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!
Oh my I am now obsessed with Lightning Maps!
Love everything about this post – and it’s nudged me to write one myself tomorrow.
Love the sweetpeas, the food, Orange is the New Black, baby Juniper (what a sweetheart!) – now I’m off to look at those photoshop brushes.
The cartoon made me chortle!
Ah thanks Annie! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a few more storms, we don’t get enough. There have been quite a few good things this month really and sitting down to write this post helped me remember them all and feel a bit more cheerful.
Oh wow! I can’t believe how many strawberries you’ve managed to harvest from your allotment! That rhubarb and strawberry cordial sounds amazing – I’ll have to try that out next year. I’ve actually just used your elderflower picking guide to harvest and make my own elderflower cordial, and it was SO helpful. Thanks! 🙂
I’ve been obsessed with new OITNB, I actually don’t know how I’m going to manage a whole year waiting for the next season!
I’m pretty dissapointed with the whole EU thing too. I actually voted to leave, but for reasons that have nothing to do with immigration (I’m all for it), but it’s so sad hearing about all the racist comments that people are getting suddenly, just because the vote came out for leave, and like you said I hope people don’t think that everyone that voted leave is like that!
I hope you have a great July!
xo April | April Everyday
I’m really glad my elderflower guide was helpful, that’s really nice to hear 🙂 I was going to make elderflower champagne this year but missed most of the blooms with everything going on. Still, there’s always next year (I’m pretty sure I said that last year). I don’t know how I’m going to wait a whole year either, it’s addictive!! I’m hoping the EU situation will look a little brighter soon; fingers crossed. Have a great July too.
Congratulations on the wedding! That’s terrific news. I had no idea until Scott told us in Vienna.
Thank you Rachel 🙂 It went by far too quickly, wish we could do it again!