Zoooomm...

Summer (the season) is just racing by...schools are back in, the tourists have gone home, the beaches are quiet, the frangipani trees have less flowers on them and there is a hint of coolness in the air. I just adore this season and wish it would last much longer. I love the long lazy days of wearing few clothes and biking and swimming. I love strolling to the beach after dinner to play some more or climb on the rocks or kick a ball on the sand. I love the feeling of the sun on my bare skin, the waves crashing over me and the vibrant feeling that summer gives me.

The recent hot days though have been hard on the plants in our container gardens. The tomatoes are not doing well. One plant has produced edible fruit though it is very small. Perhaps the containers are not big enough, the soil not rich enough, the seeds not strong enough, or we just started too late. I've used a little organic seaweed concentrate to enrich the soil, but maybe I started that too late or it wasn't the right thing. Our first batch of lettuce seemed to grow without us doing much at all, and it was delish! We have two other containers with lettuce that seemed to have just stopped growing. I must do some more research.

This morning the children and I went for a long walk along the deserted beach. We collected shells and rocks and sticks. We'd stop to admire each item before adding it to our collection. Most of the shells the children chose were broken but they saw the beauty in them in their colour or shape or texture. A little reminder to me that all of us do not need to be perfect in order to be precious.