Juicy June

In June, I mostly:-

- Ran away (or rather flew away) from the grey, wet, cold weather.

- Watched 'Gardener's World' on Sarah's kindle at 33,000 feet.  Am in love with Monty Don. 

- Was inspired by seeing Mary Portas in the Salisbury Festival - what a woman.....

- Was amazed at Clare Teal.  Sarah got a CD signed for me whilst I hid in the loo.

- Had a good rummage in charity shops.

- Tried to stay warm as I watched Salisbury Big Band play OUTSIDE - are they mad?

- Played with my new 'sit/stand desk' at work. Such fun!  

- Went to 2 beer festivals, hic.

- Played badminton in the back garden. 

Had some 'me time' one morning in Wilton Shopping Village in all the vintage, gift and arty shops.

Very cute wool shop

Followed by a most succulent chocolate brownie and pot of Earl Grey tea in Cobbs Tearoom.

http://www.cobbsatwilton.co.uk/

We squeezed a quick weekend away in Spain at Ken & Beryl's villa.  Mind you it didn't start well as the fire alarm went off at Bournemouth Airport just as we were taking our belts, shoes, watches and wooden legs off and putting them through the scanner so we all had to evacuate to the car park.  Also as the airport is tiny compared to Gatwick and Heathrow I didn't think to make a note of where we'd left the car - when we got back to Bournemouth after our weekend away it took us 15 minutes to find it! 

We got there eventually - ah, heat and sun......Mmmmmm

Two things excite me about travelling - the sound of my case wheels whirring along in the terminal building and baggage reclaim!  We put our cases in the overhead lockers this time so it was hard not to go and stand at the conveyor belt.

Is this an almond tree in the garden?

It made such a difference going in June, rather than September.  Not so many mozzys - only one bite, yahoo!  No deafening cicadas and lots more flowers.  And the smell of pine trees and thyme was sublime.

So many lemons - just wish I could take them all home

Even the cactus were flowering

The view of the mountain, Montgo

The oleander was out!

Beans on the bean tree

Lovely old, gnarled bean tree it is too

The bougainvillea was lovely (and spiky) as always

I hadn't seen the purple jacaranda blooming before

The wood eating grub thing that was in the sofa last year was now in the curtain poles!  Nooooo!  So we did a lot of sign language and acting in the local hardware store and came back with some nasty killing stuff.

I did offer to do it (I think)

View from the neya - 31 degrees, phew.

Nice evening stroll in Javea - there's Montgo (sigh)

So nice to go on the beach at six in the evening and swim in the sea!

We did both fall asleep on the sand one day - poor old duffers

We found a nice spot for a cooling drink

Sangria and tapas - that's me sorted

You know you travel too much when you can't work out which way the traffic is coming when you cross the road back home!  I haven't been abroad now for at least four weeks and I'm starting to get a twitchy eye.... :-(

Still, good to drown our sorrows at the Salisbury Beerex with fellow real ale nerds

We sang in Salisbury Cathedral and had an audition in the vestry.  It was very spooky to be in the dim, echoing Cathedral as they are closing up - so many doors!

More sculptures inside too

The garden has been slow to get going

The roses and strawberries were late in arriving

Emma, our mad friend and house sitter getting a run down on the watering before we went away - again!

We had an amazing show of poppies in the village - shame the weather wasn't sunnier

Esme admiring the poppies and cows from the garden.....

Birthday celebrations with Esme to end the month - we had to have an indoor BBQ!

I am cautiously optimistic, the weather is improving.  I am determined to wear my new and only bikini since the 1970's before the summer is out.....

Well there's a half of home brew on the coffee table with my name on it so must go.

July - a vintage month

Well, that didn't work, did it?  In the end, July was too hot to do anything outside and I spent most of the month with my torso thrust inside the fridge, aaaaaahhhhhhh........  The dog has only been for short evening walks and the garden is burnt to a crisp.  Only now am I venturing back outside now the temperature has lowered a few degrees.

Spot the 15 year old in camouflage

This month I have been mostly:

- Observing (from bed) a green woodpecker on the telegraph pole.  They have a very loud, strange call and don't tap much apparently.

- Watching the early harvest.

- Enduring 28 degrees in the bedroom at night.

- Hearing a loud smack as a sparrow-hawk flies in to the dining room window, only to see him fall to the ground, dropping the dead sparrow he was carrying, and then flying off (rather indignantly).

- Trying to fill a trailer with garden debris in the field behind us, whilst keeping an eye out for the bull munching not far away!

- Being woken at 3am one morning by two bats screeching and flapping at the open bedroom window.  Agh!  The next morning we found bat poo on the window sill.  They may have found a home in our roof.

Very, very exciting (to me anyway) - Our Chinese tulip tree has finally flowered!  They do not flower for the first 15 years and can grow to well over 100 ft (gulp).

Our Chinese tulip tree in flower

A colleague of mine brought in the most sumptuous cheesecake to the office one day, made by his American wife.  I begged him to get me the recipe and tried it out on the family.  OMG!  It is so easy and so disgustingly delicious.

Ingredients:

200g digestive or ginger nut biscuits, crushed in to fine crumbs

50g fine caster sugar

100g butter, melted

500g full-fat cream cheese

100g icing sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 vanilla pod, sliced length ways and paste removed or 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla paste

200ml double cream, lightly whipped (don't forget!)

Method:

1.  In a mixing bowl, mix together the biscuit crumb and sugar.  Add in the melted butter and mix well.

2.  Spoon the biscuit mixture into a 20cm spring-form cake tin lined with silicon paper or baking parchment.  Use a metal spoon to press the biscuit crumbs down firmly and evenly.  Chill in the fridge to set (just chill until done making the filling).

3.  In a large mixing bowl, using a whisk or a wooden spoon, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until well mixed.

4.  Whip double cream into soft peaks.  Try not to over whip but if you do it will still be fine.  Fold in the double cream, mixing well.

5.  Spoon the cream mixture over the chilled biscuit base, making sure that there are no air bubbles.  Smooth the top of the cheesecake with a palette knife or metal spoon.

6.  Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for anywhere between 1 hour to overnight to set.  Overnight works best.

7.  To serve, remove from the cake tin and cut into slices.

Heavenly - don't worry about your waistline

I cannot deny that I have enjoyed the sunshine and longer days (when I'm not too hot and grumpy).

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly - their closed wings resemble leaves to hide them from predators.

I have managed a couple of nature walks.

Agrimony & field scabious

Agrimony -  

In the old days it was used to treat snake bite.  The flowers were also added to lemonade to cure colds.

In the field

Great hairy willow-herb -

Other name - 'codlins-and-cream' due to the smell of cooking apples (or codlins) if the leaves are bruised. And it does smell just like apples!

Corn mint -

Flowers in whorls, not at the end of the stems (as in most mints).

Self-heal -

Once thought to have medicinal properties, curing people without the help of a doctor - hence it's name.  

Corn (or field) mint, self-heal & great hairy willow-herb

One hot day, we received a small green visitor in to our sitting room.

Grasshopper trying to navigate the dog hair - I must fire the cleaner.

Cosmos in the back garden

Sarah satisfied a long held dream to go to a test match at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.  I prefer the old name - Rose Bowl.  India v England.  Lets just say, I enjoyed the train ride.  It must have been 30+ degrees in the grounds.  I sat there with my very naff French Legionnaire type hat on, covered in factor 50 with an ice pack from the cool bag stuffed down my top - not a good look.

A happy bunny

We were greeted by Indian drumming

The countryside is looking autumnal already.  It's lovely and cool in the early morning.  I am quietly excited at the thought of being able to wear scarves and light fires again soon but I don't mention it to my fellow sun worshipers because it doesn't make me very popular.

Speckled Wood butterfly

I have found some great finds for the house.....

- a printers' tray (from Elm Tree Antiques in Devizes - a fab shop full of military coats, grandad shirts, 1950's handbags, hats.... oooh)

- a sewing box/stool (from the window of a charity shop in Melksham)

And

- I am borrowing my Mum's typewriter - oh, the memories.  I can't wait to hear the nostalgic sound of keys tapping and the roller whirring.  

Printers' tray - ideal for all my finds

Manufactured from 1890 to the 1960's, printers' type cases were originally used to keep various letters of a typeface in order.  The case for the capital letters would sit at a steep angle at the back of the desk and the case for the smaller letters would be placed at a shallower angle at the front of the desk, where it could be more easily reached.  Hence, the original meaning of 'lower' and 'upper' case.

Silver-Reed 500 typewriter waiting patiently on my desk

Silver-Reed typewriters were made in Japan in the 1970's.

Sputnik sewing stool 

Sewing stool made in the 1950's and named after the Sputnik, the world's first satellite.  This heralded the dawn of the space age and the US/USSR space race.  The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of NASA.  

It almost makes me want to sew........