Tuesday, August 08, 2023

Summer's End

 This challenge is sponsored by Starstampz so needed to use one of their images.  I actually chose the image before I knew what the rhyme was!

The rhyme chosen is;

The familiar rhythm of the cricket's chirps
Create the soundtrack for each day,
Echoing Summer's end
And that Autumn's on her way.

The stifling heat of the summer sun
Is now tempered by the clouds.
Those fluffy, cotton August clouds,
That soft breezes push about.

Shadows falling everywhere
As the sun plays peek-a-boo.
Losing her strength with each new day,
A sure sign that Summer is through.

As the lazy, care-free summer days,
Reluctantly draw to an end.
Excitement grows for what's ahead,
As school days and the Fall begin.

And no matter how the years may pass,
And how old I come to be,
I'll always love this time of year,
As it holds such fond memories

Of sitting with my childhood friends,
Recalling all our fun
While running, swimming and riding bikes
Beneath the summer sun.

And sharing all our hopes and dreams
As the future stirs us on.
Knowing as we sit on that late, August eve,
Summer's ending, but her memory lives on.

But there's also a haunting sadness sometimes
That I feel when those dark shadows fall.
And that my greatest adventures in life
Are just memories, now aroused by those sweet cricket calls.

I chose the image Goldfishing, just because I thought it was cute.  I made it fit with the theme by adding the words "We didn't realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun."  from Winnie the Pooh by A.A Milne.

The image is printed on watercolour card and coloured using watercolour markers a skill I am still trying to perfect, I think the final attempt was my 3rd or 4th and I am still not happy with it. Then mounted on blue card and a cream card.