There’s something magical about June. The days stretch longer, the evenings stay warm, and that feeling of summer finally being here brings a certain energy to everything. Looking back through my photos from this month, it’s clear we made the most of it.
Jetting Off: Holiday Begins
The end of June brought the moment we’d been waiting for – holiday time! We jetted off to catch some proper sunshine, kicking off what would be an amazing trip that continued into July. And let me tell you, the view from our apartment set the tone perfectly.
There’s something about waking up to palm trees and a pool that makes all the work stress melt away. The kids absolutely loved it – they were in the pool from morning until we had to drag them out for dinner. That’s the joy of a proper summer holiday: no schedules, no rushing around, just quality time together doing absolutely nothing productive.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend a fair bit of time just lounging by the pool, book in hand (or let’s be honest, phone in hand checking on the smart home back in the UK). But that’s what holidays are for, right? More on the rest of the trip in next month’s post!
Earlier in June: Tomahawk Night
The holiday wasn’t the only highlight of June though. Earlier in the month, we had some cracking evenings at home making the most of the improving weather. One particular night saw me getting the tomahawk steaks out.
If you’ve never had a tomahawk steak, you’re missing out. There’s something about that massive bone-in ribeye that makes it feel like an occasion. Get it to room temperature, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook it hot and fast. The bone acts as a handle and looks absolutely impressive when you bring it to the table. Perfect for those summer evenings when you want something a bit special.
Tech Corner: Holiday Edition
Being away from home always makes me appreciate my smart home setup even more. Here are a couple of things I’ve learned about keeping your tech running smoothly while you’re away:
Remote Monitoring Made Easy
If you’re running any kind of home server or self-hosted services, having remote access sorted before you leave is crucial. I use Tailscale for secure access to my home network from anywhere. It creates a mesh VPN that’s dead simple to set up:
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale upThat’s literally it. Now you can access your Immich photos, Home Assistant dashboard, or whatever else you’re running, all from your sun lounger.
Docker Health Checks
Another tip: make sure your Docker containers have proper health checks configured. This way, if something goes wrong while you’re away, you’ll know about it (and potentially have it auto-restart). Add something like this to your docker-compose:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 40sPair this with Uptime Kuma or a similar monitoring tool, and you’ll get alerts if anything goes sideways.
Looking Forward
June was a month of anticipation building up to the main event. Good food, good weather, and then jetting off for some proper sunshine to round things off. July’s post will have all the holiday adventures – stay tuned!
Here’s to making the most of the sunshine while it lasts!
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