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Summer Solstice Salutations!

 Firstly, whoever thought it would be a GREAT and FUN idea to make miniature shopping trolleys for children to use in Morrison’s supermarket was WRONG. When in a supermarket, children should be holding firmly on to the standard trolley and making the least annoyance to other shoppers as possible, not running riot with their own trolleys. That’s how it was in my day. Just saying.

Secondly, for the FIRST time in 40+ years of putting out the bins for weekly collection, today I forgot. Actually forgot. I can’t believe I didn’t put it out last night like I always do. In my defence, yesterday was a hectic day, culminating in 4 hours of gardening and I was molto stanco by the end of the day and it must have slipped my mind. Either that, or my actual mind is slipping. Fortunately, we produce very little general waste so could probably miss having our bin collected for a couple of months before it became full. But even so…fancy forgetting…

Thirdly, I bought Nell these at Aldi - £1.49. 

There were three ‘flavours’ and I thought she would go berserk for them! Hours of bubble fun, I thought, chasing them around on the wind, yapping and barking and having a high old time. Andy was on standby ready to film the ensuing crazy Nell antics. Ha! Never have I seen a dog more underwhelmed by an offering of canine entertainment. She looked at the bubbles drifting through the air as if to say, ‘What EXACTLY are you expecting me to do with those?’ Still, I was very impressed by how bacony they smelled.

Anyway, onto more important stuff. Happy Summer Solstice to you all! We are having a bit of a Solstice celebration, what with me being a pagan-witchy type and all.The magnificent pie at the top of this post is my official Summer Solstice Pie. It’s very time consuming to create, hence its appearance only once a year. There’s a layer of spinach, ricotta and nutmeg in the bottom, then a layer of roasted red peppers, then a layer of grilled courgette, then a layer of butternut squash, goat’s cheese, onion, sage and rosemary to finish. All wrapped up in homemade shortcrust pastry. None of your shop-bought rubbish here! 

I’m also mid-way through making some curried potato and pea pasties. I’ve made a lemon and tomato couscous salad and some ginger cake to have with strawberries and cream. There will be some green salad, mange tout, new potatoes with butter and a few cheese, pickles and crisps. Marvellous! I bought a new fire pit and I am hoping to sit up WAY past my bed time and watch the sun go down and the bats come up. We’ll make wishes on bits of paper for the next year and throw them onto the fire with some rosemary, oak and holly. A bit of Midsummer Magic. Drop in and join us if you’re passing! 

The Festival of Litha (Midsummer) goes on for three days, so I have tomorrow and Saturday to do more reflection and celebration. I have a couple of ideas on the back burner, now that I’m feeling more myself again. It’s a potentially exciting time - I just need to summon some courage and glue it to the sticking place.

Enjoy the sun, the daylight hours, the magic and the energies! Spend £1.49 on something other than bacon-scented bubbles for your dog. 



Comments

Anonymous said…
I'll be by soon some of the lovely food you are fixing
It's nearly 90 here with extensive heat warnings

Enjoy your summer

Deanna from Ft Worth
22 June 2024 at 02:08
Anonymous said…
Oh no, sorry I missed the party! Trust you partied your heart out. Got the dog washed with new shampoo on clearance. Unfortunately the time I find out it is quite good other people have snatched up the remaining bottles. Go figure.
KJ

22 June 2024 at 06:46
Denise said…
Hello Deanna! Good to hear from you. It’s between 65-70 F here - nowhere near your sweltering temperatures. I hope you are coping okay and staying cool. Wouldn’t it be great if you could step into some sort of time travel machine and arrive here just like that? I’d love to share our celebration food with you. xx

KJ, hurrah for getting the dog bathed at last! I bet he loved it!!! And yes, it’s so annoying when you find a good product and then it sells out. Or worse, is discontinued. I’m still mourning The Body Shop’s Dewberry Shampoo…sigh…
22 June 2024 at 08:34
Anonymous said…
“Love it” is perhaps not the right description of it. He tolerates it. He sprained his front paw 3 months ago and it still hurts occasionally. We had it x-rayed, several visits to the vet as it really hurt and the med was messing with him completely. This was after he just got through having had surgery to remove cancer on his back leg. Quite the ordeal these last 6 months. He is better now thankfully. But yes, it helped his fur getting cleaned although he would happily have been without.
KJ
22 June 2024 at 14:08
Denise said…
Poor chap, KJ. But I reckon that a fur wash made him feel better (secretly)! And I dare say he will find something revolting to roll in if he wants to add his own eau de parfum. Nell will try and find things to roll in. She is disgusting. 🤢
23 June 2024 at 07:09
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