Summery summary

Remember how cold and wet it was in June?

And how much one longed for a bit of warmth to bask in?

Well ha ha ha.

We got it.

That's 114º F.

In the shade.

Not so much basking weather,

as

lurking behind closed shutters

hanging wet towels at windows

freezing towels as compresses

and rediscovering the joys of Uno weather.

Because if you did venture out

it was so blindingly bright

and pulsatingly hot

that even being sensible in the shade

wasn't an option.

There was a lovely pool,

but only one sun umbrella.

Don't be deceived by that cloud.

It never even attempted to shield us from the sun.

The box moth was thriving though.

There were hideous clouds of them

being enjoyed misguidedly by the tourists

in lavender fields.

But these murals were unexpectedly lovely.

And being awake early one morning

I heard a roaring sound and to my astonishment

saw this -

Since returning to a land of wholly acceptable variants 

on normal summer temperatures

I have been grateful for the ability to think, move around freely and sleep.

The grandchildren had meanwhile surely grown 

more than a week's absence could have made possible.

One of them having clocked up his first year

in the blink of an eye.

Places to find some peace and (relative) quiet

Turtle spotting in Central Park.

A trip on the tramway (actually a cable car) 

over the East River to Roosevelt Island.

Very little to do there

but a stroll to the Four Freedoms Park

was pleasant enough and completely deserted.

The outright winner for tranquility was the Met Cloisters.

Monarch butterflies in the Conservatory Garden.

Purl Soho. A pilgrimage to see the knitting shop of online fame.

It was certainly quiet in there. Somnolent even.

I had to ask someone to help me 

because nothing is labelled for brand, composition or price.

After a short discussion and vague hand waving at the shelves,

 the young woman turned away, as I thought, 

to show me a pattern but to my consternation

fell into another assistant's arms for a prolonged embrace, 

much back stroking and murmurs of consolation.

I stood behind her wondering what I had done to trigger this collapse.

Eventually she straightened and wandered over to the rack. 

I came away empty-handed.

Holiday slides - New York

So much to see in a five day trip to New York.

But first stop every time - The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 Chrysanthemums in the Garden at Petit-Grennevilliers 1893 -

Gustave Caillebotte 

a possible design for his dining room doors.

Want.

 Still Life with Flowers and Prickly Pears -

Auguste Renoir.

Bouquet of Chrysanthemums - 

Auguste Renoir.

A woman seated beside a Vase of Flowers - 

Edgar Degas.

She gazes, as the caption says, distractedly to the right.

I amuse myself by trying to guess what she is thinking about.

"Y aura-t-il assez de pommes de terres si Edgar vient dîner ce soir?"

"Cela prendra-t-il beaucoup de temps?"

"Je vais éternuer." *

And finally October in the Marshes -

John Frederick Kensett.

He was painting right up to his death in December 1872

and this series known as "Last Summer's Work"

is of meadows and salt marshes near Contentment Island Connecticut.

*"Will there be enough potatoes if Edgar comes to dine tonight?"

"Will this take much longer?"

"I'm going to sneeze."

My thanks, if it's correct, to Google translate for

helping out my schoolgirl French.

In the detail

We hotfooted it up to the Lake District for two days

in search of mizzle, lowering clouds and cool temperatures,

reliably on offer on previous occasions as I remembered.

Instead, we found a fair facsimile of the weather 

we've been having down South.

Normally so very welcome.

Fortunately we also found the holiday home of one man's dreams:

Blackwell overlooking Windermere,

an Arts & Crafts house,

designed by MH Baillie Scott

for Sir Edward Holt and his family.

Every detail was exquisitely crafted,

and preserved intact thanks to years used as a girl's school,

with boards put up to protect the original features.

Tiles by William de Morgan.

As much as I marvelled at the

skill and workmanship on display throughout a house

where no expense was spared

I was also bowled over by the precision

of the dry stone wall builders

seen everywhere on our walks.