June 2010

June was such a hectic month this year, but working in my garden is very relaxing. The roses have been particularly beautiful, but are now starting to fade. The hardy geraniums have all been cut down and I have been busy pruning the shrubs, to keep them in shape as my garden is only 43' long by 27' wide, so I need to keep the plants from getting too big. June has been very dry this year, very untypical of English weather!

At the end of June it was my husband's birthday. I made a Heimlich ("It's a Bug's Life") cake for him, as he is fond of quoting Heimlich by saying "Look I'm a beautiful butterfly."

Can you see why! :)

He received some cheeky, but truthful, cards from the children!
My walks to and from work are now only twice a week, since rearranging my working hours and it has been lovely to watch the season changing around me.
This month the hedgerows have been sweetly scented with the summer flowers.
The elderflowers have been magnificent
and towards the end of the month faded and were replaced by young elderberries.

The wild honeysuckle has been abundant in June, but unfortunately the hedge trimmers have cut most of the dog roses down, on my route to work.

Lining the banks of the brook, amongst the tall grasses is lots of meadowsweet.

The brambles are in flower, promising blackberries at the end of the summer.

It looks like being a bumper year again for wild cherry plums. I love the jam made from the yellow ones, as they are sweeter than the red cherry plums.

Towards the end of June it was the Cath Kidston sale and I have always loved her little bird design, so I treated myself to these bags. I plan to use them to organise my some of my needlework equipment. Another treat, I seem to have been on a spending spree, these two books from Amazon. I would like to start dress-making again and "A Perfect Fit" looks very useful. I couldn't resist the crochet animals, I'm looking forward to having a go at making these for gifts.

After such a hectic month I'm looking forward to the summer holidays. Only another two weeks of work and then we have six weeks break. Thank goodness! :)