The Miscellaneous Adventures Digest
The Miscellaneous Adventures Digest
Reflecting on the good and bad of woodland life, solstice celebrations and the heady scent of honeysuckle.
Hello from the Misc Adventures HQ! We hope you are all doing well.
This week saw the longest day of the year pass us by and we now head slowly through summer towards autumn and winter. The solstices are a good time to reflect, something we’ve been doing much of lately with the release of our podcast. It’s given us a chance to look back and process a decade of woodland life, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. We’ll be recording a new episode soon as a follow up to the series we recorded just before we left the woods. We’re looking forward to sharing our thoughts on where we are now, and what the lasting legacy of living in the woods might be. In the meantime, you can listen to the first four episodes here now.
Solstice Celebrations
Solstice is an important point in the year for us and one we like to celebrate by getting outside and spending as much of the day as we can in nature.
This year, we gave the Benji the choice of activity for our solstice evening. He decided that we should hike up to a local tarn for a swim and a play on the rocks. Needless to say, we were happy to oblige.
As the sun still burned high in the sky we headed up the steep path to the tarn, stopping to look at the flowering stonecrop, bog asphodel and sundews. As we reached the top, sticky from our walk, we were greeted with the inviting sight of a perfectly still tarn. We quickly changed into swimming gear and headed in. After a refreshing swim and a quick clamber on the rocks that surround the tarn, we headed back down to the nearby pub for snacks.
With a five year old who has to get up for school the next day, it can be tricky celebrating in the ways we were used to pre-parenthood (such as staying out to see the sunset, which is not until around 10pm here). So instead we make the most of the time we have, building new traditions as a family of 3, hoping to instil in Benji the same love we have for nature and the outdoors.
Do you mark the solstice in any way? We’d love to hear about it.
Lessons from the Woods - Episode 4
Episode 4 of our podcast is now available to listen to over here and this one is about the good, and the bad bits of our decade in the woods.
We cover everything from getting married, having a baby, family connections, and starting a business to getting trolled, being let down and dealing with emotional and financial struggles. This frank and honest conversation delves into how things are not always as glossy as they sometimes appear from the outside and recounts many of the significant moments that made us who we are today.
Do let us know in the comments if you have any thoughts, we’d love to hear.
The scent of summer - a realisation from Emma
This week summer really seemed to arrive and with it, the distinctive smell of honeysuckle in the woodlands and hedges.
Honeysuckle is a beautiful flowering, climbing plant which can be found in woodlands and hedges up and down the country, winding its way up around trees and shrubs. It has just started flowering here in the last couple of weeks, clusters of creamy yellow (sometimes pink) trumpet shaped flowers filling the air with a sweet, heady scent, enticing many pollinators (and humans) to its deliciousness.
I had a moment of realisation in the woods this week as I walked and was suddenly hit with the scent of honeysuckle. I looked up and around and sure enough, there it was, hanging from the branches above my head. Through learning more about plants and flowers and using them to make medicinal syrups, tinctures and balms, I have become familiar with their smells and can now recognise them in the wild before I’ve even seen them. This is a new connection for me, and an exciting one. Having the likes of honeysuckle, hawthorn, elder, rose, meadowsweet, linden and more, calling to me on the breeze is a magical thing. I feel connected with all my senses to the natural world, tuned in on a whole new level.
I gathered a few honeysuckle flowers, along with some elder flowers and brought them home to infuse into vinegar and syrup. Both smell incredible and I’m looking forward to drinking the taste of summer in a homemade wild cocktail later this week. Cheers!
To make the syrup:
Fill a 1 litre jar with loosely packed flowers. Dissolve 400gm sugar in 500ml water. Pour this mixture over the jar of flowers (including some lemon slices if you like) mix and leave to infuse overnight. The next day, strain and pour into sterilised bottles or jars. Will keep for a month or so in the fridge or can also be frozen in an ice cube tray to use as needed. To make a refreshing summer drink mix with lots of ice, fizzy water/tonic/champagne/gin, the choice is yours!
To make the vinegar:
Fill a jar almost full with loosely packed flowers. Pour over apple cider vinegar (preferably an organic type that contains the mother). Put on the lid, shake a little and make sure the flowers are under the vinegar. Leave in a cool spot for 2 weeks, shaking from time to time. After this, strain and bottle. Take a teaspoon full with warm water and honey to help with cough and cold symptoms or use in cooking and dressings.
Enjoy!
That’s all from us this week. As always, do get in touch with any questions, thoughts or comments and we’ll be happy to respond.
Enjoy the weekend ahead!
Andrew and Emma