i've been finding it difficult to 
jump down the rabbit hole 
into the virtual world these days
life is looking for a rhythm but
the heat has been intense -
though there are signs, a yellow leaf here, a sudden breeze there :)

thank you for the wishes
i spoke a bit too soon
a. cried twice on the second day and howled on the third
but this morning she punched the air when she got there
i think she's made her peace

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those beautiful sashiko stitches were made by coco
she generously gave them away on her blog and we won,
lucky, grateful us!








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'la rentrée'

first day at primary school today and
i thought she'd cry rivers
but she gritted her little teeth instead
drew a couple of pictures, did some maths
borrowed a book on dolphins from the library, and made a new friend.

and mummy is so relieved,
maybe even a little proud :)












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in the forests of england  .     .        .

where we spent much of our summer.

.

we're back home .   .    .


which is, of course, so much more than walls and floors
it's family and friends, a language, a sky
one's own silence
this little space shared with you -
it's good to be here again, hope you've been well










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in the late afternoons
we have also been making forays to the sea
but now we are leaving for cooler weather 
i wish you carefree days, until soon

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nursery school is over, favourite class friend emigrated
and 'big' school is looming, dark, unknown, daunting
so we distract around the hot town
with museum visits, ice cream, tight-rail walking  .    .      .









( and still in that white dress !)


. 

the green summer lemons gave a fresh, sweet sorbet
shared with friends one night in the back garden

and as for the lemonade, dear Coco, you need ripe yellow ones, this 
is my 97-year-old grandfather's recipe:

so he says you need 3 cups of lemon juice to 2 cups sugar, you put them in a large bowl and you stir a lot with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. you let the syrup rest a while, then you stir some more, and you can repeat this process a few times during the day, you cover it overnight with a tea towel and then stir it again the following morning (you could carry on for even longer, it just gets finer and finer) and then you pour it into glass bottles and store in the fridge. it might eventually form a thick, cloudy layer on the top but that's alright, you just shake the bottle before pouring out. when you want to drink some, you just put a little at the bottom of a glass (about 1-2cm according to your taste) and then you top up with water. you can add ice cubes or even sparkling water for some fizz, and a few fresh mint leaves.





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νεφέλη (nefeli)  |  nebula  |  cloud

we're waiting for a little girl called cloud .    .     .














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