A FEW OF OUR FAVOURITE THINGS

Staying close to home this summer? We asked the Country Living team to share their tips for making the most of your downtime in splendid isolation

The CL team share their tips for making the most of your downtime

FRESHLY PICKED POSIES

Gardening doyenne Rosemary Verey used to gather a posy of flowers and foliage from her garden every day and I follow her lead in June, scouring the beds for unexpected treasures. When you really look, it’s amazing what you can find besides the obvious roses, sweet rocket and other summer favourites – even shrivelled seed heads and wispy grasses play their part. Bringing them together to arrange in a vase is the greatest of pleasures.

Paula Mcwaters, gardening editor

FAMILY CAMPFIRES

As children, as soon as the evenings got warmer, my brother and I would sneak to the bottom of the garden with a box of matches and make tiny campfires; we’d fall about laughing, pretending to smoke twigs like we were at a cocktail party, and steal things from Mum’s fridge to char on the flames. Outdoor fires, however small, bring back such happy memories. They also invite conversation and storytelling – my brother and I spent most of our time together but even we’d have something new to tell each other over the embers. Whether it’s a family bonfire or a BBQ for one, get outside and rekindle your inner caveman.

Sally Coulthard, The Good Life columnist. Find out more with Sally’s book The Little Book of Building Fires (Anima; £ 10) or search ‘Campfire’ at scouts.org.uk

DAINTY DIP

This tahini and white bean dip is my favourite to serve with vegetables fresh from my garden. In a food processor, blitz 2 x 400g tins of drained and rinsed butterbeans or cannellini beans, 1 crushed garlic clove, 3 tbsp tahini, the finely grated zest of 1 lemon and the juice from two. With the food processor running, pour in 75ml olive oil followed by 150ml warm water to loosen the consistency. Check the seasoning. Transfer to a serving bowl, scatter with chopped parsley, chives or mint and drizzle with more oil. Serve with crusty bread, crudités (I love sugar snaps, spring onions and carrots) and a chilled glass of white wine. Serves eight for a delicious light lunch.

Alison Walker, food director

MEMORIES PRESERVED

Old photos can provide a treasure trove of memories, but they’re often left in a box somewhere, half forgotten. If you have some leisure time this summer, take the opportunity to fish them out and share them around. Most printers have a scan function; alternatively, negative scanners cost around £20. My father was a keen photographer and had hundreds of family photos. By scanning them, I was able to make online albums that I could share with everyone (you can print them out, too). As dementia took hold of my dad, I compiled a book of photographs of old family holidays. He became animated as he looked through them, recollections of that faraway time flooding back when the present had become a foreign land.

Roger Browning, group art editor