Jaunty June

This has to be the best month of the year. Spring has exploded into summer, the air is warm and the sun is shining - most days, it seems. Flowers are EVERYWHERE.

Drooping over the patio from our neighbours' garden.

Tree hydrangea

I am amazed at how quickly June is flying  by. The cycle commute to school has changed, as the hedges and banks which, at the beginning of the month were towering over my head, have been cut. It does make cycling down the lanes safer... I can now see vehicles coming, although the tractors which tear round the island are somewhat daunting....

One day, a magpie hopped insouciantly along the bank by my shoulder, so close I could see its wing feathers; a cock pheasant strutted his stuff at the edge of a field, just a couple of metres away from me, quite unconcerned; then, as I took one of my favourite back lanes near home, I saw a buzzard dive down and land at the edge of the field. He hadn't seen me, so I quietly drifted to a halt and climbed the ban to peep over. He flew up, almost in my face, yellow legs dangling as he slowly flapped white-patched wings towards the nearest tree before continuing on across the meadow. mobbed by two crows who pursued him with tremendous determination until he had safely left the area.

Goldfinches swoop busily in and out of the trees and bushes which blackbirds fly low-level across the garden, assiduously digging for worms in the early morning. Thrushes shriek from our neighbour's tree, almost deafening at times. A baby chaffinch rested thankfully on the bird table, its parent perched anxiously above it while it caught its breath.

There was other wildlife, too. Sawfly larvae emerged and started chomping away at the Solomon's Seal, effectively stripping the leaves. Nature's pruning. I started off the season by trying to remove them, before giving up: perhaps they would be food for the birds... but not before the leaves had been stripped to bare stems...

Inbetween bird watching, I teach; read the incredible World War 2 adventure stories the children have written; help them put together a 'museum' of all the incredible work they have done this term; help a group of girls created miniature Guernsey landmarks for our wheelbarrow 'garden'. Our entry this year for the annual schools' gardening wheelbarrow competition is a living 'map' of our island, surrounded by a beaches of bright yellow tagetes and a sea of trailing blue and white lobelia....  Our school 'garden' has now been converted into an outdoor learning area, so no more gardening club for me...

And lastly: Activities' Week. This year, I was fortunate to be with Year 4, 'supervising' them at the beach while they attended Surf School. Apart from a couple of misty, windy mornings, we sat in blazing sunshine, rejoicing over every successful attempt at standing up on the board. It was a blessing, too, to get to know colleagues who normally pass by briefly in the staffroom, as we don't usually work together. My journey down on the bike afforded me wonderful views of the coastline as I navigated the lanes. 30 minutes freewheeling downhill....40 - 50 minutes back up again....

View from the lookout at Le Grantez: site of a former windmill, a Napoleonic era fort and a German defence fortification.

A jack rabbit rests in the shade...

Vazon bay. #tropical

Then, as if I didn't have enough to do, we started making kombucha: fermented tea. Boy, reading the instructions and researching on the internet took hours of my life, but eventually I combined tea, sugar and hot water, letting it cool before gently inserting the mushroom-like 'SCOBY'. Waited a few days, then decanted the sweet fizzy drink. It was actually quite tasty... Now, can we keep it alive and going over the next couple of hot summer months...?

The SCOBY from above. Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. So there we are.

The Return. Catching Up. Settling In. Etc etc.

Cat and Andy left... and so, the following day, did we.  Our venture into France and Spain has been more than adequately documented in Travels With Pickle. Yes, Pickle went on holiday too...

Good to be home, though, especially with Jonny and Adele still with us. The washing machine went into overdrive...perhaps only seven loads in seven two days, but it felt like more.

The garden was a pleasant surprise. Andy had cut the grass for us before we left and it had barely grown in the month we were away; the baby cucumber plant had a baby cucumber on, thanks to Kareena's faithful watering; the hedges were...somewhat overgrown, but that hadn't changed much - we knew they needed cutting down to size.

So that, with Jonny's help, is what we have been doing. He loves wielding cutting tools, so was in his element with the hedge trimmer, chainsaw and strimmer and now the garden looks much more manageable.  Of course, he still managed to surf, cycle, kayak, fish and catch up with best friends - scrambles down the cliffs (and back up through the brambles in the deepening twilight - almost dark), hanging out on the beach and sleeping out in the garden.

We were so glad to have him stay on, and the weather was glorious.

We've made the most of it: cycling from one end of the island to the other, exploring lanes and footpaths we'd never before ventured down,catching up with friends for beach sundowners. (And getting lost in the moonlight, pedalling down lanes so dark and narrow that the sky made a tunnel over our heads.)

Inbetween, we're slowly by slowly getting little jobs done around the house: preparing beds for vegetables, organising cupboards, getting ready for painting, working out how to install a wood-burning stove... lots to keep us busy.

Vazon at sunset

Tess at L'Eree

The gang eating supper. So warm, we stayed resting on the rocks, which radiated so much heat that it was still comfortable at 9.30 that evening, long after the sun had finally slid beneath the covers to sleep.

Beautiful weather. Beautiful island.

Wedding countdown

It is only four more 'sleeps' until The Wedding.

We have arrived in Norfolk, after a hectic weekend of lovely visitors and preparing the house for our absence and kind friends coming to look after Pickle Dog. The summer has been absolutely fantastic, so the joy of sunny days has seemed endless. It has been too wonderful being outside to write a blog.

But still, I have written in my mind as I have dried rose and flower petals, gathered childhood photos for creating bunting for the marquee and gathered Jonny's belongings to bring over.

He is marrying and leaving his home, his father and his mother to be united with his wife. How good, how right, how happy...

My mind and heart are full to overflowing.

Random doings

Nearly half way through June.  Hmmm.  What have I done?

I've spent a LOT of time watching ducks.  A pair at the back door this morning, asking for food.  They didn't like leftover pastry but gobbled up leftover barbecue rolls.  (Just a little - it's not good to give bread to ducks at all, really, but that was all I had.)

Last week, TWO mama ducks.  With ducklings.  5 and 8 each.  13 all together.

Then there were the rabbits...  they make free of the garden now that Mpira is no longer around to chase them. These two inhabit the back: the tiny one on the front lawn is now almost their size.  A few days ago, one was almost at the back doorstep, along with four visiting mallards.

And this afternoon we saw goldfinches...and a moth crawling along the patio, scurrying like an ant...

I've been watching nature a LOT.

Then there have been more evening beach visits:

Port Grat, our 'local' beach - just a few minutes walk from our house. So beautiful.

And Cat came home from uni...even more so.

Bliss.

(And I haven't even mentioned school...so I won't.)