June is the pearl of summer, shining with warmth and joy
L.M. Montgomery
London has enjoyed one of the sunniest and hottest Junes I can remember. Although ‘enjoyed’ is stretching a point for anyone travelling on the Tube in thirty degree temperatures, as most of the lines aren’t (yet) air conditioned.
I missed the first few days of this sunny June as I was in Malta for the annual Virtual Tourist Euromeet. I haven’t included any photos from there in my slide show below as there will be more than enough shared in other posts, I am sure!
Instead I’m focusing on the remainder of the month, spent largely at home in London. But we did have one night away, staying in Winchester to catch up with some old friends we hadn’t seen since before Covid. After a long and very chatty lunch Chris and I enjoyed a sunny walk by the River Itchen. The next morning we had a rare dull day and used it to visit the cathedral and pay homage to Jane Austen who is buried there. I’ll have much more to say about Winchester in a future post, no doubt.
Summer at home
Meanwhile the rest of the month was spent on our usual pursuits. We enjoyed several visits to the cinema, seeing The Phoenician Scheme and The Ballad of Wallis Island. I can recommend the latter in particular. We had lunch with the Plan Zheroes team and dinner with another old friend whom again we hadn’t seen since before Covid! I also went to an interesting U3A talk on a local Ealing woman, Rena Stewart, who worked at Bletchley Park as a translator and took on the interesting task of translating Hitler’s will.
Another highlight was an open-air production of Emma, staged by our local community theatre company, Questors. It took place in Walpole Park with the lovely backdrop of Pitzhanger Manor. It was an excellent production and the perfect evening for outdoor theatre.
The fine weather coupled with the lack of travels has resulted in a surfeit of flower photos in the slideshow below. But I make little apology for that; it is summer after all, and these are the Changing Seasons! Most of the Ealing flower shots were taken in our own small garden, and my husband gets all the credit for how lovely that is looking just now.
Technical notes
Some of my garden photos were taken with my small point and shoot Panasonic camera, as was the one of Winchester Cathedral. All of the rest were taken with my phone.
Most have been at least a little edited with Photoshop Elements and some more heavily edited with Nik Color Efex. The one black and white image was edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro.
As always I am linking my selection to Ju-Lyn’s and Brian’s Changing Seasons challenge. Use the arrows to navigate the slideshow if you want to see all the images.
NB Re the Piccadilly Circus sign. Transport for London has in recent years temporarily altered the famous roundel in some stations to mark particular events or to promote the city. ‘Going out out’ is a British informal term for going out somewhere a little bit fancier than the local pub. If you feel motivated to dress up a bit, you are probably ‘going out out’. The phrase is generally thought to have been coined by comedian Micky Flanagan.
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Alison
Looks like you have a beautiful garden Sarah. The play looked fun. I’ve seen that skit from Mickey Flanagan before, it’s so true. We used to say that all the time back in the 80s. We would say we’re just going out and when we got out, say we can’t go out out because we’re not dressed right.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Alison 🙂 Oh yes, different clothes are needed to go out out, for sure!
grandmisadventures
Beautiful collection of pictures bringing all the color and warmth of summertime 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg, I’m glad you enjoyed these glimpses of an English summer time!
Leighton
I enjoyed reading about and indeed looking through some of your June moments, Sarah. You have certainly been busy with a diverse range of activities and experiences. Love all the flowers, the green blur of the train ride and that fabulous snail. To be honest, I feel a bit like him/her on a daily basis these days as here in Serbia daily temps are between 30-37 degrees with little sign of abating. At least we have an air-con unit. I do hope this comment works, I didn’t see any way to comment directly through WordPress itself.
Sarah Wilkie
The comment definitely worked Leighton, although it sat in my ‘pending’ folder waiting to be approved. I think there’s something a little odd going on with my site – I plan to poke around a bit tomorrow! Thank you for the comment and appreciation of those photos 🙂 We haven’t quite hit those highs but it’s been above 30 on quite a few days recently and more forecast later next week.
Image Earth Travel
Gorgeous, Sarah!
I’ve become somewhat attached to my garden and even have a veggie patch now…not sure what’s going to happen to everything when I up sticks and take off again!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Nilla 😊 I guess you’ll have to eat all the veg before you go, and leave the flowers for someone else to enjoy – a lovely gift!
wetanddustyroads
The flowers in your garden are beautiful – enough reason to actually stay at home!
Sarah Wilkie
As I said, all credit for the garden goes to my husband! And yes, we do enjoy spending time there in the summer when we’re at home 🙂
Heyjude
My comment appears in the wrong place, always happens when using my phone. But when I tried to comment using the Reader it said comments closed!
Sarah Wilkie
That’s very odd – I never close comments, even for much older posts than this 😀
thehungrytravellers.blog
A June to remember, weather wise. Strange to think we were hitting minus 15 while you were basking in heat, especially given our love of hot sunshine!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, you’d have been more comfortable here than I was! But it’s a pleasant 24 degrees today 😀
the eternal traveller
Oh yes, I’ve been on the Tube on a hot day and it’s not pleasant. But otherwise what a nice way to end spring and start summer. I turned the TV on to watch Wimbledon last night and there was a rain delay. That must have been a welcome reprieve.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, we had rain yesterday morning and it’s really freshened up the air. Today will be a pleasant 25 degrees and 27 forecast for tomorrow, then back to wet and cool over the weekend!
the eternal traveller
Perfect summer temperatures.
Anonymous
Your June outings are motivating, Sarah. I’m often impressed at the number of productions, dining and other outings you have. It causes me to think about how I spend my time and get a bit more enthusiastic. Thank you.
Sarah Wilkie
I’m glad to have inspired you, whoever you are. We do like to make the most of the opportunities we have in London. Please, please, leave your name when you comment in the future as it’s so frustrating not knowing whom I’m ‘talking’ with!
Rebecca
Summer is here! I was just in Europe a week or two ago, and I was surprised at how warm it was (even in the Nordic countries)! Looks like London is flourishing all the same, and I hope you have a beautiful summer. Stay cool!
Sarah Wilkie
London has been sweltering at times and it’s not easy to stay cool here – our buildings, including our homes, weren’t designed for this heat and nor were our Tube trains!
margaret21
I’ve never heard of ‘going out out’. I obviously don’t get out enough! Do you know what? My favourite is the snail!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret 🙂 I was rather pleased with that shot – it was just a random spot on the railing of some stairs down from the car park and I only had my phone with me. I think it did quite a good job!
margaret21
You did!
Anne Sandler
You had a wonderful June Sarah. Your photos were great once I figured out how to get to them. Have a great July!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂 I’m sorry if you had any problems viewing the slideshow. I do always say in these posts, ‘Use the arrows to navigate the slideshow if you want to see all the images.’ Did you not spot that instruction? Maybe I need to make it more obvious? Or did it simply not work like that on the device you were using? It would be helpful to know so I can be clearer in future.
Anne Sandler
The arrow on the first picture didn’t show up at first. Sorry!
Sarah Wilkie
How odd! It looks OK to me but I’m on a laptop – were you on a phone? It might be harder to see when small.
Heyjude
Couldn’t see the arrows on the first image on the phone
Sarah Wilkie
I just checked on mine. They are there but hard to see among all those tomatoes! It helps if you turn your phone sideways 🙂
Rose
Rena’s talk would’ve been so interesting to listen to. You have such beautiful flowers in your garden! 😍 Thanks for the out out humor. 😂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Rose 🙂 As I said, all credit for the garden must go to my husband!
Heyjude
A great June for you, though far too hot, even my daughter complained and she loves heat. She has quite a large pool she puts up in the summer and spent a lot of time in it. I’ve not heard of going out out either, must be a London thing. But we are going out out this evening for dinner!
Sarah Wilkie
I think it’s probably a city thing rather than specifically London, but it could just be London – after all, Mickey Flannagan is a Londoner 🙂 I wish we had a pool but our garden’s far too small to contemplate that!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Going Out Out had passed me by too. The ducklings are gorgeous, as are all the flowers. Not so keen on the snail, though it’s a great photograph!
Sarah Wilkie
I really don’t like snails, nor what they do to our garden! But I have to say I do rather like how that photo turned out 🙂
bushboy
A hot but wonderful June Sarah. The talk by Rena Stewart would have been fascinating. Love the flowers and the going out out sign is so good. The Micky Flanagan sketch was so funny also.
Thanks for joining in The Changing Seasons 😀
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 🙂 That talk was very interesting, yes, and Micky Flanagan always makes me laugh!
Alli Templeton
Changing seasons is right, Sarah, summer seems to be changing for the hotter! Luckily here in North Wales we have escaped the worst of the heat, which is just as well, as we struggle with hotter days even under normal circumstances, let alone the roasting temperatures the UK has seen in recent days! Still, your month seems to have been very well spent, as is shown in your excellent gallery. Stunning flowers and wildlife. I love the little snail quietly going about it’s business amid the hustle and bustle of humans and their shopping, and you can’t go wrong with ducklings!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Alli 😊 I struggle with heat at the level we had recently in London but fortunately the heatwave broke last night and today is much fresher. Glad you enjoyed the gallery. You’re so right about ducklings – those three were part of a brood of seven but they were so active I couldn’t get them all in the same shot!
Alli Templeton
Yes, the are busy little people, aren’t they? And desperately cute!
Sue
A great June was had by you, it sounds! enjoyed your gallery with everything from entertainment in the park via aa lacy hydrangea to a humble snail!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue 🙂 I really don’t like snails (except to eat!) but I was very happy about how that photo turned out, considering I only had my phone with me.