As the wettest June on record draws to an end (slowly), we turn our faces to the sun and have a look at some of this summer's most exciting new finds.
For when the weather is going swimmingly
Sometimes you fall asleep at the pool and wake up just before dinner, with no time to change. In those moments, you’ll wish you were wearing a swimsuit that you could whip a cute wrap skirt over and head straight to the table in like the effortless, tanned water goddess you are. Well, now you will be.
Marta swimsuit in black, £210 from Kalmar Lifestyle, www.kalmarlifestyle.com
Give wildlife a swinging time
Do birds needs a Lutyens swing set to visit your garden? No. Of course not.
But seeing as this incredibly inessential product already has ‘inferior imitations’, it’s about time that we drew attention to how adorable it is.
So are the birds visiting your garden going to get a Lutyens swing set? Yes. Of course they are.
National Trust Lutyens swing seat feeder, £17.99 from NatureTree, www.naturetree.co.uk
Do the pool worry-free this summer
Even if you don’t have children yourself, everyone knows the sickening feeling when you see a little one running along the side of a pool, knowing that sooner or later they’re going to fall and conk their head hard on the tiles.
Thankfully, Slipfree have offered up a solution; slip-free poolside shoes for children and adults (carrying two mojitos and a melting Magnum back to a sun-lounger is no mean feat) to wear for the whole summer. The colours are funky, the shoes are comfy and they actually work, too.
P.S. They’re also great yoga shoes.
Slipfree shoes from £18.95 for adults and £14.95 for children, www.iloveslipfree.co.uk
A sweet treat for your travels
With a namesake like Lady Godiva (who rode through the streets of Coventry ‘clad in naught but her long tresses’ to protest against her husband’s taxation tactics), it’s hardly surprising that GODIVA have produced something so decadent.
A croissant pressed in a hot waffle iron, the Croiffle can either be filled with dark or milk chocolate, or if you don’t have a sweet tooth (shame on you), with three cheeses, smoked chicken or as a tuna melt.
Either way, it’s a darn-sight better than that panini you were about to grab for the train.
A wine with real promise
When one thinks of wine country, their thoughts do not typically turn to the untamed north. Harry Eyres recognises that although we may find the idea of Canadian wine ‘somewhat counterintuitive’, the ‘friendly giant to the north’ of the USA has more than 12,000 hectares (29,600 acres) planted to wine-grape vines.
‘The particular climatic conditions – cold, cloudy winters and warm, light-filled summers – give fruit of great delicacy, purity and definition. The Okanagan wine industry is, if not in its infancy (there are more than 150 wineries), then perhaps in its adolescence.’
Our wine expert recommends Cedar Creek Estate Winery Block 5 Chardonnay 2016, a wine pale in colour with ‘a certain finesse and intensity’. Happy drinking.
Cedar Creek Estate Winery Block 5 Chardonnay 2016, £32.99 find in Selfridges (www.selfridges.co.uk)
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