cherry picking

I've been quiet on the blog front recently.  The summer holidays are in full force and we're due to start building works any day now (well that's been the case for a month or so!).  I'm desparately thinking of ways to stop the children fighting with each other and my sewing machine, bags of fabric, cases of paper etc have been stored away, along with most of our other belongings because of the impending chaos.  My normal creativity  has been hindered, but I am enjoying the opportunity to scroll the internet for fixtures and fittings and scouring the antique shops of Tetbury, the local brocante and Hollyanna's for new bits of furntiture.

Of course whatever is going on in life you can't give up food and at this time of year there is plenty growing in the garden.  Boy and I had an hilarious afternoon recently collecting cherry-plums from a tree in our garden that has fruited so well this year we couldn't resist picking the cherries even though they were way out of reach.  I had to scramble up the tree with a fishing net and once I'd caught a cherry on a far flung branch I'd use my old lacrosse skills to throw it down to boy waiting below with a bowl.  We enjoyed ourselves so much we decided that we should move to the hills around Perpingnan and become cherry pickers for a living.  For all our efforts the birds had eaten half of the cherries already and we ended up with only 15 (that is a bumper crop for this ancient tree)!  We added to our own supply and turned them into a delicious cherry clafoutis.  Now that the blackberries are coming out I'm tempted to do the same with them.