I recieved a phone call yesterday telling me that the six "Sweet Alfords" we'd ordered from Ashridge Trees wouldn't be arriving on Monday after all. No, nothing to do with Santa or the current "heavy snow" (yeah, right. When I was a lad... etc. etc.). Not even Rudolf having a blow-out. No. Apparently "...the packer has made a mistake..."
So even though they'd been on order since June/July with my credit card details, they have disappeared into the ether due to some technical error of the human-counting / not-enough-fingers kind. Maybe they've found a new home somewhere in sunnier climes. Maybe they got a better offer. Maybe my order for six little trees wasn't important enough. Who knows. So now I'm wondering: do I hunt elsewhere for six little Malus Domestica Sweet Alford or just call it quits until next planting season...?
I have drowned my sorrows over the Sweet love affair that was never to be by doing a bit of bottling. Not for sale this time, just to give out to some of the neighbours as gifts in this time of giving. I'm still loath to part with it though... I need to get one to my doctor as well, as he has always shown great interest in my endeavours and encouraged me in these appley and cidery antics. Not to drink the stuff you understand, just to make it...Meanwhile back at t'orchard the shed floor has had all the coats of heavy-duty floor paint it is going to get and the heeled-in trees are cold in the biting wind but their roots are snug in the earth. I'd like some nice dry-ish weather now, with a bit of sun so that I can get stuck-in.
No comments:
Post a Comment