"August, the traditional holiday month for most people, is a busy time for the farmer as he works long hours to bring in his harvest. You can hear the muffled roar of combines in the cornfields and the incessant thump of balers on the farm. The burning of straw in the stubble fields leaves them charred and blackened and if this is done without proper care, it can seriously scorch and damage the surrounding hedges.
Dog-days, the first two weeks in August, often bring sultry, hot weather. They are named after the bright Dog-star Sirius, which during this time rises and sets with the sun. Settled weather on St. Bartholomew Day, the twenty-fourth, promises a fine autumn: there is a country saying that:
If St. Bartholomew Day be bright and clear
Then a prosperous autumn comes that year."
from "Discovering Hedgerows' by David Streeter and Rosamond Richardson
So here we are at the very end of August 2011. The summer has gone by very quickly for me and already there are many signs of Autumn. Our weather here in England has been very disappointing with little sunshine this month and lots of cloud, but it could have been much, much worse. Last night we saw a bat flitting past the window of the house and I was aware that the nights are really drawing in.
