June Gardening, Wildlife & Birthday Boy

June Flowers

We have been enjoying the record temperatures here this week. The cats have snoozed in the shade, but the garden was starting to suffer, so OH got the hose out today and as it was so hot we both got under it as well!

It was my husband's birthday this week
and as he has a sweet tooth I baked a chocolate cake and covered it in honeycomb filled butter-icing , drizzled it with fudge sauce and decorated it with honeycomb shards and giant, chocolate buttons. Too sweet for Fay and me, but Jay and OH loved it. The T-shirt says it all!

Yesterday, whilst pruning our hedge, I discovered this wasps' nest. I'm feeling a little guilty now as I called in a man to deal with it.

OH discovered this slowworm at the allotment.

At the allotment, we have been harvesting radishes, lettuce, courgettes and lots of berries and currants. I'm also harvesting Old English Lavender from bushes I grew from cuttings, ready to make more lavender sachets.

Most evenings I am picking, processing and freezing fruit from the allotment.

It's a busy time of year!
Hope you are all enjoying this hot weather, Pj x

Etsy

I have finally taken the plunge and opened a shop on Etsy. My daughter and I have attended a few craft fairs over the past couple of years and a friend has sold some of our items in her shop, but we needed somewhere to showcase our work more frequently.

Our shop banner

The first item to go on sale - glass beaded earrings with silver-plated findings.

If you are interested our shop can be found here:-

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7591950

Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Best wishes, Pj x

Birthday Month

So far we have had 2 out of the 3 birthdays this month. I "blinged" my Mini for my birthday present.

My Mum baked a fruit cake for me to decorate as my cake. She couldn't decorate it herself as my parents' visit was a while ago and the cake went into the freezer.

I made too many flowers so I had to make some fairy cakes to put them on ;)

The next day it was Jay's 14th birthday, so more cakes! This time individual sponge cakes, wrapped in butter-icing and coconut, with icing discs on top.

Birthday Boy.
He had a digital camera for his present and some money towards his computer fund.

As well as a lot of time spent at the allotment, we have managed to go Geocaching. In addition to the treasure, we found these gorgeous orchids and discovered some more beautiful corners of our locality.

My MINI Life Crisis

Yesterday we collected my Mini. OH is calling this my Mini-life Crisis! He has also mentioned "Butterflies"! Anyone my age or over will know what he means. :)

I love my Mini!

May - Inside & Out

Inside

Our bathroom was finally finished in May when we had a new carpet fitted. Anyone who remembers my previous posts about this bathroom will appreciate my relief that it is now finished.

Outside

There are so many flowers in bloom, in May, that I couldn't restrict myself to one mosaic this month. So first:- May flowers

and second, May flowers and fauna.

There have been lots of butterflies in our garden so far this year, but I'm not fast enough with the camera to snap them all. A large variety of moths fly indoors during the evenings and have to be rescued. I think they are as beautiful as the butterflies.

This week at work I have been moving everything into place after our refurbishment and at home we have started attending university open days with Fay. She is planning on taking an animation degree. I am getting excited about my Mini's imminent arrival. I keep shouting "Mini" each time I see one when we are out and about! Jay just shakes his head in despair ;)

On the craft front, I haven't made anything recently. We have been so busy that I haven't had time, but my fingers are itching to make something so hopefully I will have something to show you soon. Best wishes, Pj x

Spring Half-term

Well, I'm back to work now and struggling to get up in the mornings! We had such a relaxing week off and met up with my best friend L and part of her family (the boys were camping on Brownsea Island) for a few of the days.

We are now seriously addicted to Geocaching! Look at the beautiful bluebell woodland where it took us -

and this is what we saw-

We were amazed to find this fawn sleeping in the grass. We were very careful not to disturb him and zoomed the camera in to take this photo. Such a special discovery.



At the Abbotsbury Swannery, the signets are hatching.

The swans and their young were delightful to watch.

So sweet.

The Fleet

Jay on his perch.

A rare photo of Fay, she preferred to spend most of the week with the boyfriend rather than go out with us!

Just hatched.

We then when for a walk on Chesil Beach - stunningly beautiful.

Usually he does this in the sand!

R and Jay - teenagers they just can't keep up with their parents! ;)

Another day we visited Portsmouth and went inside the Spinnaker.

I wouldn't want his job!

View of the Isle of Wight from the Spinnaker.

Me sitting on the glass floor.

View below my feet.

R and Jay

They are the same age, but Jay towers over R.

L and her daughter R.

My OH, outside the Spinnaker after L and R had taken us shopping, and do they know how to shop! :)

Jay and me.

Nearer to home, I finally remembered to take the camera to the allotment. OH has finished the fencing and dug over the entire allotment. He still isn't feeling great, but has enjoyed the exercise. We have planted potatoes, onions, shallots, peas, beans x 3, courgettes, lettuces, aubergines and lots of squashes. Everything will be a little late this year, but at least the rabbits can't eat everything now!

Our first crop of strawberries this year. I am picking them slightly unripe as the mice eat them if they ripen on the plants. There's always something enjoying our produce!!

London Weekend

The first weekend of the half-term holiday, Fay and her boyfriend wanted to attend an exhibition at Excel, London so we all went away for the weekend.

Whilst Fay and boyfriend were at Excel the three of us went sightseeing. Firstly we rode on an open-topped bus and then we did a river cruise. It was 24'C in London that weekend - Jay said it didn't feel like England! Here are some of the places we visited:-

Trafalgar Square

St Paul's Cathedral

Houses of Parliament

Thames Barrier Park

Thames Barrier

Monument commemorating The Great Fire

The Tower, with The Gerkin in the background

Where we met two of the famous inhabitants. The Tower is so much bigger inside than we expected and the exhibition of King Henry's armour was very interesting.

Tower Bridge

Millennium Bridge and The Tate Modern

The newest installation in The Tate Modern

I took many more photos that weekend, but you are saved from any more because Blogger has not been allowing me to move my photos where I want to and it has taken me several attempts just to get these ones uploaded!