So, there you go. That was June. We’ve said Hello and Goodbye. I’d usually like to get a round up post out on the last day of the month, but real life got in the way. Better late than never?

We’ve all been continuing to ride the Corona-coaster, with restrictions and relaxed restrictions followed by uncertainty and speculation about a second wave. I would tentatively say the future looks bright and that we are starting to see the other side of the situation the pandemic shot us into.

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Foraged flowers, repurposed jars.

June has been a quiet month for me. Life has centred around home and family and making the most of what we have. I suspect this post might be so low key as to be a bit dull, but this has been my month, so here we go. June has been a great month for…

Gardening

 

Well, sort of gardening. Actually more like just potting up some plants for the patio and hoping for the best. So far, so good! I’m enjoying getting a bit of a garden on the go. Planting and nurturing is a long game and this is the first time I’ve expected to live in one place for longer than two years. However, I know very little so have spent a lot of time googling things like ‘Do you dead head geraniums’. FYI, yes, you do.

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Planting Veggies

We were kindly sent some seeds from the lovely folk at Innocent so home learning got practical and we got planting. I love the idea of eating home grown produce and even getting a few seeds into soil made me feel all home stead-ish. But to date the only thing that has shown any signs of growing is the cress. Maybe we’ll see some green shoots soon? Luckily, Aldi is just down the road because I suspect this self sufficiency lark is much harder than it looks. Not easy being green, hey.

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Feeling the Flower & Forage Love

I have fallen in love with the English countryside in the Summer. The fields and lanes are ablaze with flowers. I suspect this is a bumper year thanks to lockdown. Quieter roads, the absence of military vehicles and boots on the ground has allowed the flowers to ramble and take over a little bit.Things Helen Loves, image of daisies in a sunny field

Not just flowers, I’ve also spotted a lot of forageable goodies including wild garlic, redcurrants, raspberries and tiny wild strawberries. There’s also a lot of blackberries and quince about, although they aren’t ready yet.

Things Helen Loves, redcurrants growing wild in English countryside

Country Walks

Back to my previous point- I have fallen in love with the English countryside. And getting out on foot is the best way to enjoy it. Things Helen Loves, English countrysid

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Making Butter

If planting seeds gave me ideas of homesteading, making butter gave me full on Little House on the Prairie feelings. And it’s so, so simple to do. Be warned though, if you’re used to modern day spreadable stuff, home made butter is not the same. You don’t spread it as much as carve it.  But it was delicious and it made a nice little home schooling project.Things Helen Loves, home made butter

We followed the instructions on this Farmdrop blog post and tweaked the method a bit using a muslin cloth  in place of a sieve, but if you want an insight into the sheer graft of traditional butter making, English Heritage have a great You Tube video about Victorian butter making. It gave me a new level of appreciation for the humble electric hand mixer.

Finding Mystery in the Mountains ( via Netflix)

Mr THL and I have been hooked on the Netflix series Curon. The stunning mountain and lake backdrop combined with a good ghost story make it right up our street. Curon is filmed in a town by the same name and the half-submerged church tower  featured in the show is situated in the middle of Lago di Resia in South Tyrol.

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Image via Google Images

And Trying to Figure Out Why…

Things Helen Loves, image of dog meeting cows

My dog, who isn’t really very accepting of anyone outside the immediate family when it comes to people, has so much love for cows?  And they seem just as fond of him. Answers on a postcard.

Helen x

8 thoughts

  1. Oh, to be in England! Or France, or anywhere! Your photos are lovely, and I hope by now you have some tomato sprouts!

    1. ThingsHelenLoves says:

      We have a few tiny green shoots so I am hopeful! Your blog is beautiful, Iโ€™m in awe of people with green fingers.

  2. Life has been quite similar for us taking life slowly with lots of walks filled with the aroma of wild garlic in the hedgerows. I noticed some people picking nettles along with wild garlic for soup making. I haven’t been so adventurous as to try it yet though, have you? Well done with the butter making! Let’s hope this rainy weather disappears soon then we can enjoy the outdoors once again.

    1. ThingsHelenLoves says:

      It’s quite nice this slow living isn’t it? Yes I’ve tried a bit of wild garlic on a salad and it was tasty-strong though! We’ve been picking berries also. I’ve heard of cooking with nettles but I’m not quite brave enough for that …yet. Thanks for your interest in my post and I hope you are staying well and positive. Helen x

  3. Sounds like you’ve been coping with the lockdown really well and finding lots of ways to keep busy. Lots of walks in the amazing English countryside seems perfect, we’ve been walking every day and it’s amazing what wonderful places you find isn’t it? Like the sound of butter making, not easy though I bet. And always looking for Netflix recommendations as we feel like we’ve seen nearly everything on there currently.

    1. ThingsHelenLoves says:

      Thanks Jonno, it’s not been bad all in all! I think it’s a case of start where you are, use what you have and do what you can. Thanks for the read and comment, always appreciated.

    1. ThingsHelenLoves says:

      I think he’d happily be adopted by a herd, he’d make a great farm dog! I’m just happy he’s calm around them as we fields of cows in every direction round here.

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