We’re in July now, with half of this year gone. Who can believe this? Time flies so fast! My brain still feels like it’s 2019. I wanted to post a little recap of June 2021. Places I’ve visited, foods and activities I enjoyed. Join me on this little time travel if you wish. 🙂
The first weekend of June spoiled us with wonderful weather. I went to Greenwich Park on Saturday and visited Columbia Road Flower Market on Sunday. Fed my addiction with a purchase of a beautiful dieffenbachia and a pothos plant. I also had a tasty coffee and a delicious smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel in one of the little cafes before heading back home.
The weekend after that I went to Holland Park and Hyde Park. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Japanese garden (in Holland Park) and the Italian fountains (in Hyde Park). I also had some really good ice cream in Kensington Gardens, a double scoop of salted caramel and clotted cream. Yum! I’ll take you on a trip to Holland Park and Hyde Park soon.
I also visited West Ham park on multiple occasions. It’s usually my lunch break walk destination on good weather days.
My culinary discovery of June 2021 is the vegan black bean and avocado quinoa. Absolutely delicious. I made it twice in a month, and each time it made 3 meals for me. Eating the same thing 6 times in a month is a lot for someone who likes variety in their diet.
Another small discovery is a healthier version of strawberries and cream. I love strawberries and wish they were in season for longer. I must have eaten a few kilograms of strawberries in June! One day I prepared a bowl of strawberries for dessert, along with some vanilla yoghurt. What a game changer! Vanilla skyr or kvarg are fat-free, high protein (and in the version I buy, sugar-free) yoghurts, but when you dip strawberries in them it honestly tastes like strawberries with whipped cream. Delicious! Had it for dessert a few times.
The 19th of June was my grandma’s 80th birthday. I wish I was there, celebrating with the rest of our family. I did make a card for my grandma though.
This summer is definitely a sports time on TV for me. June started with some really good tennis (French Open/Roland Garros), which then got replaced with the Euros. On top of all that, there were a couple of weekends with Formula 1 as well. Great fun for those who enjoy watching sports on TV! I’m definitely looking forward to the big events in July, with the second half of Euros, Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Apart from watching sports on TV, I got back to a more active lifestyle. A great way to initiate it was purchasing the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit Adventure game. It’s fairly pricey (good thing I had the console already), but turning a workout into a video game is such a clever idea! Definitely good enough to break the sweat and improve your stamina.
I also visited the on-site gym in my building and had a few long walks. Being active and in good form makes feel better mentally and it’s great to be back on track.
In the middle of the month I finally had a chance to meet my colleagues in person in a pub. It’s been almost a year and a half that we’ve been working remotely and the team changed a fair bit with some people leaving and new faces joining.
June was also the time when I learnt about parosmia. It’s a health condition that distorts one’s sense of smell, and a frequent long term side effect of the-virus-that-should-not-be-named. I was unfortunate enough to catch it in January despite following all the rules and guidelines. I lost my sense of smell for about two weeks then and it’s been weakened since then. At the beginning of June I noticed I was beginning to smell more, which is great news! The bad news, however, is that not all scents are returning to me at the same pace. This makes me perceive some smells in a distorted way, and since the sense of smell is strongly linked to your taste, it also affects my taste buds. So far, there’s only one food item I suddenly can’t stand – my beloved bell peppers, which you can find in probably half of my savoury recipes, if not more. Bell peppers smell – and taste – rotten to me now. Ew! At first I thought it was just a dodgy pepper and bought a new one, but it wasn’t any better. I hope it goes back to normal soon, can’t imagine life without bell peppers in it!
Finally, June was the time when my very old interest in conscious skincare and haircare reappeared. I spent a good chunk of my spare time reading the labels of various products and placing an order after another in Boots and Superdrug. Now my bathroom is full of fancy little pipette bottles with various cosmetic grade acids and other strange active ingredients. Ask me in 6 months if it’s worth the money and research!
Alphe's Corner 
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