une June June! Strawberries and Peonies and Elderflower! Sandals and barbecues and freckles! June has been a sweet, warm month for us Brits so far and I am soaking it up. This month I am committing to rest after a weird heart health scare last month (anxiety related heart palpitations - fun times!) We have booked a last minute mini break next week, and I have been making more time for small moments of rest in my daily life too. Enjoying the sun in the garden, outside cups of coffee, taking myself off for naps and little lie-downs, watching Netflix in the evenings for the first time in months.

June is the midpoint of 2018, how has it been for you?! This month, whilst on holiday,I will be looking back at my January book and assessing where we are against where we thought we would be. I will try to share a blog post about it this month, a part 2 of the January Book, if you like (in case you don’t know what i’m talking about, The January Book is the planning and review process we go through at the start of each year) On to June!

10 Wonderful Things to Make, Do and Celebrate in June! 

1. Celebrate the Summer Solstice. This years Summer Solstice is on Thursday 21st June, an ancient celebration of the longest day of the year; a festival of fire, and a grand celebration of the land warmed by the sun and the bounty to come. Take your dinner outside, or invite some friends over. Light a fire somewhere if you can!

2. Make something for Fathers Day. Fathers Day is Sunday 17th June- make something (mine’s getting his favourite homemade marmalade) or buy an experience together.

3. Visit an open Garden event. June. There is a postcode searchable list here.

4. Plan ahead for summer. If you have kids, book a summer holiday camp, or book a family festival.

5. Look out for peonies. Yes, an instagram cliche, but what can I say?! They are so beautiful!

6. June means strawberries and elderflower (in my book anyway). Find a Pick Your Own near you and seek out locally grown. Forage for Elderflower to make cordial.

7. If you are a camper, check your camping gear isn't mouldy/rusty/leaking by putting it all up in the garden. Garden camp out optional.

8. Press seaweed. Go tot the beach and collect and press seaweed. It looks beautiful, framed, or stuck on the wall.

9. Store winter woollens and heavy coats. Gently wash (moths feed off bacteria) and dry (normally flat- in the sun is lovely!) all your woolly jumpers, hats, socks and coats ready for next year. Pop a few pieces of paper dropped with lavenderessential oil in between the layers to keep the moths away. Donate or chuck away any winter clothes you wouldn't be excited about seeing next winter.

10. Fill your house with plants! I have recently been testing out a plant subscription service with Bloombox- a sponsored collaboration- and have absolutely loved upping my plant game in my home for the summer season. Things are feeling really lush and green in my house right now, and I love it.

The Nature Sessions Retreat in July.

If you are feeling the need for some rest and relaxation, just before the school summer holidays, join me at The Nature Sessions at Elmley Nature Reserve in July. It will be creative and wild and restorative and beautiful and I would love to see you there. Details here.

GDPR stuff and Updated Privacy Policy.

In line with new GDPR regulations, which at their core I believe to be a good thing for consumers, I have updated my privacy and cookies policy, you can see them here. It is easy to unsubscribe from my newsletters at any time, which you can do using the link at the bottom of this newsletter with absolutely no hard feelings from me! I really understand how busy our inboxes are. You can also get in touch with me and request that I delete all of your data. 

Latest blog posts.

After promising fit for ages, I wrote a long and meaty post all about how and why I journal, which has received some gorgeous comments, both on the blog and over on social media. Click here to read it.

I also wrote up a much needed baby-free morning spent in London with St Martin’s Courtyard (flowers, shopping and cocktails, oh my). Read here.

And I wrote something quite close to my heart, about how to make space for yourself when you are feeling overwhelmed, which is advice I am very much living by myself at the moment. Read here.

I hope June is a gorgeous, abundant month for you.

Hannah x

In Embracing The Seasons