June is gonna be busy

June it turning out to be a really busy month! The summer finally turned up and when the weather warmed up me and the kids got the pop-up pool out again and got it filled up. It was amazing how quickly it went up this year now that we knew how it fitted together (and lucky it had no mice holes in it). With the past few days of heat, it’s already at 23-25C so ready for bathing!

Bathing, or rather swimming is something I will be doing a lot of over the summer months as I have decided to do the annual Diabetes UK Swim 22 challenge. It’s all about swimming the same distance as the English Channel but over the course of 12 weeks. It’s quite a challenge as it works out at about 1,500 lengths and it takes some doing.

I did this challenge a few years ago and it was this that got me into swimming again. I not only found that the regular swimming got me fitter and a bit more toned, but it was also really good for my mental health. I really felt as though the swimming was like a form of meditation with just me focusing on my breathing, my technique and the bubbles

I plan to try and swim outdoors as often as possible, but I’ll be hitting the pool too. I went to the outdoor swimming lake in Bicester gym and golf the other day and it was a glorious 22C in the water (as you can see it looked pretty nice). The event runs from 22nd July until the 22nd of October (well it’s Swim 22 after all) and last year over 8,000 people of all ages and abilities helped Diabetes UK raise over £800,000 to help support people living with Diabetes. If you fancy getting fit and helping out, you can sign up for free by searching https://swim22.diabetes.org.uk/

It’s also been busy in the garden with all my plants arriving from Richard Jackson and Plants2Gardens etc. I finally got my hanging baskets done and lots of pots to flower all summer long. I also forgot about my dahlia tuber that was overwintering in the shed. I hope it wasn’t too late as it was only just beginning to shoot some eyes, but I really should have divided it years ago as it was humongous! I decided to break it up into about four pieces and will divide again at the end of the summer! Let’s hope there is a little green in my fingers!

Talking of plants, I really like the look of Plants2Gardens pick of the month hi-fire Hydrangea has amazing flowers that start off green and then develop into a blue/purple that is really intense. These plants (as so often with Ken’s wonderful selection) are big, sturdy mature specimens that will delight you for years. We have a couple of hydrangeas indoors at the moment, but I would like one on the patio as they are stunning and so easy to look after (just keep ‘em moist).

It’s all go at the Q and with summer holidays coming up (whatever they will look like this year), we’re trying to pack loads in. I found out about the brand new Dyson Micro. The smallest vacuum they’ve ever done and it’s light and quiet. It’s only available from Dyson and QVC at the moment and we have it available in three interest-free payments. If you’re not happy with it we can refund you, so it won’t cost you a single penny to try it. So much in store!

Speak soon

Simon x

@simonbiagi