That glorious month, September

The month I have been savouring for best part of six months and it has arrived!
I have sent off the last year’s batch of 11 plus pupils with their new found confidence and their understanding of what is expected of them and I am mentally packed ready to spend the majority of the month in a warm (both in terms of sun and friendship) part of Spain.
The smell when I arrive always welcomes me back to ‘home’ and as I step out of the airport building and head down toward the train station, I feel I can breathe for a few weeks.
Computer, case and euros, plus good company and three weeks of heaven awaits. I am always hopeful the weather will be kind and we wont be subjected to the storms we have had the past few years. But whatever happens, I know I will enjoy the break and be relaxed and restored ready to begin the cycle of taking the new pupils through the 11+ syllabus so they can sit their examinations come next September.
My tomatoes have been producing very good crops and I have enjoyed many meals off them, the courgettes, the beans and of course the peas. My cucumbers have not really taken this year, I suspect the weather has been far too dry and unpredictable for outdoor ones this year. Never mind, the rest of the crops have been good, so now its time to think of the winter.
A very wealthy businessman (Jim Rohn, pupil of Carnegie) always says when the weather in your business is enjoying the summer of bounty, start thinking about the winter of scarcity and set store for it.
I think that is true in all walks of life and I do live by it. When we have plenty make sure some of it is put to one side, for the winter will come and we will need that store to get us to the next stage, of spring and summer once more.
I was very surprised to wake up one morning and watch a man hammer a stake into the ground in the front garden next door and attach a For Sale board to it. Within a fortnight they had moved out (they were only renting) and peace reigned in the neighbourhood. I have had quite a few comments about the quiet, so lets hope the next set will one, take a pride in the place, and two, be more harmonious in their family life.
I have had the dubious pleasure (so much shifting, I never realised just how much) of re-arranging the work room and my office so all the paraphernalia to do with work is out of my living room. It’s made a tremendous difference because I can now sit in the room to work and then leave, close the door and effectively leave work behind.
It’s the one thing which self employed people forget I think, they allow the house to be taken over by their work and as a consequence never leave it; it is true, you do put in more hours when you are self employed if you don’t watch it.
I have been almost self-indulgent and taken two weeks off for myself. It has been wonderful and I have managed to get many of those irritating little jobs done which have just sat there taunting me for some time. One task which is always a pleasure is the blanching of the last of the vegetables and the stewing of the fruits. If there is one thing I really enjoy in the winter is to thaw out some plums and have them with a hot sponge pudding or even ice cream. This year I have been fortunate to be given not only plums, thank you Diane, but also pears and blueberries. All have been cooked down and are awaiting their placement in a bulging freezer. The potatoes are in dry sand and the American cress, and perpetual spinach are happily growing on to provide greens through the first part of the winter. My food bills have been lower and my eating healthier. If you haven’t started yet and have the garden to do it in, then what stops you? Its great fun and if you have children, educational as well.