A month of dahlias, Virgos, and the final hurrah of summer.

In London, we have been blessed with a surprise wave of hot summer heat. Having been out of the UK for the majority of the season, I was told when I came back that I “haven’t missed much”. As we said goodbye to the last bank holiday until Christmas, I was properly down. I just wasn’t ready to let go of my spring and summer fling. I just wasn’t prepared to ‘get back to normality’ and wanted my permanent travels to be just that. Permanent.

Valencia, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Malagá in Spain. Rural Scotland for Easter, town hopping around Puglia in May, and Colombia for the summer, then back to London via Valencia. I am just feeling a bit bummed as I feel that the fairy dust of my new lease of life is wearing off.

Dahlias, flower art, floral artwork, prints for your home, dahlia artwork

But then comes September - a softer light, a warm embrace. Back to seeking pockets of London life to call yours. Here’s to the September flower; dahlias, whose later flowering colourful bloom brings joy as we layer up for the season to come. And to Virgo’s, a favourite star sign of mine - grounded in the earth and whose love language is Acts of Service. Both dahlias and Virgos share the commonality of being kind.

According to Floraly, “One dahlia flower meaning is “finding inner strength”. This makes dahlias the perfect blooms to send to someone who’s perhaps going through a tough time and could do with a little support.

Dahlias are a unique and showy bloom, so it’s fitting that also they symbolise standing out from the crowd and following your own path. They’re an excellent flower to give a friend or family member who’s graduating or about to embark on a new career journey.

Dahlias also symbolise staying graceful and remaining kind, even in high-pressure or challenging situations. If someone you love is experiencing a stressful moment in life, send them a bouquet of dahlias to brighten their day.”

Wild swimming in Kenwood Ladies’ Pond

I have fallen back in love with swimming in Hampstead Heath’s Ladies’ Pond. This weekend, I found myself single, with no plans and a heatwave, so took my first dip of 2023. (I previously swam last year until October, then took a long hiatus). Seemingly all of London had the same idea, but the queue really went faster than it looked, and I queued for less than an hour both days.

Kenwood Ladies' Pond, wild swimming London, Hampstead Heath, Hampstead Ladies’ Pond

Swimming in the inky water, with the impressionist Emerald Green paint hues of the bordering trees providing the privacy, dancing dragonflies and snippets of conversations bobbing around the pond from the ladies, it feels like a club. A secret club. One where you enter through the Narnia orange strewn path, and into the inky water. Women stripped of their egos, status, and in the meadow, their tops; completely at ease from the prying eyes of men and grind of the city. All women of ages, shapes and sizes find sanctuary in the experience, laying bare (physically and mentally) themselves to the surrender of this special corner of the Heath.

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