Pick Your Own

Would you believe that I'd never been to a pick-your-own (pyo) farm? PYO is a term where you go to the farms that advertised them and pick yourself whatever fruits you fancy. The fruits are then weight and you pay what you pick. The prices are a bit cheaper than the supermarkets.

CC came to pick me at 9.30am. I had waterproof trousers and a raincoat on. Strong winds and rain had lashed across the UK since yesterday and it was expected to continue.

We thought we were early but there were already a few cars. But only one family braved the weather, the others were in the cafe. CC showed me the best way/fruits to pick. It was quite back-breaking and my knees were about to buckle. Off course, we helped ourselves to a few juicy strawberries along the way. We'd fun in the rain and pelting each other with discarded fruits.

After picking (2 punnets for me and 5 for CC) we went to pay. We went back into the fields again  to pick raspberries. The sun came out and I was busy checking out a flock of starlings, helping themselves to some fruit. After 2 hours, we'd enough.

The Malt Kiln Farm also has its own farm shop and restaurant. There's about 1000 PYO farms operating this way in the UK. I hope that these farms will able to withstand the onslaught from the supermarkets. Although you often tend to hear that some people tend to treat PYO as a giant open buffet. I guess some form of monitoring will be needed in the fields.

The farm is situated on the outskirts of Rugby in Stretton-upon-Fosse. Stretton is half a mile east of the ancient Fosse Way, an ancient Roman road. The Fosse Way is the only Roman road in Britain to retain its original Latin name. This (almost) straight road follows the B4455 across Warwickshire.

The word Fosse is derived from the Latin fossa, meaning ditch. After the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, the Fosse Way marked the western frontier of Roman rule. It is remarkable for its extremely straight and direct road: from Lincoln to Ilchester, about 182 miles.

We went to CC's chateaux cos she was soaked. Met Angus, the feline, who later threw up. Hmm, was that an affectionate gesture? Checked out her lovely garden. There were sweet peas, broad beans, long beans, peas, potatoes, kale, chard, onions, carrots, borage, fennel, peppers, cucumbers, lavender, tomatoes, rosemary and cabbages. Phew...

CC had lunch at my casa. I had already made the Red Thai Beef Curry with bamboo shoots in the morning. We chatted and it's her turn to ooh and aah my garden. Thanks CC for the fun adventure.

Yesterday, Kevin and I went to our usual playground. The Warwickshire Dragonfly Group were busy conducting a survey and they asked Kevin whether we spotted any. The water level was still high and tada... we spotted these beautiful green sandpipers wading in the mud from Steetley Hide

On Thursday, DB and I attended a workshop in London. It was such a packed session that I don't even have time to take my camera out. Never mind, I think I'll be popping into London more often in the near future.

Well done to Lewis Hamilton who answered his critics and got his title campaign back on track with a superb British Grand Prix win. The McLaren driver mastered tricky conditions, starting in 4th, and his team made the right tactical calls, as all his main title rivals had a day to forget. It's a good day for British sports.