Gallery: a June selection
I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June
L. M. Montgomery
Although I can’t be sure, I suspect the above quote comes from Anne of Green Gables, or one of the other ‘Anne’ novels. It sounds like the sort of thing one of my favourite childhood heroines would have said!
mm
June certainly is often a lovely month in England. This year it has brought us a short heatwave (temperatures topping 30 degrees, very unusual so early in the year), and plenty of pleasanter sunny days. But typically for Britain, we started the month with a cool, sometimes wet weekend that coincided with a public holiday for the Platinum Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth II was marking seventy years on the throne and even if you’re not an especial admirer of the monarchy, that has to be seen as a remarkable achievement. The country was rewarded with a double Bank Holiday and lots of events both national and local. We didn’t get very involved but did go along to our local Prom in the Park. It proved to be a bit of a damp squib in several ways, with drizzly rain and some disappointingly un-Prom-like music!
The middle of the month should have been more exciting for us, with a city break in Sofia. I’d loved the city when I was there in 2019 and was keen to return and to introduce it to my husband. We also had plans to meet up with a Virtual Tourist friend who lives there. But two days before we were due to leave, Covid finally caught me! Fortunately a) I had a very mild case (mainly just a cough); b) my husband didn’t get it; and c) we were able to reschedule Sofia for later in the year without losing a penny, thanks to our very accommodating apartment host there. And the bonus is, we have it still to look forward to!
I didn’t totally isolate but I did restrict myself to outdoor activities so most of my photos this month are of local scenes. As always I am linking my photography highlights to Ju-Lyn and Brian’s Changing Seasons challenge.
Technical notes
As I was staying local many of my shots were taken with my phone. But I did take my compact Panasonic Lumix out with me on some days. Again as usual, I’ve enjoyed playing around with others. Those ones were edited with Nik Color Efex, or in a couple of cases Nik Silver Efex. As I always say, it’s pretty obvious which ones have been ‘fiddled with’, but I probably did less in the way of elaborate editing this month.
Bunting for the Platinum Jubilee 2022-06-05 
At the Prom in the Park, Ealing 2022-06-05 
Street art in Kensington 2022-06-09 
In the Victoria & Albert Museum 2022-06-09 
Rose in Walpole Park 2022-06-15 
Ladybird on our apple tree 2022-06-15 
Hollyhock, Lammas Enclosure 2022-06-17 
Damselflies mating in Walpole Park 2022-06-17 
Ducklings in Walpole Park 2022-06-17 
Robin in the Moon & Maybe garden 2022-06-19 [my feature photo is of the same friendly little bird] 
Window box in a neighbouring street 2022-06-20 
Blue skies over Dickens Yard, Ealing Broadway 2022-06-21 
Clematis in a local garden 2022-06-21 
Wildflower planted border in Syon Park 2022-06-24 
The Shard reflected in a building on the Thames’ north bank 2022-06-26 
Spiral staircase to London Bridge from the Thames Path 2022-06-26
38 Comments
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Ju-Lyn
Glad to hear that your bout of Covid was manageable. Hope you are coping with the heatwave as well. My London aunt keeps us updated daily and it sounds horrendous! I can’t believe you are experiencing higher temps than here in Singapore!
Younger Child & I are admiring your images of Robin in the Moon … it is so cute.
Happy to have you at The Changing Seasons.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much 🙂 The heatwave was definitely horrendous, but thankfully broke last night and we are back to more normal summer temperatures although at the high end for us (high 20s) Glad you liked our cute robin!
wetanddustyroads
June certainly gave you plenty of opportunity to take lovely pictures (even if it’s just around from where you live). I like the simple things – like that yellow rose, the sweet ducklings and the oh so cute robin (and with ‘simple’, I mean outstanding 🙂). I can’t wait to see with how many beautiful photo’s you’ll come back from Sofia later this year!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much 😊 I’m especially glad you like ‘our’ robin. We see a lot of him so expect to see him pop up in future posts perhaps!
Suzanne
Yes, I too enjoyed your shot of the cute Robin. In the North Island we have the robin or toutouwai which is more similar to a sparrow and not colourful like the UK Robin. Our covid numbers are increasing as is the flu, luckily not had either. I suppose it is mask up or take a risk?
Sarah Wilkie
Covid numbers are high here too (but not flu, as it’s summer over here). A handful of people are still masking but most of us are carrying on pretty much as normal and taking that risk, me included!
grandmisadventures
It’s been so fun to watch all the events and celebrations for the jubilee- what an incredible part of history to be a part of 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
I’m not a fervent monarchist, far from it, but it did feel like a significant milestone in history and I wanted to get at least a little bit involved
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
Sarah, Montgomery obviously never spent time in South Florida in June to have written such a wistful statement. June also seems to have been the month for ‘Blogger Gets Covid’. Glad yours was short-lived. The Bunting is my favorite – crisp, simple, happy. Cheers to having something to look forward to.
Sarah Wilkie
Haha, probably not – from what I hear the climate on PEI is much more temperate 😀
Rose
Those ducklings, so cute!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, very sweet 🙂 There were actually more but I couldn’t get them all in shot as a few kept swimming off to explore!
Heyjude
If I could pick a month it would have to be May, I always find May so wonderful in the way that everything suddenly comes alive. A lovely gallery, the robin does it for me, they are such friendly birds and so willing to have their portrait taken 😊 glad your illness was mild and short. My non-covid illness lasted about 3 weeks before I was back to normal.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jude – I think I’m with you on May, although I also have a fondness for September 🙂 Glad you are back to normal now too!
Heyjude
Just got to cross fingers we stay away from Covid! I am sure our booster must be waning now and the tourists are beginning to arrive…
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Aletta - nowathome
Glad you did not get too sick Sarah! Great collection of photos!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Aletta – almost back to normal now!
Aletta - nowathome
Great!
salsaworldtraveler
Great photos Sarah! I like the white flower best. Glad you had mild Covid.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, I always appreciate getting feedback about favourites – I find it so interesting when everyone chooses different shots, but also when one image seems to stand out above the others. So far this month the jury is out 😆
thehungrytravellers.blog
Glad to hear you’re lurgy wasn’t too disruptive Sarah. Great set of “local” shots again to record the month.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊 Yes, not too bad and already on the mend. All being well I should have some shots from slightly further afield for July as we’re heading to East Anglia for a friend’s garden party later in the month!
Easymalc
My favourite has to be the one of the damselflies Sarah. Wonderful selection once again 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Malcolm 🙂 That was a lucky spot – we went down to the water’s edge to photograph the ducklings and then saw several damselfly pairings on the reeds!
Mike and Kellye Hefner
Always love seeing your photos! I am especially envious of your neighbor’s window box. Their red geraniums are lovely, whereas mine are a bit scraggly this year.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 🙂 I love that window box and always smile when I pass it. Actually they have three, around a bay window! Sorry to hear yours aren’t thriving. Ours are doing well this year, although not as good as these perhaps.
Yvonne+Dumsday
Thanks for cheering up a dull day here in the Pennines with such a gorgeous selection of vibrant June pictures.
Sarah Wilkie
Sorry to hear it was dull yesterday Yvonne. We had quite a bit of sunshine, and although Saturday was dull for my nephew’s wedding, we successfully dodged all the showers!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Definitely Anne. She was also glad to live in a world with Octobers in it. I think I’ll stick to June!
Sarah Wilkie
I love October too 🙂 I used to say autumn was my favourite season, but the older I get the more I veer towards spring!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
May and September are my favourite months. Not always, but usually, they are our best weather months here.
margaret21
I do hope your recovery goes well. I had it in March – a very trivial bout, But three months on, I’m still far from robust with frequent dizzy spells. And that’s after four jabs! A lovely gallery, and so varied. But Mr. Robin steals the show.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that Margaret 🤗 At the moment my only legacy is a stubborn occasional tickly cough. We were able to get away for the weekend to celebrate my nephew’s wedding so I was very relieved to be over it in time for that! A couple of friends did have to drop out because of Covid infections unfortunately, but all the family were well and could attend 🙂
margaret21
Good! The number of people I know who’ve dodged Covid is becoming vanishingly small.
Sarah Wilkie
One in five in this country, according to a BBC news article I read.
margaret21
I’ve even seen one in for mentioned. It’s certainly not a very large figure.