Prosecco on ice - a great way to end a day

Last Sunday we had a busy day in the garden, but I was determined that for once - and on what was the warmest day of the year - that we'd also find time to just be, and sit in our garden and enjoy it. Sometimes it's just too hot for working in the garden isn't it?  So after spending a fair bit of time cleaning the greenhouse so it sparkled and cleaning the barbecue so it was clean enough, well to cook off, we did just that.

And I had a masterplan up my sleeveless top. That was to use two of my recent blog deliveries, as in preparation I'd already bought some ice. That's not something I usually do, but when you need large quantities it's the easiest way, although in hindsight I didn't buy anywhere near as much as I needed to fill my new Wham Flexi-Square carry all. But with three bags of ice and, although I say it myself, some clever use of bubble wrap it worked - note to self, I'll need a lot more ice, or a lot more bottles(!) to make this work - but it'll be ideal for a party. In fact just like the party we're having in June to celebrate our 110th.

I'm a big fan of these plastic trugs and regularly use them for gardening, we currently have four at home - bright pink, boring green, zingy red and vibrant yellow - plus another bright pink one on the allotment, but I didn't fancy using any of these for this.

Those are all round, this one's obviously square and a great lime green colour; so much more subtle than any I already had. It's the larger size, which has a capacity of 25L - so it'll take a lot of ice and more importantly store a party amount of bottles too.

The best things about barbecues are that I don't have to do anything. Actually, scratch that. For barbecues in our house I become the Sous Chef, prepping everything in advance and handing over to the Chef de Partie (MOH) for the manly barbecue cooking ritual. Which is actually fine, as it means I can sit and direct operations. And with a view like this, that's often a good thing.

On this occasion I made use of my "free" time to take a closer look at the Premier Estates Prosecco which I'd been sent to try. I know, sometimes it's a tough gig, hey? I wasn't sure about why, or if, a small 20cl bottle would be a good idea, but actually it turned out well as I made a couple of apertifs to whet our appetite, and it was just the right amount.

I added a splash of elderflower liqueur to the bottom of the glass along with some frozen raspberries which we'd grown on the allotment last year and topped the glasses up with the small bottle of prosecco. I wasn't expecting it to be a screw top (that's just the smaller bottle) and that makes it more useable, but not that I needed to put the top back on...

Meanwhile, the manly cooking was going quicker than expected - I think he needs a bit more practice, but to be fair it's early in the barbecue season isn't it?

With dinner cooked it was time to open the rosè. If I get a choice of normal or pink champagne I'd opt for the pin everytime so I was looking forward to this. And with MOH back in his sommelier role, all was good. I bet you want to know what it tastes like, don't you? Well, it was good and very drinkable. The alcoholic volume was low at 11%, but more importantly it was a dry prosecco and so not too sweet. I think this is why it's so drinkable. And at £7.99 a bottle it's reasonably priced and I'd consider buying for a celebration. Actually it'd be great for those sunny afternoons in the garden, when the celebration is that it's sunny. You have those too right?

So - and as I'm watching BGT as I'm typing this - both of these get a yes from me. 

And here's to plenty more barbecues too. I think the start of April is our earliest ever - have you barbecued yet?

* I was sent the prosecco and trug free of charge for the purposes of this post, but all views and opinions are my own.

Fun storage jars by Alessi from Red Candy

On Sunday my post Spring and new routines touched on some of the changes I'm making right now, and how my Spring cleaning is more of a Spring rearranging.  And there's more evidence of that today with some fun and funky storage from Red Candy.  If you've not come across them do take a look, I mean you just have to love a company who has "Shut up Beige" as their strapline, don't you?  

My shiny new storage jars arrived promptly and I found myself rearranging kitchen cupboards and storage to find the perfect home for them. The glass jars are by Alessi, and the little man that's holding on tight in there is called Gianni. In fact they're all called Gianni, I didn't name him. Honest. 

Here he is, holding on tight, while I take a closer look: 

GIANNI, HE'S QUITE THE ACROBATIC SHOWOFF

Every time I expected to hear a squeal from him... but in fact, it was more likely me that was squealing and chuckling in amusement.

The jars I have are, from left to right, the 90cl, 200cl and 140cl and I've used them to store chia seeds, muesli and raisins. And now think I have the smartest, healthy goods storage around. I opted for white, rather than the bolder blue or yellow colours, and although it also comes in black, I knew I wanted to use these in my cupboard and so I wanted something light and something that I can use for many years to come. If you're wondering what sizes they really are, the largest jar would easily store spaghetti or linguine, if that helps.

And even though I have the white - it's still not beige - and I've the added bonus of smiling every time we lift the lid off the healthy stuff. What better incentive is there?

And no, I didn't realise we had quite so many chia seeds either. I did wonder if they'd stick to him and he'd deposit seeds across my worktop without me noticing. But no, he doesn't, even though he's just about standing on the top of the seeds, I've rolled them around the jar to see what happens, and if static comes into play. But he's passed the test and can stay in my chia seeds. And I'll be adding chia seed porridge to the growing list of new routines, to help bring down my chia seed mountain...

And you may think they're wasted inside a cupboard, but I think if you're going to do storage well then it shouldn't all be for show. I do like a tidy cupboard, I've a number of storage baskets in each cupboard too and everytime MOH puts jars away with the label not facing the front, I shudder just a little bit. 

So here they are in situ. Three Giannis in three storage jars, and three times the amount of smiles. What do you think?

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.

It's National Gardening Week, what are you up to?

This week is National Gardening Week, and the focus of this year's week is to "Help New Gardener's to Grow" so as I've been collecting lots of gardening inspiration lately, what better time to share it than now?  So as well as the inspiration, I'm also sharing my gardening to do list - as there's always something more to do, just like anything else. And if all that sounds like too much work, just scroll to the bottom of this post where I'm sharing nine recent photos from my garden.

From around the Inter-web

1. Top ten gardening jobs for April, with advice from the RHS
2. 10 ways to bring your interior style into your garden, Houzz
3. Grow sunflowers from seed, Gardeners' World
4. A beginners guide to adding trees to your garden, Houzz
5. A beginners guide to green roofs, Houzz
6. Right plant, right place - an invaluable guide to choosing plants, Crocus
7. Planting herbs in containers, National Gardening Week
8. Take the quiz and find out Which National Flower Are You?,  Into The Wild blog - I was a Black Orchid
9. Watch Monty Don create a wildlife garden, Gardeners' World

My gardening to do list

1. Clean the greenhouse - tick - we did that on Sunday.
2. Plant on those giant fuchsias - tick - they're snug in the clean greenhouse.
3. Sit in the garden and enjoy just looking at it - tick - another one from Sunday, let's hope the lovely weather returns soon.
4. Start sowing some seeds: tomatoes, sunflowers, chillies, beans, herbs and some flowers too.
5. Wait (impatiently) for my potatoes and onions to arrive.
6. Continue to collect toilet rolls to sow sweet peas in.
7. Source a small-ish pallet for my latest craft project idea.
8. Mark out where the gabion seating wall will go, and how many we'll need.
9. Take more of our leaf mulch over to the allotment.

9 recent photos from my garden 

As my lists so far have been nine strong, and we're about due some photos. Here's nine recent photos from my garden:

ORNAMENTAL QUINCE

HELLEBORE

DAISY

DAFFODIL

PEONY

PRIMULA

SEDUM

DAFFODIL

LEMON BALM

And whatever you do for National Gardening Week, have fun!  Let me know what you get up to in the comments.