Sundary 22nd June 2025 - Strawberry Tea, Loving this Weather and Yard Sale

Back when Overstrand had a WI group, it became a tradition, in June, to take an evening walk followed by what we termed as a ‘strawberry tea’, on our return to the Parish Hall.  The strawberry tea, has been carried on by one of the members of what we now term as our Ex WI group.  Last Wednesday afternoon, we sat in her courtyard and enjoyed strawberries which had been picked from her garden, in the early morning.  Instead of having tea, we had well chilled Prosecco and for those who were driving, there was fruit juice.  All in all, it was a lovely relaxing afternoon.

We are loving this spell of sunny warm weather.  Some may find it a little hot but we are not finding it a problem here, with the cooling breezes.  I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday morning and wondered why I could hear cars passing, heading towards the front.  I found out later (while we were chatting with fishermen Andy), people were congregating to watch the sun rising and celebrating the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.

I walked round part of the village this morning to see if I could find anything interesting to buy from villagers’ yard sales.  Peter told me not to bring home any junk – as if I would!!  As usual, there were all manner of items on display but apart from four books, which I don’t classify as junk, I didn’t find anything which caught my eye.  One couple opened their garden, as well as having items for sale.  It most definitely had the wow factor; everyone was remarking on the beauty and layout of their garden.  The owner/gardeners certainly have a good knowledge of plants; their garden is stunning.

Today’s photo is of Giant Hogweed: a plant to be avoided.  If the sap gets onto your skin and it's then exposed to the sun, your skin can blister badly.   There is factual information about this plant on the Woodland Trust’s website. Giant Hogweed grows at the back of the allotments and to my mind, in this location, it looks majestic; the plant just needs to be treated with respect.