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Joan and Bill spent 6 days at Brockley, picking produce, battling nettles and bindweed, feasting on fresh produce, relaxing with excellent drink, and especially enjoying the company of their hosts, Con and Ant Ridge, friends for 47 years now.
83 images  2. The Bramley apple tree was ready for picking. The apples could not be shaken down, or they would bruise or split  3.  4.   6.   8. pas de deux  9. Onyx  10.  11.  12. Eve dupes Adam  13. This is a different apple tree, in the Secret Orchard. It was like living in a Thomas Hardy novel, and the weather was perfect, every day.  14. These are Catillac pears  15. preparing the pears, which were rock hard, but cooked up into a delicious pudding (that's dessert)  16. cooked Bramley apples  17. Some apples were for juicing, and this is the output of the local mill  18. the miller, who also runs a B&B in her stunning medieval house  19. final product (from 2013)  20. soay sheep  21. Tineke was Con's sister, and this memorial garden in her honor is a warm spot for morning coffee, lunch, and afternoon tea  22. lunch  23.  24.  25. 'Naked ladies' - fall crocuses that lack leaves  26.  27. Cotoneaster tree in the front garden  28.  29. the roller hasn't seen much use lately  30. clematis - the yellow flowers turn into the fuzzy tufts  31. more apples - these are for juice and can be shaken down  32. Onyx, eating a pear  33. the catillac pear tree  34. the pond, with red cotoneaster berries  35. 'Living stones' - lithops - a succulent whose flowers open in the evening  36. lithops at evening  37. the tree tunnel in the lane  38. morning  39. Lapje (Dutch for calico)  40. October rose  41. Cotoneaster tree again  42.  43.  44. Con gives pottery classes 2 days a week   46.  47.  48. Hedgehogs - for the annual show next May  49. The Manor Farm, where we visited Julian and Liza one morning  50.  51. Joan and Liza  52. Juliian drove us out to see the deer (he has about 150 total. They are closely related to the North American elk). Julian won a big prize recently for the quality of Manor Farm venison  53.  54.  55. back at the Elm  56.  57. The Park, where Ant and Bill fetched some firewood  58.  59. Bryony bush  60. Guelder rose  61. Bill standing beside the oak tree planted in memory of his friend and colleague Steve Fadul  62. Onyx at sunset outside the summer house, where we retired for drinks in the evening  64. Ant looks for the haunch of beef in the freezer...  65. ... and Con repacks it  66. Six new hens were delivered one morning  67. another lunch  68. Con searching for sweet chestnuts in a jungle of nettles  69. Brockley church  70. the church dates back to medieval times  71.  72. what is the difference between a vicar and rector? A vicar treats victums...  73. Chelvey church, also near the farm  74. Joan with weeds and kitchen offerings to the compost pile  75.  76. Now with long gloves for attacking the nettles   78. selling Catillac pears at the local farmer's market store, with Karen, the owner   80. the Bramleys are nearly gone  81. Remains of the old henhouse  82. off to look for sweet chestnuts  83. The Manor Farm from the Elm  |