Summer Is Over

The night runs away with the day
The grass that was green is now hay
The world goes around without even a sound
And it looks like the summer is over

The rains tumble down in the sky
Young swallows have learned how to fly
The leaves that were green are no longer so green
And it looks like the summer is over

The sun and the moon take turns in the sky
The days drift on by too soon
The meadows are kissed by a cool autumn mist
Far away now is June

Written by Tom Springfield and Clive Westlake and recorded by Dusty Springfield.

I always think of August Bank Holiday as the end of the summer. It's the long weekend for tidying up the garden and for buying bulbs for planting in September and October. For pruning hard those plants that need it, for lifting and dividing those that have become too invasive, saving yourself some money at the same time, and for clearing out those that haven't worked - this usually means giving them to Janis to plant in the front garden.

It's a time for planning ahead. I've been pollarding the Bamboo canes to use as the structure for training an orange Pyracantha up the north facing fence, clearing out the Euphorbia so that I can plant a Yucca Aloifolia (Spanish Bayonet) alongside the ever growing collection of banana plants and cutting back the Dogwood that I didn't prune in Spring and which is now over six feet tall (who says there's no such thing as global warming?)

The cricket season is more or less over, the four majors in Golf have finished and the phoney war in the Champions League has given way to the Group stages, there's the Ryder Cup to enjoy and European Football at Upton Park for the first time in six years. Nathalie begins year eight at school a week on Wednesday and at work the staff holidays are over and a new season of internal training and external continuing professional education courses begin.

I'm not wishing my life away but once we get to the 1st September I really do feel that the long cool evenings are making way for colder south westerleys. It's also when I realise that I haven't worked my way through that long list of books I promised myself I would read whilst sitting on the patio with a glass or two of something red and French. I haven't gone to a music festival this summer either.

What I have done between June and August is enjoy myself. I've made the most of the long evenings either taking walks or enjoying the fruits of my labour in the garden. Sitting on the patio watching the bees and butterflies feast on the lavender and honeysuckle, watching the apple trees blossom and then bear fruit.

Summer may be over but Autumn with its rich oranges, browns and reds can be just as rewarding and early morning walks across the frost sharpened New Forest are as beautiful as the summer mornings at Southbourne beach or the warm evenings at Studland.