Things I have loved in July
All the tech to watch Netflix al fresco, making your own pizza, a trip to the Cotswolds and other bucolic endeavours.
July started with a bang: Joe and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Crete (check out my guide to the island here, or the one on getting married here) – a much-needed beach holiday that we thoroughly enjoyed. It was also the month that saw my complete transformation into a PGG (Perfect Gardening Gentlelady, see my Garden Edit): nothing brought me more joy this past month than my little patch of green, which we zhuzh up with the addition of a few new plants, a make-shift cinema screen and a new pizza oven.
Please note: my edits may contain affiliate links, which means any purchases made via those links will earn me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. But rest assured that all my recommendations are genuine and based on products I truly love.
1. Our Outdoor Cinema
You might have spotted that we have been hosting a family of 8 foxes in our back garden for the past four months or so. As lovely as it has been watching the kits grow and become teenagers from behind our window, the many words of warning I received on Instagram from well-meaning people (saying the foxes will likely bring a flea infestation and ruin our garden) had left me feeling a little detached from the patch, like it was a foreign land I wasn’t sure I could visit. But as “the kids” are now starting to flee the nest, I felt it was time to reclaim our garden, and the mission started with a visit to a fantastic local nursery where I went on a plant shopping craze. I had been wanting to add some colour to the garden for a long time, and the Alliums, Geums and tall verbena hit the spot, and also added some nice visual layering.
Almost at the same time, I had the genius (if I say so myself) idea of dusting off a white blind that had been in the cellar for the past 3 years and finally using it for what it was initially bought for: to act as a projector screen. The original idea was to install it in our living room, but having failed to find a neat solution that would conceal it, we gave up. Now, thanks to made-shift hooks I made using chicken wire, we can easily attach it to our garden room roof and enjoy our daily Downtown Abbey episode al fresco.
I got a lot of questions on Instagram about this set-up, so I though it might be useful here too.
The fairy lights got a lot of love, both from us and my community. I think they added to the charm in a big way, and they are solar-powered so pretty hassle-free.
☞ My solar festoon lightsThe screen is a white block-out blind from BlockBlinds. I can’t recall the logic at the time for going for this solution vs one of those projector screens you buy on Amazon (it must have been for a cost-saving purpose, surely?). You could even use a white sheet if not crinkled!
The projector was a birthday gift I got for Joe during the pandemic. The company has since discontinued the product, but if I were to buy a new one I would probably go for this one:
☞ Nice-looking projectorAudio system: we use our portable Ue Boom, which again is a few years old and not in production anymore, but there are newer models available. A concerned follower asked how we manage volume for our neighbours: we keep it in between us at a reasonable level so you can’t hear it from the house!
Picnic blanket. The last, crucial component of our setup is the picnic blanket, which serves an aesthetic purpose as well as a functional one: I tend to get cold easily (you know, being Italian and all) and as one side is waterproof, the blanket keeps humidity at bay which means I stay warmer. It’s also nice to have something soft under your feet and minimise the risk of accidentally stepping on nocturnal slugs (who have become the bane of my existence and garden!)
2. Home-made Pizza
The other thing that has brought us to use the garden much more this summer has been our Ooni oven, which was a generous wedding gift from some friends in Italy. We gave it the baptism of fire (in the literal sense) when we invited some friends over and proceeded to make (and eat) over 20 pizzette (there were only four of us, you do the math). In our defence, the pizzette were so thin and light, they went down like clouds, and we ate them over the course of a whole day. Still, we are so impressed with this lil oven: it is multi-fuel (we used a mix of coal and wood) and the pizze took seconds to cook (literally, you blink and they are burnt).
For the dough, I followed the recipe of our dearly missed Norman Russel from his Polpo cookbook:
Makes 12 pizzette
fresh yeast 15g (or 1 × 7g sachet fast-action yeast) – I used the latter
tepid water 300ml
strong white flour, Italian 00 is good 500g
fine salt 2 tsp
extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
Knead the dough for 10 mins (I used my Kitchen Aid) and let it rest covered in oily cling film for about half an hour, until it doubles in size. We rolled it super thin and about 15-20cm in diameter.
3. A trip to the Cotswolds
It’s no secret that the Cotswolds is where I would secretly like to live out my cottagecore fantasies. And last month I got to do just that, thanks to the wonderful Beth from Imperfect Interiors (you may know her from her iconic home renovation on Grand Designs). She is one of my og Interior Design heroes, and to be invited by her to spend some time in her holiday cottage (which she has immaculately renovated and rents out) was definitely a pinch-me moment.
Armada Cottage is in the little quaint village of Charlbury, a mere hour train ride from London Paddington, and 10 mins drive from Woodstock (homebirth of Winston Churchill) and the infamous Didly Squat Farm (Joe and I are big fans). There are two excellent gastro pubs in town (The Bull and The Bell), and a cute little deli which serves breakfast.
Woodstock is also well worth a visit. It is a slightly larger town than Charlbury and has lovely shops and restaurants. A walk around the truly impressive Blenheim Palace and its grounds is also a must!
4. Paper flower diffusers
Upon my tour of Woodstock, I stumbled upon a delightful little pop-up selling the most beautiful and realistic paper flowers I have ever seen. The clever people at Vintage Bespoke turned these works of art into aroma diffusers, and the effect once the flower is impregnated with oil is even more realistic. I got one for myself and one each for my mother and sisters (they make really pretty presents!). To tell you the truth, I wasn’t too keen on their scents (I am very particular when it comes to perfumes), but they also sold very pretty vintage vases for the flowers. I will say that the flowers diffuse really well (much more than the common sticks), so get a small-sized flower unless you have a very big area to cover: I bought a medium size and find it almost too strong for my living room, which is the largest space in my home.
5. Vase by Wan Ceramics
Speaking of flowers, I found the most perfect vessel whilst browsing in one of my favourite local shops here in Stokey – Know & Love. I have a thing for handmade pottery, especially when the potter is local (like in this case). I love the organic shape and how it lends itself to interesting compositions!
6. A new London restaurant: Session Arts Club
I had been wanting to visit this place since it opened, a few years ago (or was it last year? Time flies!). Initially under the direction as Head Chef of Florence Knight (who cut her teeth at Polpetto, and has since left the restaurant), it’s a beautiful, intimate place inside a Grade II listed building in Clerkenwell. I’ll talk straight to you (I always do), I did find it a little pricey for the size of the portions, but the glorious architecture and raw, pink and green plaster walls (sounds familiar?) more than made up for it.
7. More pretty things from Sézane
In my three years as a content creator/influencer on Instagram (I can never say the latter without internally cringing), it never fails to amaze me when fashion brands (three, so far) reach out proposing to gift me clothes, because although I am progressively getting more into it, fashion is not, and most likely never will be, my bread and butter. If you had told me that Sezane, one of my favourite brands, would allow me to pick a couple of pieces each month to have for free in exchange for posting online some pics of me looking awkward, I would have laughed at you. Yet here we are. I hope this isn’t come across as a humble brag by the way, I am genuinely stunned and secretly hoping no one in their chic parisian office ever realises I am no IT girl (please don’t tell on me?)
Anyhow. I had my eyes set for a while on this woven basket of theirs, which is in the most perfect shade of olive green (my favourite). I have also been gravitating towards shirts lately, and this maxi striped shirt is really good quality and has such nice proportions (I am wearing it as I type this).
☞ Sezane Justine Bag in Khaki
☞ Sezane Max Shirt, blue & ecru stripe
8. Metal by Homework
You know I have a passion for Homework scents, ever since I discovered Steph and Ross’s brand back in 2021. Bai San (now renamed Fire), has always been my favourite of their scents, with Wood coming at a tight second position. Water is lovely too. But lately I have discovered their Metal scent and it has become another firm favourite. They have recently released a limited sale of samples (candles that are perfectly fine to burn but have minor defects) at a lower price, and I rushed to buy myself a large Metal and a regular Wood one. There are still some left at the lower price so now is a great time to give yourself a present! Plus, they have a very fun quiz on their website to determine which of the five Traditional Chinese elements you are. I am Water, how about you?
Your recs are always stellar Martina! Those flowers sound like a beautiful addition to any space and your outdoor cinema looks dreamy 🤩
What a lovely view into your month. Loved reading it and am very intrigued by the beautiful paper flowers diffusers! 🙏