Ode to Asparagus

On Bank Holiday Monday, CC and I went on a lovely morning drive through the countryside to pay homage to the finest “Gras” in the world, the asparagus. The British Asparagus Festival was held at the lovely Fleece Inn of the ancient hamlet of Bretforton, in the picturesque Vale of Evesham.

Both of us are keen connoisseurs of this sumptuous delicacy.  The journey took us about 45mins. This ageless village was built almost entirely in the 17th century and is home to some very lovely thatched houses, one even has a to let sign on it. I just had to photograph it. I dare not ask how much the rent was…

First, we browsed the farmers market at the entrance. Plenty of local stuff on sale. We followed the crowd into the festival ground and were greeted by “Gus” the Asparagus man. Off course, I couldn’t resist his charms and had a photograph taken.

The Fleece Inn is owned by the National Trust. Originally a longhouse, it was owned by the Byrd family since the days of Chaucer and was bequeathed to the Trust by Lola Taplin in 1977. In the grounds, the festival was up and running. We checked out the shiny vintage vehicles and then popped into the marquee where lots of stalls were selling locally made crafts and the main attraction, the asparagus. There were also bee keeping and thatched roof demonstrations.

We attended a lively talk by Dr. Colin Harris on Folklore, Customs and Traditions. He kept the audience in stitches with his hilarious ‘interactive, multimedia’ presentation. The audience too were very sporting taking part in an impromptu Morris Dancing session and wheat-folding race.

Then was the long queue for food and drink at the Barn bar. While waiting, we entertained ourselves by watching a DVD on…asparagus :-).  After a lovely lunch, CC exchanged £1 for old pennies and played at the Penny Arcade, games of yesteryears. We tried our hands on pinballs, fruit machines, etc. It was fun and very addictive.

We went back into the marquee and bought some lovely, fresh asparagus, a handmade vase for me, handmade mug for CC, both from Cotswold Stoneware Pottery and cupcakes for Babe. Then we watched a performance by Passamezzo.  They swept the audience away with their graceful Elizabethan/Jacobean dance. I just loved the details on their clothing.

On the way out, we came across this handsome Shire Horse pulling the Hook-Norton Dray carriage.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

Unlike Sunday’s scorcher, Monday was quite overcast.  It made the drive home very comfortable. Thanks CC for inviting me and can we do it again next year?

At home, Babe and I spent the evening watching ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ on DVD. It starred Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, and Anita Briem. Watching Fraser, you can’t help comparing it with The Mummy and also a bit of Indiana Jones thrown in. Nothing spectacular but I couldn’t wait for the sequel. I think the adventure for Atlantis will be next.

With nearly 15 hours of sun and temperatures reaching 21C, Sunday was the sunniest and warmest day of the year so far. We decided to check out Ryton Pools and we were not alone. When we arrived, cars were queuing to get through the barrier.

The park was full of families picnicking, young ones cycling, toddlers toddling, dogs running, all taking advantage of a glorious day. There were soo many people that the natives went into hiding. We walked around the main lakes, observed huge fish, swimming lazily in a stream and these horses enjoying a siesta.

We spotted this handsome four-spotted chaser taking a break in the warm sunshine.  Ryton Pool is famous for its dragonfly population but today, they decided to stay away from the crowd.

Saturday was spent chilling out. I’d potted everything except for pak choi, begonias and sunflowers. Need more compost. The potatoes are growing beautifully in their potato bags and fingers-crossed, it’s going to be a bumper crop. The blueberries and figs are bearing lots of tiny fruits too.

I’ve got 4 pots of tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 3 courgettes, a cabbage, 2 aubergines, 6 broad beans, kale, pumpkin, radishes, lettuces, flat-leaf parsley, chives, fennel, dill, lemon balm, mint, sage, bay tree and rosemary. The garden are also dotted with lots of sweet peas, violas, bidens, marigolds, fuchsias, nasturiums, hostas, cape violets, poached eggs, pelargoniums, red hot poker, astibles, lilac, lavender and scarlet rose. Come summer, there will be an explosion of colours and smells. Lovely.

Apart from that, we have a bird feeder, a magnolia tree, and there’s the clothes-line zig-zagging. Hmm, wonder where are we going to put Mr. George Foreman and worryingly, where on earth are we going to sit…:-)

I’d a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and I hoped you too. Also belated birthday kisses for our lovely niece, Ellie. Happy birthday darling. Pressies and card on its way.