Sloe's, stinkies and yellow feathers.....

We are coming to the end of our harvesting wild foods to preserve.

Just had sloe berries to pick, to make apple and sloe jelly and some sloe gin.
They are tiny sour plum like fruits that are themselves not something you would eat.

They are about as big as your thumb nail are the most beautiful purple almost black colour!


We have a secret place we go to every year, and it has never let us down.
There was a smaller amount of fruit on the tree's but the berries were bigger and much more juicy than the last few years.
All the rain we have had made the bracken and nettles huge round the sloe tree's.


We freeze them to get the skin to break down more easily so it seeps into the gin or jelly quicker.

Steeped in sugar and gin for months makes a beautiful liqueur.

And they make a lovely jelly with apples.

Poppy had a great time running around, she never went far away and came back when we called her, which is something she has only starting doing outside!

Even came back and sat with her lead on as folk rode past on four horses!
And she had never seen a horse before!

Before I boast about how well my beloved Poppy dog behaved......it is time to admit she found some decomposing animal and did what all manky dogs do.....ROLLED ON IT!!


MANKY Girl!!

quick rub down with baby wipes and a bath in the garden when we got home!!!



On the way to the sloes we saw a field with vintage tractors having a ploughing competition.

There were loads of beautiful machine all ploughing away. Quite something to see!



On the way home we called in to see Fiona who's dog Bailey is the litter mate of our old beloved Tilly.
He is almost 12 and a mumbly auld mannie of a dog now....the fact Poppy wanted to give him lots of poppy kisses was not something he enjoyed.....

After her busy day....and a tussle with a cats yellow feather toy....a girl just has to have a sleep!!

I know it looks like she has killed the budgie....but she hasn't!