The Summer I Kept Creating
Hobbies, Seasons, and What I’ve Been Making in June, July, and August
It’s been a while since I showed up in your inbox. I took an intentional break in July followed by a slightly more unplanned one in August. After returning from annual leave at the beginning of the month, I started working on a big copywriting project with a tight deadline. I’ve also hosted weekend guests, celebrated my birthday, moved my eldest daughter into a new flat, and navigated GCSE results day with my youngest. He’s enrolling at college as I type.
Life has been very full and busy this summer, but not in an overwhelming way. For the most part, the days have felt long and slow. It’s just that we’ve packed quite a bit in, so writing here and on my blog has had to take a back seat.
It’s normal for the rhythm of our lives to shift and change with the seasons. Summer, especially when it’s as warm and inviting as it’s been this year, often means more time outside, more travel, and more socialising too. Given our days can look and feel so different from one season to the next, it follows that our creative habits and hobbies will also shift and change throughout the year.
Some Context In Case You’re New Here
How and Why I Went Looking For a New Hobby in my Late 30s
In 2021, during a particularly stressful summer, I found myself feeling burnt out in a way I never had before. We were still in the midst of a pandemic and I’d spent most of July nursing my family through COVID while also trying to run a business.
What I've Learned About Prioritising Creative Play
At the beginning of 2024, I made a commitment to spend the next 12 months prioritising creative play.
A Hobby for Every Season
‘I love hobbies, I have so many of them, and something I've learned is that hobbies are patient. Our hobbies will wait for us through all of life’s seasons and changes. And we don't have to perform our hobbies out of any sort of sense of obligation or guilt. Our hobbies’ only goal is to spark joy for us, and we just get to let them.’ – Elise Joy
The other day, it occurred to me that I hadn’t baked anything in a while. No cookies, no banana bread, no lemon drizzle. Instead, I’ve been making salads and eating stone fruit in the garden. When the sun shines, I can usually be found among the dahlias, nectarine in hand, juice dripping down my fingers. If I’m not by the raised beds, you’ll find me reading outside in a quiet, shady corner. This summer, I’ve been working my way through the eight books written by the Brontë sisters. Most I’ve read before, but some I’m discovering for the first time.
Four years after I decided I needed a new hobby, and nine months into my second year of intentionally prioritising creative play, I’ve finally collected enough creative pursuits to see me through all four seasons.
Some hobbies like cooking and reading, are a constant. They just look a little different depending on the time of year. I’ll get back to baking eventually, and when the days turn colder, I’ll be forced to bring my books inside and read beneath a blanket again. I’m new to gardening, so I don’t know what autumn and winter have in store, but I’m prepared to layer up and give it my best shot. I gather it’s almost time to order spring bulbs.
What I’ve Been Making in June, July and August
At My Desk
Week in the Life 2024 {I wrote about my plans for finishing this scrapbook here}
A spread in my dedicated day trips and mini-break scrapbook about a trip we took to London earlier this year
The first few pages of my Little Summer Joys scrapbook
In the Kitchen
Coconut and Chilli Salmon Kebabs
Too many tomato salads to count
In the Garden
Roses, dahlias, cosmos and tomatoes
My first bouquet of homegrown cut flowers
Out and About
So many photos – I always lean into my love of photography during the summer months
Looking Ahead to Autumn
I’m not someone who wishes the year away by switching into autumn mode before the end of August. I love summer too much to fast forward through its last hurrah.
However, I’m not the biggest fan of the ‘ber months’ and I need things to look forward to. I’ve been thinking about the types of creative play I’d like to prioritise as we head into the next phase of the year.
Here’s what’s on my list so far:
Finishing my Little Summer Joys scrapbook
Making a start on a travel scrapbook documenting our recent trip to Portugal
Creating my first zine
Trying some new pumpkin recipes
Making plenty of soup
Baking something savoury – maybe my first focaccia
Baking crumbles, cookies and cakes
Embracing autumn in the garden and making plans for spring
Creating {and working my way through} a seasonally appropriate reading list
Giving our living room a cosy makeover when our new sofa finally arrives
Decorating for Halloween
What have you been making this summer? Which hobbies will you be picking up, or putting down, as the season begins to shift?