Make hay while the sun shines

The rain has finally arrived but I made the most of the beautiful weather last week.

Last week I was mostly -

Studying the moon

Chasing butterflies

Dancing in the kitchen to Benny Goodman whilst cleaning the fridge

Listening to Woman's Hour on Radio 4

Making picnics

Drinking Pimms with home-grown strawberries 

Doing Yoga in the sitting room to George Michael whilst being nudged by a Big (hairy) Dog

Wednesday -

Ez and I took Big Dog on an evening walk.

This hat has been waiting for it's owner for quite a while

A hot, mellow evening

Big Dog cooled down in the river

We saw a water vole on the way home!  Shame the photo didn't come out

Thursday -

We decided (at nearly half past nine) to walk to the local pub, much to the excitement of Esme and the dog. Ooooh, and I found a bargain in a charity shop.  Sarah hates it when strange objet d'art appear in the house.  Luckily this one passed the test and can stay!

It looks cute in our new turquoise downstairs loo

So much happiness for £2!

We are now eating runner beans and courgette with everything!

Raw peas - yum

Friday -

My usual Friday walk was supposed to be a short one but as usual I got side-tracked and wandered off.  I stopped at Lorenzo's Trail on the way home from school at about 8.30am and didn't get home for breakfast until 10am!  Ooops.  Once the few pre-work dog walkers disappeared we were totally alone.  I must have walked through every cobweb that morning though, agh!

 

Beautiful trees, the odd Buzzard circling above us and peace - what more could a girl (and dog) want

I had to bury my big hooter in this Honeysuckle and have a good sniff

Lorenzo Trail is a walk we used to do regularly but as we emerged from the trees I realised that I had never walked it during such hot, dry weather and seen everything so golden and soft in colour.  

I'd forgotten how good the view was from here

I didn't see a soul.  Just me, Big Dog and hundreds of butterflies

Top left - Five-spot Burnet Moth

Bottom left - Marbled White

Bottom right - Small Tortoiseshell

Burcombe punch bowl

That dog is such a poser!

We could just see Salisbury Cathedral in the hazy distance

I love this time of year as I have a passion for seed-heads.  I like architectural, simple shapes and this is why I adore the work that designers Angie Lewin and Orla Kiely produce.

www.angielewin.co.uk

www.orlakiely.com

Poppy seed heads on the veggie patch

My sweet peas have been making lovely shapes too, bless their little tendrils.....

Sarah also decided to get rid of some debris (we have a lot of debris) so we all smelt like kippers by the end of the night.  It was great watching the fire with a beer and crisps at eleven o'clock at night.

Sarah likes to burn 'stuff'.

Saturday -

Ez helped me make biccies - I had severe baking withdrawal symptoms. 

Buttery, syrupy oat biscuits

 

 

Oat Biscuits

 

100g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100g rolled oats

100g butter

100g caster sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup

 

Heat oven to 150 degrees C.  Sift flour and soda into a bowl, mix in oats.  Dissolve butter, sugar & syrup over a low heat, then stir in to dry ingredients.  Put teaspoons of the mixture on greased baking sheets, bake in centre of oven for 15-20 minutes.  Leave to cool for only a few seconds, then loosen with a palette knife and cool on a wire rack.  So easy and delicious!



Sunday -

A picnic in Grovely Woods.

I'd love to renovate this overgrown, deserted house and live in the woods.

Followed by a lazy lie on the grass in Lizzie Gardens whilst the dulcet tones of Salisbury Big Band wafted over us.

We had to keep chucking Big Dog in the river to distract her from sniffing people's picnics!

In the evening we had a BBQ (with Pimms).  We've never had so many BBQ's.

One very large, round shape we have been studying on these long balmy evenings is the moon.  Esme's telescope is held together with selotape though which makes star gazing a bit tricky.

 

Big Dog with scary eyes......

Monday -

Our friend Ele gave me a brick.  She has just moved to a smaller house and has given us terracotta pots, a cold frame, plants, tools etc....  V kind.

I'm quite proud of my brick.  It has pride of place in my alpine garden.

Wednesday -

I used some of Ele's lovely terracotta plant pots to re-pot my cacti.

Re-potted cacti (and new floor)

They add to the Mexican cafe feel in our Dining Room (Arriba, Arriba)

Thursday -

Cloud watching

We ate our first 'green tint patty pan squash'.

It looked like a spaceship but tasted and cooked like courgette.  V yummy.

Not bad for a free packet of seeds stuck to a magazine!