June Monthly Round Up

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And Trying to Figure Out Why…

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