Life lately: June 2016

June has been a mixed bag of a month for us. We've had our post wedding come-down, welcomed a baby girl into the family (not ours!), I've spent the last three weeks waiting for my cycling accident injuries to heal and then the EU referendum results came in. Sigh. So I have been trying to focus on the small gems to lift my spirits.

Eating

Lots and lots of strawberries from our allotment. 9kg to be exact – such a high amount because a quarter of our plot is fruit. Last week we hit a peak! We had more fruit than we can actually eat so I've been getting creative with preserving them. There is only so much jam I can stomach in a year.

Favourite strawberry recipes:

• Rhubarb and strawberry cordial. Above — isn't the colour amazing?
• Strawberry cordial
• Strawberry sorbet. This was much easier to make than I thought it would be and the video I found on YouTube is one of the few recipes that doesn't require an ice-cream maker.

And some non strawberry related eats:

• Chocolate courgette cake. Topped with a thin layer of chocolate buttercream frosting instead of ganache.
• Pad thai salad. Scott's Mum actually made this but it was absolutely delicious so I've included a link for you.
• Thai sweetcorn fritters with coconut rice and pak choi.
• Nice meals from the Riverford recipe box we tried.

Watching

Orange is the New Black series 4.

Growing

We've had early rewards for our hard work at the allotment. Two weeks ago we harvested our garlic; over a month earlier than last year (mid July). We have strawberries coming out of our ears and a plentiful supply of chard from just a few plants. The warm, wet weather has done wonders for the plants but also encouraged the slugs.

At home, I've picked the first of the sweet peas grown from saved seed. We have fewer flowers this year because I'm growing them in pots.

Feeling

Happy to welcome our little niece Juniper into the world :) I have about ten years worth of Summer holiday activities in my mind already!

Making

At the beginning of the month I started experimenting with cyanotypes — creating blueprint style images with light sensitive ink. It's a lovely process. I was so pleased with the final prints I turned them into a set of cyanotype Photoshop brushes.

Enjoying

Thunderstorms and heavy rain at night that have come with the warmer weather. I love a good storm. We laid awake one night and watched the storms roll in on Lightning Maps. It's really accurate and you can see the second the thunder will hit.

Looking forward to July!