I know, I know – I’m late again! Sorry!
This time you can blame my studies. Well, actually me being so lame with my studies, but it’s summer and since winter’s coming (hands up who loves GOT and the Starks!) I need to fill up on as much good weather as I can. Oh, and ice cream, and summer sunsets, and green trees and… you get the drift. 😉
So here comes my July for The Changing Seasons, this time hosted by my friend Brian from Bushboy’s World who’s charing hosting duties with the lovely Ju-Lyn from over at Touring my Backyard.
Like always summer seems to be a much busier time than winter, what with trying to eat as many fresh fruits (especially cherries), cooking marmalade (also cherries but this time the sour ones) and generally spending as much time outside as possible.
The absolute highlight of this month was one of the most precious and beautiful gifts I’ve ever received – a handmade and ecoprinted silk scarf by my dear friend Su from over at Zimmerbitch! I tried painting it in my doodle calendar but utterly failed so I’m including a photo of myself wearing it to show you how very beautiful it is.
Much less wonderful were the myriad of mosquitoes that were desperate for my blood – eek!
Much better than mosquitoes was a new beverage I tried out because I’ve read about it in a book (The Cat and The City by Nick Bradley). It’s barley tea, called mugicha in Japan and boricha in Korea, and it tastes just amazing!! I bought some tea bags at my local Asian supermarket and prepared a pitcher of this absolutely delicious herbal tea, that has a lovely toasty, nutty flavor. You can drink it hot or cold but so far I’ve only tried out the cold variety and it’s super refreshing. Since it doesn’t have any caffeine you can drink it whenever you want should you happen to be sensitiv about your caffeine consumption.
The rest of my month can be easily guessed from my doodles. 😉
How was your July? Did you take advantage of the summer months? Or tried out new things/taste?
Let me know all about it in your comments! 😀
About The Changing Seasons
The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently — though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.
For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape.
But in the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it however works for you.
There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.
Tags and ping-backs
Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them
Create a ping-back to Brian’s post or this post, so that he can update it with a link to yours.
Art Expedition 
Hey there – just dropping by to leave a comment
I enjoyed your posts eatksir this month but wasn’t logged in to comment!
Anyhow – best wishes with drawing boundaries with social media and phone use!
Oh and love your mini drawings too!
Great idea.
I hope 2022 is going well for you and wish you a great month of April !
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Never too late to share! And it’s been a while since I’ve been here! It sounds like your studies are keeping you busy and hope you are enjoying it, and it is going well. The cherry marmalade looks amazing. The tiny jar packaging is sooo cute too. The scarf from your friend looks beautiful on you.
The barley tea sounds amazing. I’m actually looking for caffeine-free tea (not decaf, but really caffeine-free). So far I’ve found dandedlion tea, and now you make me want to go to my Asian grocer and see if they have barley tea 😄
I agree. Summer seems busier than winter. It’s summer here in Australia and I am so motivated to do, well, everything from washing all my clothes to writing to cooking to going for walks and more. There’s just something about summer that makes me so happy. Hope you are doing well ❤
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Hi Mabel! I’m so, so sorry I haven’t replied earlier to your lovely comment but I have been retreating from social media these last months in order to get my studies done (which I finally did last weekend! Yay!), so only found it now!
I hope the barley tea was/is to your taste? I still enjoy it each day as it’s such a nice caffeine free alternative to water. How was your summer? Hope productive and fun! Winter here is always kind of depressing and I can’t wait for spring to come around!!
Hope you’re well and look forward to catch up with you on your blog soon! Take care! ❤
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That is great you have been focusing on your studies, Sarah. Yay that you have finished your studies. It must be such a good feeling to finish it after a lot of hard work 😊
I love the barley tea that I got! So refreshing hot or cold. My summer was amazing, definitely productive but also a lot of time for fun. Hope it’s warming up for you over there and enjoy your spring ❤
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You think you’re behind? I’m only now reading this! Ach! Sounds like a good month with the delicious tea and the beautiful scarf! Not so much the mosquitoes. That would be on my calendar daily around here.
I always love your amazing paintings!
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Thank you, Betsy!
Aren’t mosquitoes loathsome? The only good thing about Autumn arriving too soon around here is that it rids us of the damn thingies. 😂
Hope your chickens are thriving?
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So true about the mosquitos! The chickens are alive. I am far far behind in posting an update about them! 🙂 I’m sure they’d be pleased to know you inquired. 🙂
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I was thinking yesterday that I saw a post from you but didn’t get it read and planned to look for it again today. You have been very busy! What a great way to make a calendar. Never going to happen here but I always love seeing yours. Our outside time was cut short by so much odd weather and smoke from fires everywhere. No matter the direction, the wind manages to blow smoke in from somewhere. Sending a short note.
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Hi Marlene! Sorry for the late reply!
Oh no, smoke from fires again? That’s not good. 😦 I hope it’s better by now and that you can all breath a bit more easily again.
Take care!
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Thanks so much, Sarah. Smoke is all gone now and fall and rain are moving in early. Yay. Hope you are doing well. Miss your in between posts about what you are doing. Hugs. M
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Oh those delicious-looking cherries 😍 Your cloud photo is wonderful, and as always I love poring over your doodles and working out what you’ve been doing. Sorry to hear about the mosquitoes though — I didn’t realise you got them in Berlin, though I’m not sure why I thought that. 🤔
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Hehe! No mosquitoes in Berlin would be truly fantastic!! So thanks for imagining this blissful world. 😉
It seemed those were the last cherries of the season – should have bought more! 😀 But at least there’s jam left. 😉 Hugs!
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The scarf is truly beautiful, as are you and your lovely doodle calendars. 😍
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Aww – thank you, Kerry! Wishing you a lovely August! ❤
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🥰
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What a fab July Sarah! I hope you are well. Love Gill xxx
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Thanks, Gill! You too! Love&hugs xo
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I just love your doodle calendars…they are so cheerful. And your photos are cheerful as well. It looks as if you had a lovely July (except for the mosquitoes). Mine was sometimes good, sometimes difficult, as my husband spent 12 days in July in the hospital and most of the rest of the time recovering from his hospitalizations. Still, we managed to enjoy ourselves too, and he’s doing so much better in August!
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Oh, Ann, I’m so sorry your husband had to spend 12 days in the hospital in July. I hope he’s recovering now and that the both of you get to enjoy a beautiful August. Take care!
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I’ve been looking forward to your doodle calendar, Sarah – never mind a little late.
Just made lemon curd (I make mine more sour than the recipe calls for) so my mouth is still nicely puckery – then I saw your cherry marmalade, and I started salivating again! I did not realise one can get sour cherry marmalade … the cherry jams I’ve tried before are typically sweet. Or is it because they are not made with tart cherries but bing cherries?
My favourite image (not counting your doodle calendar) is the exuberant one of you with Su’s beautiful gift. Oh, that smile!
I am glad you are enjoying the warm weather – our blogging has to support our experience of life, right? so we need sufficient time to enjoy the things around us, especially when we know it is seasonal!
Have to ask: is Penguin Town the penguin enclosure at the zoo?
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Hi Ju-Lyn! 😀 Thanks so much for your lovely comment!
Yes, that’s it exactly: those cherry jams are not made with tart cherries and therefor a bit too sweet for my taste as well. Would love to try your lemon curd, especially when you say that you make yours a bit more sour than usual!
I admit I’ve never made it myself. 😉
Penguin Town is a documentary mini-series on Netflix which I absolutely adored! So I binge-watched it almost in one go – LOL!
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I didn’t make lemon curd so regularly until I found this microwave recipe; it’s so easy-peasy now, especially whenI find myself with lots of extra lemons (from my Fruit&Veg FairyGodFather):
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/easy-microwave-lemon-curd-recipe
I will have a peep at my Netflix to see if Penguin Town is there – we don’t get everything you guys do.
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Damn! I don’t have a microwave! 😂
I didn’t know Netflix presents different content around the globe – I wonder why? Hope you can find Penguin Town! 😀
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😂
I think they programming varies depending on the licensing of programmes – comes down to economics.
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Love your Doodle Calendars, Sarah! You look fantastic displaying that gorgeous scarf… Thanks for sharing!
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Aww – thanks so much, Bette! Hope all is well with you? I’m still so much behind catching up with everyone here, but promise to visit your blog soon! In the meantime, wishing you a lovely summer and lots of creativity! xoxo
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Thanks, Sarah. All is well here in ME, USA… We all have lots of catching up to do too, but much will have to wait until our COVID Climate calms down some. Stay safe, stay well and enjoy your summer too! ❤ xo
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I so look forward to your calendars, Sarah–they are always beautifully done and so much fun, too! Did you like Penguin Town? I thought the narration was wonderful, and the car park gang were a cheeky bunch, weren’t they!? I don’t know what Pasteis de Nata is, but it looks like donuts, so I am all in! 😁🍩 We are deep into the worst of our hurricane season and are watching two storms right now–Fred and Grace. They sound like a comedy duo, don’t they?! Hopefully, they fizzle out before making land fall. Oh, and Su’s scarf….it is beautiful. Wear it well!
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Aww – thanks so much, Lois!
Oh, I absolutely love Penguin Town! The narration was indeed wonderful! It was such fun seeing Lord and Lady Courtyard waddle through that house as if they owned it. 😀 And poor Mr Bougainvillea! But he did a great job raising his kids all by himself. Yep, that car park gang was very cheeky, I’m just glad all went well!
Pasteis de Nata are little Portuguese custard pies – very addictive! 😉
Will keep my fingers crossed that the storms will abate before making land fall, and that you and your loved ones will stay safe!! If only Fred and Grace were a comedy duo! Take care! ❤
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You’re doodle calendars are so much fun, Sarah. It looks like you have a great July, and the scarf that Su made for your is just gorgeous! I love that photo of you modeling it. So beautiful. Happy August!
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Thank you, Diana! Summer months are usually more fun than winter – lol!
Isn’t it just? I still can’t believe she send this beautiful scarf to me!!
Wishing you a wonderful August too! ❤
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Hi Sarah, your post is so special, I just can’t get over your lovely, brilliant and colourful doodles! They are “magic”! Summer this year has been a bit different, very quiet! Some weeks ago we had the hottest day ever recorded in NI at 31.4c and we were asked to conserve water. Several weeks later heavy rain led to some local flooding! The world is not in a good place, but seeing your doodles has lifted my spirits and what a lovely picture of yourself 💐💐🙋♂️
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Aww – thank you, Ashley! 😀 I hope you’ll find time to do your own doodle calendar soon again, maybe when it gets colder?
Yikes! That’s some weather you have! I was dreading we might be asked to conserve water as well, but fortunately it rained enough so I can water my plants and flowers as usual.
You might have heard of the terrible flooding in the southwest of Germany? It seems the whole world is getting out of balance climate-wise. 😦
Wishing you a lovely week! ❤
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I did wonder where your wonderful doodle calendar was and started to think you had forgotten me. I did have a good guess at most of your month and the cherry photo makes me want some now…..I guess I’ll just have to do with some chocolate 😁 It did look like you had a good month Sarah – except for the mozzies. Those clouds are amazing as well. I am so happy to see your post my good friend ❤❤
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Aww- thank you, Brian! Hehe! Chocolate is a good substitute for cherries. 😉
I got really lucky with those clouds that day! A minute later it looked all different!
Have a great week – even in lockdown. 😉 ❤
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Lockdown is easy for my. I live in isolation anyway and have over 40ha to wander in discovering things in the bush 🥰
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That’s a lot of space to wander! 😉 Will definitely keep you busy. 😀
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