☼ Summer Picnic with Jaffareadstoo 2021

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to welcome you all back to our Summer Picnic 2021

Pull up a deck chair Summertime is here again

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 I'm delighted to share our Summer picnic with you today

Photo credit : Picksipics

What favourite foods are you bringing to our summer picnic? 

I’m bringing traditional Wigan meat and potato pies and a delicious chunk of Lancashire cheese. A big tub of creamy coleslaw, a crunchy green salad, and lots of sweet and piquant cherry tomatoes. 

For dessert we have a lemon tart and home-made scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

What would you like to drink? We have white wine spritzers, locally brewed beer, traditional Pimms, sparkling elderflower cordial, or a thermos of tea or coffee.

A tall glass of ice cold, sparkling elderflower cordial for me. We do have very good local ales so maybe a selection of those could come to the picnic!

Where shall we sit, by the pool, in the garden, in the countryside, or somewhere hot? 

We’ll sit in the countryside and let the sounds of nature drift around us.

Do we have a wicker hamper, tablecloth and cutlery, or is everything in a supermarket carrier bag? 

We have a wicker hamper, with a checkered tablecloth and proper cutlery and glasses and if we can carry them we'll have fold up chairs as I hate sitting on damp grass, or maybe there will be a picnic table waiting for us. 

Do you have favourite place to have a summer picnic? 

Let’s go to Haigh Hall in Wigan. It's a perfect location and we can pick the buttercups and soak up the sunshine whilst we enjoy our picnic.

Haigh Hall
© J Barton

Which of your literary heroes (alive or dead) are joining us on the picnic today? 

As we're in Wigan, I'd love to invite George Orwell, so we can discuss the finer points of The Road to Wigan Pier. I would also bring Martin Cruz Smith as his Victorian novel, Rose, published in 1996, is set in Wigan. I'd also like to invite Brian Finch, Wigan-born scriptwriter of Coronation Street for twelve years, to get all the insight into the early days of this successful soap.

☼Which summer read are you bringing with you today? 

I'm really looking forward to reading, Mrs England, the latest historical novel by Stacey Halls. Set against the atmospheric landscape of West Yorkshire, Stacey Halls' third novel proves her to be one of the most exciting and compelling new storytellers of our times. It's due to be published on the 10th June.

Bonnier Zaffre
10 June 2021

☼What is your earliest summer memory? 

Going on a caravan holiday to Benllech in North Wales. Here I am with my best friend, Susan and although we were neighbours at home, our families also went on holiday together. We had great fun, always up to mischief and were never still from morning to night.

I think my yellow swimming costume was a favourite as I took it on holiday for years, I think it just stretched as I grew ! I remember being fascinated by seagulls, hearing their feet pitter patter on the caravan roof in the early morning was a better wake up call than any alarm clock.

Photo by kind permission of Susan
© S.Williams

☼Do you have a favourite summer hideaway? 

I love my garden in the summertime. It has areas of both sun and shade and I can find quiet corners to read and relax. Sitting in my garden chair, with a cup of my favourite Darjeeling tea, a biscuit or two, a good book, and the cat close by, is my idea of bliss.

Photo credit : Picksipics

Do you have a summer music playlist for reading / writing? And if so will you share with us a favourite song or piece of music that makes you feel summery? 

I listen to music all the time and have an eclectic mix of playlists on Spotify. I enjoy light classical music if I’m reading, Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, is one of my favourites but I’m also just as comfortable listening to Elbow, Bastille, Jess Glynne and Birdy. 

Do you find that your reading tastes differ between winter and summer? 

I prefer to read lighter and more romantic novels during the summer season and leave the darker psychological suspense stories for the darker months. I do enjoy reading hefty historical novels during the summer and always save a promising epic for long days in the garden. 

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