Smackerels and Provisions

The weather was lovely yesterday, so George and I decided to seize the opportunity for a picnic tea.

For me there is something extra special about a picnic tea, more so than a picnic lunch.  They remind me of long summer evenings growing up when my mum would take me and my brothers up on the Mendips for afterschool picnic teas, eating Yeo Valley blackberry custard yoghurts (before it was all posh and organic!) on Blackdown Trigpoint with its 350 degree views of Wales and the Westcountry... Somehow being able to have your supper outside in a field somewhere and walk home all before the sun has gone down just epitomises Summer at its best. 

Being a Mendips girl I am partial to a good hill view so we took our provisions up onto Purdown and made a den in the long grass, looking out across the rooftops and railway lines.  Seems the balloonists of Bristol were seizing the nice evening too as no less that six floated over our heads while we were eating. 

Fingers crossed for more warm, dry evenings!

 

Glad Midsommer!

Picture from Scandinavian Kitchen

Happy Midsummer everyone!

Yesterday my good friend Lisa and I went on a daytrip to London, for me this meant an opportunity to go on a bit of a Scandi pilgrimage, with trips to Scandinavian Kitchen and the Nordic Bakery, not to mention lots of lovely interior shops full of Marimekko and Iittala goodness! 

If you're in London and in need of lunch I most heartily recommend Scandinavian Kitchen.  I had a lovely 3 piece Smorgasboard, with a cheese and radish open sandwich, dill new potatoes and carrot and courgette salad - it was so good I ate it straight away, forgetting to take a photo, which is pretty unheard of for me!  They also have an excellent little grocery shop in the cafe for all your cheese, crispbread and licorice needs. 

Yesterday for Midsommar they were doing takeaway picnic boxes to take to the Swedish picnic, we didn't go but the atmosphere in the cafe was so jolly, full of ladies (and the odd man!) with flower wreaths in their hair, and people singing "Snapsvisor" (Swedish Midsummer drinking songs).  

Here's how I celebrated Midsummer last year in our wee flat.

Hope everyone's had a lovely weekend. x.

A sheepish return

I'm back!

And I'm rather annoyed at myself for letting my blog fall by the wayside so quickly.  I do so want to be a regular blogger with readers and blog-friends and some kind of consistent output... Does anyone have any tips for having some kind of blog routine?  Do you have special blogging time at a similar time each day?  And what do you prefer to read, long and detailed or little and often?  I think I want to be a little and often blogger, but I tend to save up things to blog in my head and then have a lot I want to share when I finally make some time to sit down and do it.  Of course sharing a computer with my partner doesn't help!

Although I've been quiet on the blog/commenting front rest assured that I've been reading other people's with great enthusiasm!  What a lot of wonderful inpiration there is out there.  Special mention to Jen at Little Birdie and Lou at Little Green Shed for a) being awesome and b) introducing me to some more wonderful blogs - 4etg, My Rainbow Vintage Home, Scraps of Us, you're all fab!

So, what have I been doing if not blogging?  All the usual Sarah Activies - baking, homemaking, some very amateur gardening, daytripping.... in the spirit of 'Little and Often' there will be some more blog posts to follow with snapshots of my current doings!  A little sneak peak into some of the things below...

 More soon x