Hard labour!

Isobel came to take Archie out for a walk. She's been back home in London but is back in town for her graduation tomorrow. Archie was very excited. Fortunately, the morning was cool and cloudy, so much more suitable for a big walk, but in the Hermitage of Braid, there's plenty of water for him.

I've had it mind for a while - after the neighbours went fruit picking and mentioned there were PEAS as well - that we could pop out and pick a few. My wee pal in Jersey sends me photos of her pea patch in full flow, but I assured her that I wasn’t jealous - I had a ready source.

We left Archie at home - he'd had a big walk anyway - and tried out a new free satnav app which took us up a private road to a dead end. Thanks. We eventually found the farm, and had lunch. By this time the weather had turned very hot, but the ones for sale looked a few days old, so I couldn’t NOT pick some.

JR isn’t that mad on peas, and anyway, you had to pay per person, and we thought we might not get our money back, so we paid for one determined picker. Moi. (Photo by JR).

Boy! It was hard work. I had to search for the full pea pods, bending down low each time. I didn’t actually eat many as I went along, otherwise I’d still be there, trying to fill my basket. I ate a fair few on the way home, then dropped the rest off for Christine. She's brought me plenty on her visits. But none as fresh as these ones.

Though I don’t think I'll be doing that again in a hurry!