I love when JA Lang visit's my blog. As I am a fan of all things English this is a fun post. She is giving an e-copy of Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle. One lucky reader will win this book. What is your favorite thing to so in the summer? Do you have a favorite summer vacation spot? Leave comments and email for a chance to win.
Welcome JA, so glad you can be here today. I haven't been to England but have always wanted to go there.
A Very English Summer
Hi there, cozy readers! What’s summer like in your part of the world?
I live in Oxford, not far from the gently rolling hills of Cotswolds where the Chef Maurice Mysteries are set. So when Shelley invited me to guest post on a ‘summery theme’, I thought I’d share a few snaps of what we get up to here in England to celebrate the arrival of the summer sun...
1. Tennis
Wimbledon starts in a week and Murray fans -- yes, we know he’s Scottish, but shhhh! -- will be out in force, lugging their picnic hampers up Murray Mount to watch the matches on the big screen outside No. 1 Court. At the same time, the local tennis courts, silent and leaf-strewn all winter and spring, will suddenly be overrun with wannabe tennis champs, dusting off their rackets and practicing their backhands.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will be lounging on the grass with a glass of:
2. Pimm’s & Lemonade
The quintessential English summer drink. No one quite knows exactly what Pimm’s is -- a quick Wikipedia search reveals it’s a ‘fruit cup’ style, gin-based liquor -- but mixed with lemonade or ginger ale, it’s synonymous with summer, anyhow. Serve it up in a big jug, garnished with mint, sliced orange, strawberries, cucumber and, of course, a large handful of ice.
3. Eating Outdoors
Despite the famously capricious English weather, nothing says summer quite as much as an outdoors feast. Time to hose down the garden furniture, chase the spiders out of the BBQ, and be prepared for your male relatives to unleash their summer speciality: burnt sausages and underdone burgers
Best leave them to it and work on your tan with a bit of:
4. Sunbathing
After hiding under woolly jumpers and thick tights all winter, it’s time to flash a little flesh, either in your own back garden, in the local park, or by jumping on a quick flight to Europe (where, Snow-White-like, you’re guaranteed to be the fairest of them all -- apart from any fellow Brits, of course).
And last of all:
5. Quidditch Matches
Blame Harry Potter, but take a stroll in the parks of any university town, and you might just come across a group of students running around clutching brooms and yelling ‘Watch out for that bludger!’
No, I don’t quite see the point, either.
So that’s what I’ll be up to this summer! What about you?
About:
J.A. Lang is the British author of the Chef Maurice Mysteries, set in the little Cotswolds village of Beakley and featuring Chef Maurice, a French chef with a growing appetite for solving crime.
The next book in the series, Chef Maurice and the Wrath of Grapes, will be out on July 13th.
Thank you for the chance to win the first Chef Maurice mystery and the fun interview! Living in the desert makes me want to be inside with the cats, the A/C and a good book! It is also a great time to head north for the day where there are pine trees, mountains and cooler temps. Anything under 95 degrees! jeaniedannheim ( at ) ymail ( dot ) com
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance to win the first Chef Maurice mystery and the fun interview! Living in the desert makes me want to be inside with the cats, the A/C and a good book! It is also a great time to head north for the day where there are pine trees, mountains and cooler temps. Anything under 95 degrees! jeaniedannheim ( at ) ymail ( dot ) com
ReplyDeleteI love summer because of all the festivals that occur in our area and neighboring cities. Also the fact I can get outside and work in my gardens and absorb Mother Nature's natural vitamin D. Thank you for the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a copy of this first in the series. robeader53@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be in England this summer it's hot here...really hot! I'd also like to be on the Ocean somewhere but the good news is I do live in a University town so there is plenty to do here. I'd love to read the book.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
Great interview! I love Harry Potter and think it is so cool that there are kids running around the park playing Quidditch. My favorite summer activity is playing with the kids and dogs at the lake.
ReplyDeleteAngie Young
angiey1974@hotmail.com
Fun interview--I have heard of Pimm's over the years, but have never tried it. I enjoy getting into the garden in the summer, there's nothing like fresh tomatoes by the end! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
What a fun interview...and sounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteKathleen Bylsma h5apby@yahoo.com
What a fun post! It's always interesting to learn of other's favorite past times, foods and what not! The Pimm’s & Lemonade drink sounds really good! Guess everyone loves Lemonade in the summer time! We cook and eat outdoors, go to the beach and try to stay as cool as possible in the humid southwest Georgia where I am! Thank you for the chance to win an e-copy of Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle!
ReplyDeleteoh_bother88@hotmail.com
Here in our area of Massachusetts, we are inland, but we can get to the coast of MA and RI in a couple of directions and all within an hour so. We love to get to the ocean and with good weather, I can get out much more than in the winter with all of the snow and ice. We plant lots of flowers in pots and have rose bushes that I enjoy from June until the first frost which can be as early as the first of Sept. some years. We love to go watch our grandchildren swim in their pool and use their trampoline; lots of family things done together and trips together too. We spend a lot of time with our daughter, her husband and our three grandchildren, aged 4, 8, and 12, as we moved to the town next to them when we retired (at their request I want to add), and so we are blessed with tons of family time with them. I am looking forward to getting book 2, Wrath of Grapes as I am currently reading Chef Maurice book 1 right now. What a wonderful, fun, and cute story that has me very entertained..
ReplyDeleteThank you for the photos along with the great interview. Loved hearing about something new.
Keep up the great writing.
Sincerely,
Cynthia B.
We just made a trip to the east coast, Bar Harbor, Maine. I loved it there! We visited kids along the way there and back. It was a very good trip. Now I am back in South Dakota and will be heading out west to the Black Hills for a couple of days for a convention. Then it will be back east to Wisconsin to our cabin and then a family reunion. The Pimm's lemonade sounds interesting! I may have to try that someday.
ReplyDeleteElaineE246 at msn dot com
Winner is Cynthia B. Congratulations!!
ReplyDelete