Juicing

It’s wet when we go to collect the equipment from Ivan. But Nick has made a Herculean effort and miraculously created enough space in the packing shed to work in the dry.

Owen arrives while we’re having our tea break. And then we launch into juicing. We take a break for a late lunch and finish up late afternoon. We’ve got around 100 litres of apple juice and 4 of pear juice.

Back home I start work on dinner. Pork cooked in its juices with onion, garlic and sage. Roast root veg. Green beans. Freshly picked hedgehog mushrooms. Chestnuts fried with paprika and cayenne (which irritates our throats). Apple sauce.

Jol and Josie arrive just after I serve up. Owen is drunk. It’s a jolly crew.

Kerry’s pecan and chocolate pie for afters, during which Owen takes himself to bed. Nick heads off over the hill some time later. We get the condensing canopy out of Josie’s van, have a swift nightcap, and shuffle off to bed.