The bittersweet beauty of June

15th June 2018

Oh June, you really are quite splendid right now!  So verdant and lush, not yet the dry and dusty slowness of August.  You burst with life, so many buds still fat and ready to bloom and so many already flowering.  You are purple, pink, red and yellow against a bright and glossy background of green.

And the roses!  Oh my, the roses.  I’m not sure I remember a better year for roses.  Beautiful in dusky pink, deep red, creamy white.

Roses displayed in bottles

My perfect summer evening is a wander through the village, pausing to enjoy the country cottage gardens, then winding down a frothy edged lane towards the open fields and woodland.  Suffolk hedgerows full of Elderflower,  the bramble beginning to wind her thorny way across the woodland paths and the bracken and foxgloves fighting for the light amongst the trees.

Such a wonderful abundance and perhaps the very best food of the year, asparagus and strawberries from a roadside stall, I’m not sure life gets much better than that.

So why bittersweet?  Well as I look through my trusty bullet journal for the year so far, I can hardly ignore the halfway point has hit.  Half way through the year is a time to reflect on tasks completed and achievements of the year so far.  The moment to consider what still might need to be done and for my small business, rather shockingly, a time to think seriously about preparations for Christmas.

So it’s just as well June is so darned beautiful and doing her best to take the edge off those less than shiny bits.

rambling rose

I’m looking though my list of uncompleted tasks and considering what quick wins there might be.  Business wise I guess it’s still not too late to start finishing all my accounting on a monthly basis.  I mean I’m six months behind (actually maybe only five, I always start the year well…) but even starting now would be better than working late every night next January in an attempt to make the filing deadline.  My regular newsletter goal?  Well I’ve certainly created a couple of draft copies…  New products monthly?  Hmmm.  I’ve sketched out ideas and researched materials but if truth be told I’ve felt a little at sea there.  Unsure of direction, in need of change and in need of bravery.

And on the home front I am also behind.  The bedroom curtains?  I ordered the fabric months and months ago.  If only I knew someone who could sew….  And the plan to paint the bedroom floor?  Well somehow I’ve grown fond of grubby paint splashed boards.

display roses in vintage bottles

So time to make a new list I think.  A mid-year fresh start.  Pared down and more achievable.  Or maybe it’s just time to let go.  Because at the end of the day, June is a short month.  We are half-way through already and it would be best not to waste a moment of her beauty.  So this weekend I shall not paint floorboards, make curtains, do accounts, analyse website traffic and plan new products.

Instead I shall take a basket and wander through the woods gathering elderflower.  I will steep and simmer.  I’ll pick a rose or two and eat strawberries for breakfast.

roses in June

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