garden Tour Get-Together

This month several members of the Take Joy Society met at Surreybrooke for a garden tour and picnic.  Surreybrooke has been in operation since the late 1970s when Nancy Walz began her business at craft fairs selling handmade candles and dried-flower wreaths from homegrown everlasting flowers.  When I moved here in 1981 I made yearly visits as she began to grow her business by selling plants next to her house.  As she expanded her flower beds on their farm I could always go there to get ideas for my garden and buy perennials and annuals you don't usually find at Lowes or Home Depot.  Over the years they have added four greenhouses,  reconstructed salvaged log cabins to house garden-themed merchandise, and built buildings like the Pavilion to host weddings and other events.

The tour started at the Pavilion where we'd have our picnic afterwards. I'd brought along a tablecloth and had small pots of succulents for Edie and Chris from my garden so I was surprised to find the tables were already set with quilted tablecloths and pots of succulents! . . . .

Midsummer's Day

Today is Midsummer's Day.  I wrote about Tasha Tudor's Midsummer's Eve celebration earlier in the month.  Sarah Ban Breathnach wrote about Tasha's festivities also in her book "Simple Abundance," then goes on to tell us how she, herself, celebrates Midsummer's Day. . . .

I wander out into the backyard very early in the morning and pluck a blossom from the garden heavy with dew.  With my fingers, I’ll pat the dew upon my face, for legend has it that any woman who washes her face in the dew of Midsummer’s Day will grow more lovely with the passing year.  Fairy cakes are made for tea, midsummer’s syllabub (a delightful concoction of cider, lemon, berries, and whipped cream) is prepared for a moonlit picnic, and personal dreams are renewed.

I think it's a lovely idea to find reasons to celebrate the seasons.  There was a time when Summer was all about children home for school vacation, finding activities and trips to keep them busy and enrich their young lives.  Now Summer is about enjoying my garden.  Things are growing and therefore my garden must be tended:  weeding, watering, fertilizing, deadheading.  But I also take time to just enjoy it. . . . .the fragrance of Lavender as I harvest it. . . .

The sight of daisies and evening primroses rioting together. . . .

Climbing roses creating bowers over my garden path. . . .

Hearing the high-pitched croak of the frog as I startle him back into the pond when I draw too close. . . .

But I think one of the most joyful beauties of the place where I live is the sun filtering through the tree tops. . . .

Anne Shirley in "Anne of Avonlea" says it best. . . .

I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls sipping off a string. 

May you find Joy in every day!


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Take Joy!

June Celebrations

The Rose is June's flower according to Mary Mason Campbell's "The New England Buttr'ry Shelf Almanac", illustrated by Tasha Tudor.  She tells us that according to Mrs. Burke's book, "The Coloured Language of Flowers", compiled in a much earlier era, that a white rose and red rose together signified unity and that a yellow rose meant jealousy.

Here is her simple recipe for Rosewater. . . .

"Collect a pound of scented rose petals and put them in a heatproof glass, enamel, or pottery pan on the fire.  Cover petals with water and bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes.  Strain off the water.  May be used for bathing the face and arms on a warm day--very refreshing.  It is best bottled and kept ice cold in the refrigerator."

My roses are coming into bloom.  I bought this climbing rose in 2014.  This is the first year for it to bloom.  It turns out to have a pinkish hue, which I love. . . .

White Ramber (Felicite et Perpetue)

Eden Climber (Meiviolin)

Rainbow Knockout (Radcor)

Carpet Rose

This is my Mystery Rose that showed up in the middle of my Azalea

One of the many wild roses--this one growing up into the Dogwood to continue the white flowers after the Dogwood is out of bloom

Tasha was very fond of roses.  When she died in 2008 half of her ashes were scattered, as she requested, under her favorite rose bush.  The other half were scattered where one of her Corgi's had been buried.

For Tasha Tudor June was the beginning of summer fun starting with Midsummer's Eve as told in "A Time to Keep". . . .

In "Around the Year" Tasha shares her delicate borders of flowers surrounding summer scenes. . . .

Tasha wrote about celebrating Midsummer's Eve in "The Private World of Tasha Tudor". . . .

"Just for fun, my family invented a religion like the Shakers we called Stillwater.  I'm eldress, and we have a big celebration on Midsummer's Eve.  It's really a state of mind.  Stillwater connotes something very peaceful, you see, life without stress.  Nowadays, people are so jeezled up.  If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the liquid song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more......Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with.  Do you know that lovely quotation from Fra Giovanni?  He was an old monk from away back who wrote to his patron, 'The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy.  Take joy.'  That's the first commandment of the Stillwater religion.  Joy is there for the taking."

I feel drawn to Tasha's porch. . . .

Photo credit:  Richard Brown

Do you have a porch on which to sit and listen to the birds sing?  A place where you can collect your thoughts and enJOY all your blessings?

How do you celebrate Midsummer's Eve?


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Take Joy!

May Celebrations

Mary Mason Campbell writes in "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac," illustrated by Tasha Tudor:  "May Day has been celebrated merrily for many ages, from fertility festivals of the ancient Egyptians, and feasts of the Romans in honor of their goddess Flora, to the Middle Ages when the people of the British Isles danced about Maypoles.  The English decked their villages with flowers and danced in the streets with gay abandon, greatly encouraged by enthusiastic drinking and feasting.  In New England the first settlers, the Pilgrims, did not believe in such pagan festivities, and there was no thought of celebrating May Day until one boisterous Thomas Morton set foot on the shores of Boston Bay.  He and his crew set up a Maypole on May Day 1627, celebrating their arrival with dancing and other raucous revelry.  The Maypole is said to have been a pine tree eighty feet tall wreathed with wild flowers, vines, and ribbons and adorned with poems especially composed for the occasion.  The merriment shocked Governor Bradford and his Puritan followers.  Further celebrations of May Day in New England were abandoned until the nineteenth century when children played at dancing around the Maypole and renewed the old, old custom of filling May Baskets with flowers and candies for their friends."

Tasha Tudor recalls in "A Time to Keep" her family's dancing around the maypole and delivering May Baskets to neighbors. . . .

May was also a time to plant her garden. . . .

A time to finally be out of doors enjoying elevenish parties under the trees. . . .

In Tasha's "Around the Year" she shows us more idyllic scenes from her life and imagination. . . .

I love this time of year because my garden is beginning to blossom.  This year my Lilac bush, which has grown into a tree these past eight years finally has several blooms.  The Dogwood is in full bloom, too. . . .

As are the Azaleas. . . .

May is when my first child was born after waiting ten very long years for him. . . .

Gabriel shares his birthday in May. . . .

In the U.S. we celebrate Mother's Day in May as well.  My mother will have been gone now for 22 Mother's Days this year. . . 

What special occasions do you celebrate in May?

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Take Joy!