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Yasmin Chopin's avatar

Lovely to hear about your riverside picnic. I love picnics!

But none for me this week.

First, I ‘shopped til I dropped’ in Cambridge (UK). It was probably the only time I’ll splurge on a few new clothes this year. It was a special day out with my daughter and we were looking for outfits to celebrate a friend’s wedding.

Second, my potted herbs (parsley, mint, thyme, chives, and sage) are doing so well that I’m snipping every morning and adding them to at least two meals everyday. The spearmint! Oh joy!

Third, after a hiatus that has lasted decades I’ve picked up my sketchbook and joined some informal groups to resume playing with pencils, pens, and paper. It’s liberating to finally have some space in my life to start sketching again.

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Lovely things! The weather has sparked your creativity

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Cathryn Thompson's avatar

I also dragged the teenagers out of bed and we went off to Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire and had the best day walking and chatting and picnicking too. And finally I saw (and heard) some swifts!

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Ah it’s not summer without them. Sorry to show off but they are the almost constant backdrop here at the moment.

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Kelly Joanne Allen's avatar

I walked the Dales way last year and wow what a wonderful place it is. The scenery, the swifts, the Bakewell at Bolton Abbey, the Curlews. A gorgeous gem of a trip.

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Cathryn Thompson's avatar

It’s such a beautiful place isn’t it, we hadn’t visited for a good few years, was glad we did.

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Anne's avatar

It’s been a flat week here in Sheffield. Generally cold, grey and windy, with the odd bit of sun and some hints of warmth. But this is what happens. I’m reminded that the British summer, especially further north, perhaps, is always an unpredictable thing. It’s fine... I have warm clothes. In some ways, it takes the pressure off. We visited the utterly spectacular Chatsworth gardens yesterday, where I started off in a jumper, gloves and a warm coat and ended up in my tee shirt. Whatever the weather, there is so much to notice and enjoy, as summer gets going.

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Sorry about your great week, I wonder if there’s been a north-south divide. Hope it picks up this week.

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Cathryn Thompson's avatar

It’s been glorious in parts in Lancashire and then there’s a bit of shade and it’s really quite cold, there’s no residual heat yet from the summer season. Unless I get my thermals on there’s no evening sitting out just yet!

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Anne's avatar

😁

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Abi Bryan's avatar

That honeysuckle is gorgeous 😍 We’re having a few days away for half term so have been collecting shells and digging holes on the beach, queuing up for ice creams and looking for crabs and jellyfish

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Glorious

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Sarah B's avatar

Oh poor Saffy! Send her our love!

It's degree show season for me - I'll be heading over to the art college at some point this week to see what the students have been up to over the past year. And a big week for bird life! The local pond is teeming with goslings and cygnets, although no ducklings yet. (I suspect the herons eat the ducklings...)

I've also really been noticing how busy the city is getting already, I'm elbowing my way through tourists on the walk to and from work. Summer feels very much here!

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Lovely things! Thank you

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Kelly Joanne Allen's avatar

Covid this week so a lot of time indoors for me.boo. However the garden is looking very lush and my friend sent me some gorgeous peonies to cheer me up.

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Oh boo! I hope you’re feeling better very soon.

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Amber's avatar

I spent my week stuck in a court room for jury duty this week, but I got outdoors for lunch to soak in as much nature as possible. There is one particularly magnificent magnolia tree in downtown Raleigh that I love so I ate lunch beneath it one day. That was like a picnic, too, I suppose. A very picnic type week!

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Oh poor you but glad you managed to snatch some moments in among doing your civic duties!

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Rachael's avatar

Oh your poor sweet dog, bless her, hope she’s better soon.

My joy of the week is my ever growing collection of solar lights, creating mid year magic and enchantment ✨.

Not so joyful is the depleting water levels in the water butts. A drop or two of rain would be welcome in the garden.

Spotting tiny flower buds on tomato plants.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Xx

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Yes so little rain. The poor wildlife too.

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Tegan Aloysius's avatar

Poor pup! I always have a wee giggle when I have to do something silly to keep mine safe and he always looks at me like that 😂 the local birds have all started brining their babies to the garden, so I’ve got fluffy balls of starlings and sparrows fluttering around and making me smile. The broom is in full bloom as well - even on cloudy Glaswegian days it lights up the garden!

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Gorgeous!

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Ella Bragonier's avatar

Oh Saffy - poor darling. Perhaps not quite as bad a cone and yet... in some ways perhaps worse. Keeping my stuff short this week as for me it’s been one of those weeks you just have to grit your teeth for, a bit of a contrast to all the lovely weather. First, the smell of freshly mown grass which really means summer has begun in proper. Second, a symphony orchestra of pink and white down the motorway - pink tinged hawthorn en masse, and the first opening dog roses (yay!). Finally, a planned picnic tomorrow to celebrate the end of exams.

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Lovely things. Hope your teeth gritting stuff passes quickly x

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June Girvin's avatar

The weather, the promise of summer, the feel of EVERYTHING growing, means I have been buying far more plants than I can plant before they shrivel and die in the pots....

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Yes! I was very well behaved at the garden centre and bought very few things and got them all planted up…but now I want to go back!

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Rachael's avatar

I definitely identify with you there, I’ve banned myself from buying more plants till the one’s sitting around are all safely planted. Xx

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Sue Armstrong's avatar

That’s me exactly Rachael! Went to a coffee morning / plant sale today in aid of our local agricultural show and the plants were beautiful and sooo cheap! I had to be restrained - but honestly, gorgeous huge pelargoniums for £2!!!!

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Stephanie Ascough's avatar

Saffy looks so sweet & sad! We noticed the first fireflies here, too. The heat approaches here, along with humidity, sweet-smelling earth (not just this week but one of my favorite things), and just the general slant to the sun.

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Gorgeous

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Mark Diacono's avatar

It is the best time of year isn't it

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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Yes!

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Diana Morgan's avatar

Staying in Shetland and enjoying a second helping of bluebells, daffodils, and narcissi, plus a few wild orchids.

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Sue Armstrong's avatar

Bit late to the party today - but I made it in the end. Love yours Lia, especially Sweet Saffy in her pretty pjs. The picnic and the herbs - oh joy ! That’s the story just now for sure. I’m picking baby perpetual spinach and tasty little micro kale leaves to jazz up our salads this week.

My three - firstly, a glorious open garden Sunday at a beautiful Manor House near here. Afternoon Tea and jazz in a sublime garden in warm sunshine. It was pretty special, with roses, wisteria, clematis on a vast scale. Second - our first time on our local golf course this year, on a suddenly sunny afternoon. It’s very high up in the Cheviots and is carved out of a glorious wild hillside - we were the only ones there amid birdsong, pheasants strutting and such fresh, scented air. Driving around in a buggy is such fun on that terrain! Thirdly, several meals taken outside this week, enjoying our garden - such a treat.

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Jun 2, 2023
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Lia Leendertz's avatar

Oh magic, hope it was great

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