Summer Pleasures

I just love Summer! Evenings in the garden working while it’s a pleasant temperature, comfortable clothes and tasty treats.

The strawberries are ripening. Definitely my favourite fruit. I pick them before they’re fully ripe. I like them that way and I can have them before the pesky slugs find them.

The broad beans are ready and we’ve started enjoying them. A real treat with some mint sauce. Small tender ones are so good.

I’ve harvested the garlic. Not a big crop this year but will last for a little while. I had oodles last year and it lasted for ten months. Had to throw the last few away so a smaller harvest may not be a bad thing.

The basil in the greenhouse is lush at the moment. Fresh aromatic green leaves full of flavour. I made our favourite bread and basil salad to make the most of it. I had a few slices of dry bread to use which are ideal for this. Served with some grated cheese, it’s a nourishing meal and delicious.

The recipe is on an earlier post with the title “Basil Salad and Waterlilies”. Very easy and yet always seems special.

Because we’ve had a spell of dry sunny weather the flowers are really lovely. It’s meant a lot of watering to keep things going but the results make it worthwhile.

The peonies are at their best now. I have a pale pink one called “Sarah Bernhardt” which is a very romantic flower. I love it. I also have one called “Alexander Fleming”. This one is a rich vibrant shade of pink. Both very beautiful. I just wish they lasted longer before shedding their silken petals.

Campanula persicifolia was in the garden when we moved here and every year it pops up freely here and there. Some are blue and others are white. It’s one of my favourite flowers and I appreciate its habit of returning unbidden. There is a nice little stand of them under one of the pear trees which I think looks particularly pretty against the rough bark.

The garden needs a good tidy-up but there are pretty bits which please me.

Roses struggle in our light sandy soil so we never have an abundance of flowers. They cope though and produce a few lovely blooms. I think you need to look at flowers close up to appreciate them fully so I try to capture the beauty with my camera.

I mentioned last time a cushion cover I embroidered with a pottery pattern called “Indian Tree”. Here is one of my oval plates showing the pattern. I think it has been used by many potteries but not recently. This kind of design is perhaps old-fashioned but I love it.

I like old pieces of pottery but I also have some contemporary studio pieces. I like them so much I even paint pictures of them. Here’s one of my small collection of Eric Leaper items.

So much to say but it will keep for another time. I hope you’re enjoying these summer pleasures. Feel free to comment. I love to hear from you. Until next time, bye for now.