I decided to renovate a couple of Lloyd Loom chairs this week, for use in the garden.  I've had them for years, but never quite got round to tarting them up.  As the temperature was up in the 30's,  I did it in my underwear, in the kitchen - not a pretty sight I can tell you.  Thankfully, I had no unexpected visitors.

It was a fiddly job and I ended up liberally plastered in paint as you have to stab at the weave with your paintbrush.

These images were taken after I'd removed the shabby brocade fabric that covered the seats.

I decided to use up some more of our surplus Annie Sloan chalk paint, this time 'Greek Blue'.  I love this colour,  it brings back memories of holidaying on Rhodes back in my youth, the colour of the sky and ocean against little whitewashed buildings.  The process was a bit of a pain, as the paint had been opened a while back and had to be continually stirred to stop it separating.

I think they look much prettier now,  even without cushions.

They need new cushion pads, which as I'm not very accomplished at sewing, will take some thinking about. I will keep you posted.

It's been so flaming hot here and like everybody else I expect, we're rarely getting a good nights sleep, which leaves you feeling like a washed out dish rag next day.   We have a fan on all night...I seriously believe that without it, I'd be sleeping in the bath in about 6" of cold water......now there's a thought! 

We now have fresh pickings from the allotment, French beans, which are a delight.  The first crop, called 'Fasold'  have been utterly delicious.  We've been eating them most evenings, with fairly light meals, as our appetites have been curbed by the hot weather.  Eggs are featuring regularly, as they're quick and easy and don't involve using the oven.

Another meal that I've been anticipating this season is courgette and pea pesto pasta. We popped over to our plant lady in a neighbouring village to pick up some more beet plants, and she had courgettes, freshly picked that morning.  I wanted to wait for ours to crop before having this dish, but as hers were so fresh, I had to have some.

It's such a simple meal, but it's essential to griddle the courgettes. You just add them, along with some petit pois to freshly cooked pasta that has had a generous amount of pesto stirred in, a good squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of basil oil plus a scattering of fresh basil leaves and Parmesan shavings. I used spaghetti, but you can use any pasta you like.  It really is a lovely, light summer dish.

These little jewels brought a smile to my face this morning.  The taste is so intense, but sadly, they're not fruiting as well as last year.  The heat's to blame and I also noticed when out picking these little delights that our plum tree is shedding quite a bit of fruit already.

I've enjoyed Wimbledon this year, despite missing Kevin Anderson's semi final game, which was reported as outstanding.   I caught the Nadal/del Potro game which was terrific, despite Nadal winning.  I'm not a fan and was glad that he was beaten by Djokovic in the semi final.  Serena Williams losing in the women's final was a bit of a surprise as I was sure she'd win. Good job I'm not a betting lass.

We flew our flags for England in the World Cup, which had a disappointing ending, sadly for our young team.  They did well, and got us further than we've been for many years, so no shame there.

I will break my own rule here, which is not discussing politics on my blog, but only to say that I'm thoroughly ashamed of the ridiculous behaviour of some, who felt it necessary to float a large Trump baby balloon over London during the president's visit. On first seeing the balloon, I thought it was amusing, but a joke, never believing that it would appear above London. I am not a fan of Trump and would have preferred him not to have come to the UK, but this behaviour shows a decided lack of maturity by the people who organised it and a lack of judgement on the part of London mayor, Sadiq Khan, who allowed it to take place.  Enough said.

I hope your week's been a goodun' and your weekend is even better. Thanks for dropping by.