Saturday (and Thursday and Friday)

Good morning, everyone.  Isn't it funny-nice that being away on holiday is great and then coming home, back to old, familiar things, is simply lovely and the best thing ever.  All those cosy, familiar, comfortable little things (like reliable internet) are so important.

So - to resume . . .

On Wednesday I went through Framlingham to Shawsgate Vineyard.  I knew it was there - my dad had mentioned that he an mum visited when they stayed in the area a long time ago and, indeed, I remember the bottle of wine he opened for dinner a short time afterwards, English wine being less common than it is now.  It was OK but not what you might call a 'popular' taste.  It went very well with what Mum cooked (can't remember what that was now).

Anyway, I rolled in, wandered into the wine shop and was greeted in a very friendly manner, encouraged to have a good wander around the fields, given a laminated sheet with a map and info and off I went.

The wine tasting area.  To the left there's an adventure playground to keep children entertained!

The map!

It's not a large vineyard, not like those rolling terraces you see in photos of France or Italy, but it makes for a very pleasant stroll for about an hour.  I just went round the perimeter but you could go up and down, through the rows, if you wanted.  No restrictions.  The guide sheet pointed out the two different ways they use to train the vines and, like the strawberries at Lathcoats, it's all more or less at shoulder height, making harvesting very much more accessible.  I wishes I had brought some sort of container though, as there were masses of blackberries around the edge, just going to waste.  Shame!

They tasted quite sweet too.

Cutting off unwanted growth to make harvesting easier.

See what I mean - and there were loads more, all looking lovely.
If I ever go back . . .

When I got back to hand over the info sheet, I sat down and masses of different wine was waved before me.  Sadly, I couldn't have much as I was driving but, given that the wine tasting was all free and from what I saw being poured out for others, it was all very generous and I can see why it's a popular place!  I had half centimetres of the stuff and ended up potentially giving my bank manager a heart attack as I bought - er - some!  To be put away for Christmas, you understand!

After that I turned the nose of the car north and headed for the open road.  Around there you can drive for miles and not see another car and I was quite happy to pull in on occasion and let anyone behind me pass so I could bumble along happily!  I came across a windmill with an English Heritage sign so I stopped and investigated, but it was closed.  Open Fridays and Saturdays only.  I was sorely tempted to drop in yesterday and delay my home coming but the old tum was starting to feel the effects of several days of routine-less eating, if you know what I mean.  Maybe next time . . .

It was a lovely day.

I'll talk about Thursday tomorrow or this will be way too long an entry!

I've just realised that, what with holidays, etc, I haven't planned this week's food and, if I am to go shopping when Aldi opens, I need a list, so I'd better set to and do something about it, hadn't I?  I wonder if they've got bread flour in again, the bread flour they consider 'seasonal'!

B:  if the milk is still good, then puffed wheat with some melon followed by an apple.  If not, then I will just have the fruit
L:  soup from the freezer, orange
D:  yesterday, after picking the 'welcome home' tomatoes, I made a very simple and tasty tomato sauce to have with the last of the dried pasta.  It was just onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes with some herbs, etc, and it was gorgeous.  I have the other half of that so I think I might treat myself to some bacon and do another pasta dish for this evening, followed by some yogurt