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2016 revisited: June

7/1/2017

3 Comments

 
The sights and sounds of summer . . .
To start, why not put some sounds in your ears while you read over this post? Below is a compilation of various recordings I made (on my camera, so not brilliant quality) during June. Originally, I intended to do a recording every day for 30 Days Wild, but didn't manage it. Speaking of 30 Days Wild, it was fantastic to get my pack from the Wildlife Trusts, featuring cards with pictures that I drew! It was very exciting to have my art going out to thousands of people. I talked about the process of creating the cards here.
cards
30 Days Wild card designs featuring my sketches.
So, back to our activites in June. We paid a visit to London for a family wedding at the start of the month and enjoyed some green spaces in the city.
Moss
Moss in Mill Hill.
The wedding cakes were a sight to behold. All the fruit and flowers inspired me to try something I'd been meaning to get around to for the last few years: cooking with elderflowers. I foraged a couple of flower heads and made them into pikelets (sweet little pancakes), which worked quite nicely.
cakes with flowers and fruit
Wedding cakes.
Elderflowers
Elderflower.
It's hard to fit in outdoors time around a full time job with a 1-2 hour commute each way, so we decided to start a little tradition of going on a walk on the way home at least once a week. We chose Arlington Reservoir, because it's a one hour circular walk on an easy trail, with a variety of stuff to look at: the water and waterbirds, a bit of woodland, views of the South Downs, animals, buildings, fields. It was satisfying to watch the evolution of the micro-ecosystem that is the reservoir wall over the course of the summer and autumn, until it got too dark to walk any more.
bunny
The cutest bun I ever saw.
daisies
Daisies on the reservoir wall.
view of reservoir wall and hills
Arlington Reservoir with the South Downs in the background.
greenery and flowers
Wildflowers beside the path.
blue water and sky
Arlington Reservoir - the path goes along the long curve of the wall.
There was a gorgeous Chicken of the Woods fungus growing on Battle High Street, of all places. I didn't want to take it, as it looked so lovely and colourful. Somebody else didn't have any such qualms - it had been cut down when we next went past, a couple of days after I took this photo. (I later heard it was a friend of a neighbour, who presented it to a family member for their birthday!)
yellow bracket fungus
Chicken of the Woods (I think) growing in Battle High Street.
We had an amazing microadventure on the South Downs with probably the most beautiful scenery I saw this year. The HRRA walk this month was also on the South Downs, which meant even more fabulous views!
two orange patterned butterflies on pink flowers
Small tortoiseshell butterflies, which have suffered a population decline, especially in the south of the UK.
Green crops and a far horizon
Looking down the undulating flanks of the South Downs.
Green ears of wheat
It's always lovely to see a field of wheat or barley nodding in the wind.
And at the end of the month we went Champing for the first time. Despite quite a grey and drizzly month overall, we did manage to make the most of it.

Previous 2016 year in review posts: January, February, March, April and May.

3 Comments
Elizabeth link
6/1/2017 06:19:02 pm

First, I absolutely LOVE the idea of recording the sounds you hear throughout the month, and having that Soundcloud at the top of the post. Such a pleasant thing to listen to while reading your blog. Second, you take such beautiful photographs! Love the sound of elderflower pikelets and that wedding cake is amazing! It's a shame you don't get the chance more often to spend times outdoors, but commuting is often a necessary inconvenience. Wishing you all the best for 2017! :)

Reply
Jonathan link
6/1/2017 07:19:04 pm

Thanks Elizabeth - you too! I'm really pleased you enjoyed listening to the audio piece. At the time, my failure to record something every day annoyed me, but it seems I'd recorded enough to make a nice little collage (even after cutting out all the bits of sound that were completely blasted by wind noise!). If you're interested in doing your own recordings, Allysse has a monthly theme going on her blog at the moment: https://besteglatisant.wordpress.com/category/audio/

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birthday flowers link
24/3/2017 08:54:28 am

I am greatly inspired by your posts and thinking of writing mine now. Thanks for being an inspiration to me as I was also trying to write blogs but was not getting the appropriate genre.

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