Late summer...

Hot colours around Kew yesterday, captured on camera whilst walking and talking with Alice and Kristina.

The highlight of my day was Alice tentatively asking if we ever stopped for a drink or something to eat! Heehee.  Of course we do... eventually...!

Holidays have been taken and I am seriously considering adopting the habit of taking a siesta in the afternoon as a matter of routine.  Just an hour, but it seemed to make a whole lot of difference to the rest of the day.  Particularly if there were gorgeous beaches to wander along.

I am a creature of the shade and so have no tan to show off.  More an impressive (for me) list of three books read and reaching the letter K on my sampler (that I saved for my holiday, being light to pack) ticked off my to do list.

I am looking forward to the rest of the holidays to be able to write, write, write (deadline fast approaching), balanced out with some creative pursuits and perhaps some gardening.

The things that make a good holiday...

How do you measure such things?  Could it be long, sunny days?  A break from routine, perhaps?

This year, No2 and I went away with my two sisters, their other halves and their three (each) children.  That was 12 of us in all.  It was a suck it and see idea!  The seven cousins are more like siblings in their familiarity with each other - read alot of bickering and arguing at the best of times!  My clever sister found us a sprawling villa on the Algarve with a wonderful garden, pool, pool room and table-tennis to keep everyone happy.  Me?  Just give me a sunbed somewhere in the shade, perhaps some yarn, and I'm a happy camper.

So, the way I measure a good holiday would be...

...some lush flowers to photograph...

...interesting shadows to filter the heat of the sun...

...endless blue sky...

...a satisfying and wholly portable crochet project...

...perhaps a couple of sunsets thrown in for good measure...

...a sprinkling of sandy toes...

...one of my favourite creatures living in our garden...

...or two...

Ask the children though, and they would, without a doubt, say THE SPLASHING!