May 2017 - Garden peak time in London and Slovenia

This is the look Millie gives me when I leave the house without her.

Quietly worried but pulling herself together.

Frankly, May is a bit of haze.
I ate a lot and there were so many sick people around me including myself.

I never ever ever get sick of dim sum.

I have been a bit garden mad.
England in May is glorious and I was going to make the most of it.
This is my rice being washed.

Apparently rice water is so good for not just your skin 
( many Koreans now wash their face with the rice from the washed leftover -
 may sound weird but if you buy SKII then this is the cheaper version.)

Anyway, I save it for my plants and feed them this as a treat.

My husband is Taurus. 
God help me.

I just got 2 Cartmel Sticky toffee puddings instead of cake.
It seems unless the cake is excellent most people dread eating ceremonial food these days.

As my friends and I are hardened Londoners, 
we need to eat elsewhere to feel a buzz.
To go to the latest restaurant to see the same people we have bumped into for the past 20 
or so odd years just doesn't do anything for me.

So we went to Hisa Franko in Slovenia for a few days.

It was a perfect time to really chat without rushing off and getting some fresh air.

I love cheese popsicles.

These were made out of a local cheese but they are so easy to make but so festive and lift the mood.


What is impressive about the chef is that she was self taught.
Other than that she does what most chefs do now which is to use all local ingredients.

But the most interesting discovery was the Slovenian wines.
They were superb.

And on a side note, incredibly affordable.
If in doubt, just pick a Slovenian white next time you see it on the wine list.

We also found this cheesy, herbed friend dough balls 
but I forget the name.

Slovenia is as a friend put it - low rent Switzerland.
It was part of former Yugoslavia and now is in the E.U.
But we flew into Trieste in Italy.

Their espalier game was strong.

My friends and I were walking along discovering the local area but instead of backtracking we crossed this ditch. For us this was very Bear Gryllis.
I also saw 3 snakes in the 3 days I was there.

But the country is extraordinary even though small.
The river was that turqouise in real life.
#nofilter as they say

The restaurant which is also the hotel we stayed in had their own kitchen and flower cutting garden.

They had peonies on every dining table.

I got a new breed of roses called Olivia Austin named after 
David Austin's granddaughter.

They bloom like mad but that could be my rice water.

For those of you who didn't watch the nightly BBC Chelsea Flower Show coverage, 
Monty wore such a funny tie.

Twitter was lighting up about it.

Many of the show gardens at Chelsea are donated and replanted in public parks 
but I wonder what park would have this quarry garden? 
Health and safety issues all over it.

I am going to be ordering from Blom bulbs to have more tulips next spring.

I am trying to achieve this clematis and rose look but am so far off.

Chelsea has also inspired me to go strawberries but my husband had to rein me in.

PS If you ever drop you phone in water, do not keep it in rice for 3 days like  I did.

Go to a store and fix it ASAP.

They might be able to salvage it with a special drying solution.

I know officially Mercury Retrograde was over weeks ago but I think the effects are still lingering.

Hope you are well and can you believe it is June tomorrow??? x