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.