Summer in a Bottle

Delicious fragrant sips of this sweet homemade nectar fill you with sunshine even on a rainy day!

Pick your Elderflowers on a sunny day when the flowers are at their most fragrant.  About twenty-five large blooms should be enough. 

Recipe
900g Caster Sugar (I used fine) 
1.1 litre of Boiling Water 
25 Large Elderflower (leaves removed and cleaned) 
3 Unwaxed Lemons (zest of two) 
50g Citric Acid (available in Chemists) 

Bring the water to the boil.

  Put the sugar into a large mixing bowl then pour over the boiling water and leave to cool. 

Remove any leaves or dead bits from the Elderflower heads and then place in a colander and wash under running water. Let the Elderflowers drain whilst the syrup cools.

Zest two of the three lemons first, then slice all three. 

Once the syrup is completely cooled add the sliced lemons, zest, flower heads and citric acid and stir gently. 

Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 48 hours. 

Strain through muslin and decant into sterilised bottles. 

Serve with sparkling water and ice or with Prosecco! 

Wildflower Wreath

My favourite flowers are wildflowers.  I love the way they appear in places they shouldn't as well as hedgerows and meadows.  The coastal lanes of Cornwall during the months of May and June are amongst my favourite places to see them.  Poking out of crevices, Sea Pink and Cornish Violets soften the stone walls.

Recently my husband brought me a wildflower posy that he picked during a walk with our dog Teddy at Seasalter beach in Kent.  I placed them in a glass that I found in the old beach hut that we were staying in and admired them for most of the morning.  The creative in me wanted to play, so I decided to lay them on the hut floor and form them into a wreath.  I photographed the little wreath and entered the picture into @emilyquinton's #floralfridaycompetition (who I follow on Instagram) and the little beauty won!

A lovely idea would be to fashion the flowers onto floristry wire and hang the wreath for the summer solstice, 20 - 21 June 2014