We love our very delicate Lace Cap hydrangea and are doing our best to keep it happy during the drought. Happily, we have some rain today. . 
We are delighted with our tomato crop. There are fifty green ones so far and we hope they all ripen – otherwise there’ll be lots of green tomato chutney.
There were lots of ladybirds on the sweetcorn in a neighbour’s allotment plot. 
On another plot was this lovely colour combination.
On our plot, one of the poppies had bloomed unseen but had left me a petal on a cabbage leaf.
I’m loving being able to make new salady dishes with food we have grown. This recipe was from BBC Good Food and is cucumber and fennel in a sour cream and vinegar sauce. It was delicious! Our evening meal of a locally made pie also had homegrown potato salad and homegrown leaves. Pud is another meringue filled with creme fraiche and homegrown tayberries and black currants from the garden.
I love that, despite everything going on, Ukrainians in Kyiv are having a book festival. Brilliant poster.
A lovely friend has sent me a photo of a delightful postbox topper near her in Truro.
We bumped into friends while shopping in The Grow Box this morning. J had just negotiated a good price in the antique shop for the large jug he is beaming over!
I was amused to see the engine house apostrophe over the pasty shop.
Last night’s celebration for Ivan Kupala was obviously greatly enjoyed by our two lovely neighbours in their beautiful flower crowns. .
Some people near where we sing on Thursday mornings live in their boats and one of them has a vertical garden full of geraniums.
This afternoon, the lovely Mr S and I, went back to Kresen Kernow to continue our research and after a couple of hours had tea and cake there – delicious Strawberry Cake, beautifully presented.
In Ukraine tonight it is Ivan Kupala Night and our neighbours are going to the beach to celebrate. I’m hoping to add photos tomorrow as, sadly, I can’t go with them this evening.
What is Ivan Kupala Night?
People’s celebration of summer and sun is quite common across the nations of Europe. The holiday itself has many names — flakagajt (the day of fire) in Albania, Saint Jeans (St. Jean) in France, misommar in Sweden, sobotka in Poland, Ivana Kupala in Ukraine, and more. The celebration of Ivan Kupala Day falls on June 24 (old style calendar) or July 7 (new style) and worships the summer solstice. In Ukraine, we traditionally celebrate it on the night of July 6-7 — all mysteries happen right then…
Thinking of our very dear Ukrainian friends tonight.
The Penzance Literary Festival began today and we went to hear the writer, Catrina Davies, talk about her remarkable book, Once Upon a Raven’s Nest. I wrote about the book here when I first read it. The town was looking lovely with hanging baskets of flowers and beautiful flags everywhere. As we were leaving, I spotted a carved tree and just managed to snap it as we turned the corner. I wasn’t driving!
Click on any photo for a bigger version and the caption. We had a lovely day, potting on, sowing seeds and laughing with the gang at coffee time where we shared cake and pastries.
What a beautiful super moon this month!
Leaving choir practice this afternoon, I was very taken with these tall and stately plants. What a strange name. The Latin name is Acanthus Hungaricus. .
I’ve made a cake to take to Community Roots tomorrow. It’s called Blueberry Coffee Cake, no coffee involved except they suggest it is served with a cup of coffee. I’ve made it gluten free so that everyone can have a piece. 
We spent a couple of hours at the allotment after lunch, clearing the huge number of weeds that have sprung up since the overnight shower a couple of nights ago. 
For a reward/treat, I picked all the ripe Tayberries in our back garden, put them on a meringue ring that I had filled with creme fraiche and sprinkled a little vanilla sugar over – utterly delicious and very well deserved!
Our lilies in a chimney pot are in full bloom.
It’s July already. The year is racing by. Have a happy and fulfilling month. 
We spent a happy couple of hours doing some research in Kresen Kernow, the museum of all Cornish archives.
I found this poem on Facebook some time ago and remembered it today. Here it is for your enjoyment. I hope it’s okay to share it with you here. I had no reply when I asked for permission.. 
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