The Invaders...
Nothing nasty though, but as I was messing around under the Royal Somerset sharp apple tree t'other day, there was an unholy racket coming from over my head. Looking up, I saw a small bird with a beak full of wriggling grubs watching me closely - and complaining bitterly about my presence. Coal Tit or Great Tit? Not sure. Whatever, after a moment or two (still watching my every move) it flew over and into a nesting box that we have mounted on the side of the house. Now this nesting box is allegedly a Sparrow box, having three entrances and compartments adjacent to one another, but it has been empty and unused for some 3 or 4 years now. No longer!
I'm getting quite used to our residents and hopefully, they will to me bustling around "the estate". At the moment though, every time they spot me, they start loudly complaining. It is good to see them searching around the apple trees with great diligence and I hope that they are leaving the spiders and lacewing larvae alone, and instead going for any aphids, scale-insects and caterpillars that may be getting ready to dine out on my apples. I'm going to set the camera up and try to get a photo of one of them diving in and out of the nest box. Watch this space.
Real Cider comes to Hucknall...
Hurrah! Finally one of our local pubs has opted to try a box of real Nottinghamshire cider made on its doorstep. The landlord and a party of regulars popped up to the Mansfield Festival and tried our cider; one of them, Lee, took a particular shine to our cider and took the details back to Hucknall with him. The result is that The Flying Bedstead on Watnall Road, Hucknall, is the first Hucknall pub to feature a cider made in Hucknall, from fruit grown in and around Hucknall. We dropped the cider off yesterday evening and Jacqui, the landlady, is going to let us know how the regulars get on with it and give us any feedback. It will be interesting to hear what the locals think of a local real cider.
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Monday, 6 April 2009
Dog on the loose
Those ears are unleashed...
Mansfield CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival has now finished and while we recover from four days of hard work and mayhem, we can look back at what was a very successful festival for both us and the Cider & Perry Bar.
We decided (well, I did...) to name our newest cider blend after my mum's dog. Well, not the whole of the dog actually, but her ears! "Shambles" is the moniker given to this young Welsh Border Collie who is a bundle of hyper-active fun and fur. To all intents and purposes she looks like any other Border Collie - apart from those tabs! They are on the large side, to put it mildly and are more like semaphore signalling equipment. I have never seen a dog with such expressive and mobile ears, which are capable of any number of permutations of movement and terpsichorean abandonment. Imagine a Basset Hound's ears on speed and you pretty much get the picture...
The name was also an antidote to all the folks who cannot say: Torkard. Now they could just ask for "floppy tabs", "tabs", "the one with the dog", or most amusingly, stand in front of the bar flicking their ears. We sold out of the first container by 9.00 pm-ish on the Friday night so took another container along on the Saturday - this second one was empty by 8.00pm. A number of folks took carry-outs of Floppy Tabs away with them too.
The cider itself has a character that matches the dog - lively, young, sharp, complex and refreshing. I think the only thing missing is the agility, which my niece Katie takes Shambles for every Sunday...
Another First for the Mansfield Festival was the promotion of local ciders, under the NearCide banner. I'd tried to assemble a few East Midlands Ciders to show folks that real, good-quality cider is available almost on your doorstep, if you look for it. To this end we had Three Cats from Derbyshire, Skidbrooke from Lincolnshire, Rockingham Forest from Northamptonshire and our own Torkard from Nottinghamshire. The idea is to have something for ciders and perries which parallels the LocAle concept for Real Ales. The ciders generated a lot of interest and questions, and I hope that folks will be spurred on to find out more.
Mark from Rockingham Forest came along on the Friday afternoon for a
sampling and a chin-wag. He also kindly brought along three other local ciders that he'd discovered while working out around Spalding in Lincolnshire. They are from three small producers but showed that good quality cider is available at a very local level, with all the carbon-footprint and food-mile benefits that such enterprises entail. I wish them all well. I really enjoyed the Spalding Scrumpy.
Chris from Three Cats turned up later in the afternoon after cycling the 18-odd miles from his home and the three of us got together to chat about cider (surprisingly!). Chris has a sweet-tooth when it comes to cider and he believes that sweet ciders are the future for sales; something that Mark and I are at odds with, preferring to taste the fruit and depth of flavour without too much sweetness masking subtle notes and wiping out one's palate. Talking of subtle flavours, I was intrigued by the DanY Graig Welsh cider we had ordered; it had a distinct nose of ginger, but a burst of lime-and-lemon on the palate. Very nice and zesty.
Friday evening Julie and Andy, our friends from Chesterfield Branch, came over to work their way through the cider bar's offerings. To be more accurate, Julie did, while Andy worked his way through the beers, while having a sip of everything that Julie tried.
Overall the Festival was great fun, though Gail and I were both exhausted by the end of it. Take-down on Sunday was very onerous, but at least we'd sold out of everything, which is a great feeling. Saturday night was less fun, as a few idiots were present who were just intent on drinking too much and being abusive. They forget that we are all volunteers and not professional bar workers. Or maybe that's giving them too much credit and they actually don't care.
We'd also met and chatted with loads of really nice people, which is the key thing for us when working the cider and perry bar. We can pass on information, dispel myth and legend, help folks find out more and encourage the planting of more apple trees, whatever the variety. It is especially great when folks come to you before they leave to thank you not only for having the time and knowledge to chat with them, but also to thank you for having such a good selection of ciders and perries available.
So I'd like to thank them in return for making it all worthwhile. Cheers!
Mansfield CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival has now finished and while we recover from four days of hard work and mayhem, we can look back at what was a very successful festival for both us and the Cider & Perry Bar.
We decided (well, I did...) to name our newest cider blend after my mum's dog. Well, not the whole of the dog actually, but her ears! "Shambles" is the moniker given to this young Welsh Border Collie who is a bundle of hyper-active fun and fur. To all intents and purposes she looks like any other Border Collie - apart from those tabs! They are on the large side, to put it mildly and are more like semaphore signalling equipment. I have never seen a dog with such expressive and mobile ears, which are capable of any number of permutations of movement and terpsichorean abandonment. Imagine a Basset Hound's ears on speed and you pretty much get the picture...The name was also an antidote to all the folks who cannot say: Torkard. Now they could just ask for "floppy tabs", "tabs", "the one with the dog", or most amusingly, stand in front of the bar flicking their ears. We sold out of the first container by 9.00 pm-ish on the Friday night so took another container along on the Saturday - this second one was empty by 8.00pm. A number of folks took carry-outs of Floppy Tabs away with them too.
The cider itself has a character that matches the dog - lively, young, sharp, complex and refreshing. I think the only thing missing is the agility, which my niece Katie takes Shambles for every Sunday...
Another First for the Mansfield Festival was the promotion of local ciders, under the NearCide banner. I'd tried to assemble a few East Midlands Ciders to show folks that real, good-quality cider is available almost on your doorstep, if you look for it. To this end we had Three Cats from Derbyshire, Skidbrooke from Lincolnshire, Rockingham Forest from Northamptonshire and our own Torkard from Nottinghamshire. The idea is to have something for ciders and perries which parallels the LocAle concept for Real Ales. The ciders generated a lot of interest and questions, and I hope that folks will be spurred on to find out more.Mark from Rockingham Forest came along on the Friday afternoon for a
sampling and a chin-wag. He also kindly brought along three other local ciders that he'd discovered while working out around Spalding in Lincolnshire. They are from three small producers but showed that good quality cider is available at a very local level, with all the carbon-footprint and food-mile benefits that such enterprises entail. I wish them all well. I really enjoyed the Spalding Scrumpy.Chris from Three Cats turned up later in the afternoon after cycling the 18-odd miles from his home and the three of us got together to chat about cider (surprisingly!). Chris has a sweet-tooth when it comes to cider and he believes that sweet ciders are the future for sales; something that Mark and I are at odds with, preferring to taste the fruit and depth of flavour without too much sweetness masking subtle notes and wiping out one's palate. Talking of subtle flavours, I was intrigued by the DanY Graig Welsh cider we had ordered; it had a distinct nose of ginger, but a burst of lime-and-lemon on the palate. Very nice and zesty.
Friday evening Julie and Andy, our friends from Chesterfield Branch, came over to work their way through the cider bar's offerings. To be more accurate, Julie did, while Andy worked his way through the beers, while having a sip of everything that Julie tried.
Overall the Festival was great fun, though Gail and I were both exhausted by the end of it. Take-down on Sunday was very onerous, but at least we'd sold out of everything, which is a great feeling. Saturday night was less fun, as a few idiots were present who were just intent on drinking too much and being abusive. They forget that we are all volunteers and not professional bar workers. Or maybe that's giving them too much credit and they actually don't care.
We'd also met and chatted with loads of really nice people, which is the key thing for us when working the cider and perry bar. We can pass on information, dispel myth and legend, help folks find out more and encourage the planting of more apple trees, whatever the variety. It is especially great when folks come to you before they leave to thank you not only for having the time and knowledge to chat with them, but also to thank you for having such a good selection of ciders and perries available.
So I'd like to thank them in return for making it all worthwhile. Cheers!
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Roof action.
Oops upside your head...
The screed has finally dried enough to walk on and paint. Don't let anyone tell you that the instructions that the screed will: "....flow over the surface with minimum tooling..." are accurate! I actually added a little more water than recommended to ensure the stuff was like runny cream - still just sat there when poured... However, the final job is quite acceptable for me. Well it was until I painted it with the nice glossy concrete paint. It's amazing how the slightest surface imperfection is highlighted by a shiny surface. Oh well. Reminded me of what I have to tell my kids at school though, who think that the secret to a good finish on their work is umpteen layers of gloss spray paint. No, the key to a good finish is an excellent sub-surface.
The additional damp-proof membrane has made a big difference to the comfort and "dryness" of the shed.
I've bought a couple of bulkhead lights for the darker times and evening work, and these will be attached to roof timbers. As I don't want to have to dig up the garden to put in a permanent power supply for the lights and power, I've bought an external mains socket as used in caravans and intend to connect up the shed with the 25 metre mains lead that came with the caravan.
As the floor is almost sorted, the roof and insulation (mainly from radiant heat) is next. I've bonded battens to the inside of the roof and intend to attach insulation that contains a damp-proof membrane to these battens by stapling it to them. We've opted for the stuff which is a mixture of foil, foam and something akin to bubble-wrap; it's often sold as radiator reflecting insulation, but its ideal for our purposes. We need protection from heat radiating from the metal roof (sunlight) and something to prevent condensation from the cold metal surface at night.
Our first order of 36 cider-apple trees has finally arrived, thanks to some intervention by Tracey Deacon of Deacon's Nurseries who are supplying them. We were starting to worry that the trees would not arrive before we are due to go away for a couple of days over Easter. We are going to Norfolk to commune with the good guys at Whin Hill Cider and to consume vast quantities of Fish & Chips from French's chippy. We may also be tempted with a pint or two of luvverly Wherry at the Three Horseshoes in Warham....
Lots of work to do first though. Better go and get planting... More Morgan Sweets are going in today!
Oops upside your head...
The screed has finally dried enough to walk on and paint. Don't let anyone tell you that the instructions that the screed will: "....flow over the surface with minimum tooling..." are accurate! I actually added a little more water than recommended to ensure the stuff was like runny cream - still just sat there when poured... However, the final job is quite acceptable for me. Well it was until I painted it with the nice glossy concrete paint. It's amazing how the slightest surface imperfection is highlighted by a shiny surface. Oh well. Reminded me of what I have to tell my kids at school though, who think that the secret to a good finish on their work is umpteen layers of gloss spray paint. No, the key to a good finish is an excellent sub-surface.
The additional damp-proof membrane has made a big difference to the comfort and "dryness" of the shed.
I've bought a couple of bulkhead lights for the darker times and evening work, and these will be attached to roof timbers. As I don't want to have to dig up the garden to put in a permanent power supply for the lights and power, I've bought an external mains socket as used in caravans and intend to connect up the shed with the 25 metre mains lead that came with the caravan.
As the floor is almost sorted, the roof and insulation (mainly from radiant heat) is next. I've bonded battens to the inside of the roof and intend to attach insulation that contains a damp-proof membrane to these battens by stapling it to them. We've opted for the stuff which is a mixture of foil, foam and something akin to bubble-wrap; it's often sold as radiator reflecting insulation, but its ideal for our purposes. We need protection from heat radiating from the metal roof (sunlight) and something to prevent condensation from the cold metal surface at night.
Our first order of 36 cider-apple trees has finally arrived, thanks to some intervention by Tracey Deacon of Deacon's Nurseries who are supplying them. We were starting to worry that the trees would not arrive before we are due to go away for a couple of days over Easter. We are going to Norfolk to commune with the good guys at Whin Hill Cider and to consume vast quantities of Fish & Chips from French's chippy. We may also be tempted with a pint or two of luvverly Wherry at the Three Horseshoes in Warham....
Lots of work to do first though. Better go and get planting... More Morgan Sweets are going in today!
Monday, 23 February 2009
Job done
Well, the first bit anyway...
The 50mm screed on t'cider shed floor is now completed, and curing and drying nicely. The above pic was taken before the final section was laid. The main concrete base was given a good coat of liquid DPM and blinded with sand, before laying and trimming a sheet of 1000 gauge polyethylene DPM to float on top. The sharp sand / cement screed has been laid on top of this. Next job is to lay a very thin liquid screed over this to get a perfectly smooth and flat floor which we can give umpteen coats of concrete paint to. It'll be better than the house! Be able to eat my dinner off it? Doubtful, but at least it should be spot-on for ease of cleaning and keeping clean. The other main requirement is to provide a nice flat surface for the framework and racking to support the two levels of 60 litre containers which are ready to move back into their improved home ASAP.
However, before that we need to sort out the insulation for the walls and roof, and some form of washable sheeting to provide the inner wall surface. Got to keep the E.H. folks happy...
The 50mm screed on t'cider shed floor is now completed, and curing and drying nicely. The above pic was taken before the final section was laid. The main concrete base was given a good coat of liquid DPM and blinded with sand, before laying and trimming a sheet of 1000 gauge polyethylene DPM to float on top. The sharp sand / cement screed has been laid on top of this. Next job is to lay a very thin liquid screed over this to get a perfectly smooth and flat floor which we can give umpteen coats of concrete paint to. It'll be better than the house! Be able to eat my dinner off it? Doubtful, but at least it should be spot-on for ease of cleaning and keeping clean. The other main requirement is to provide a nice flat surface for the framework and racking to support the two levels of 60 litre containers which are ready to move back into their improved home ASAP.
However, before that we need to sort out the insulation for the walls and roof, and some form of washable sheeting to provide the inner wall surface. Got to keep the E.H. folks happy...
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Screed baby, screed!
Heavy mixer-action while the sun shines.
Just having a quick break with a cuppa of Earl Grey tea and a couple of slices of bread-and-dripping (oh, the savoury bliss of it all!) before going back to laying the screed over the cider-shed floor. Got about halfway so far, but had to dash back to Wickes this fine morn for more sharp-sand and cement. Does anyone else encounter black holes when doing any work with recommended quantities? How come you never have enough despite following the instructions on the packet? Where does it all go? I reckon the evil fairies that live at the bottom of my garden nick it while I'm not looking...
The original concrete floor was fine, but always intended to screed it so that we can paint it so that it's more easier to clean and keep clean. Also invested in a "Wet 'n' Dry" vacuum cleaner for same purpose. What a beast!
Getting a consistent depth, in this case 50mm, while screeding is challenging but intellectually stimulating. Using 50mm battens as when plastering is my preferred option so far.
Oh Cider Trees - Where art thou, Cider Trees?
I'm getting frustrated waiting for the newly-ordered trees to be delivered... especially when the weather is nice and dry. We've got 6 x Yarlington Mill; 6 x Tremlett's Bitter; 6 x Morgan Sweet; 6 x Harry Master's Jersey; and 6 x Dabinetts on order, all on MM106 rootstock's. This should give us a good start while we wait for the next delivery this coming Winter 09. We wanted the early-cropping Morgan Sweet to blend with the Tom Putts and other early fruit that we collect. We also have some Major on order for later in the year, another early-fruiter, our aim being to lengthen and even out our cider-making.
We've also ordered a standard Dabinett on M25 rootstock and this eventually quite large tree is to go in the front garden at home, now that we have removed one of the large conifers that was growing like a rocket and dwarfing the house; I love Deodar Cedars, but it was a mistake to plant one in the garden! After 20-odd years it showed no sign of slowing down so had to go. Anyway, the Dabinett should look pretty in blossom, give us some fruit and not block light in the winter months.
What's in a name?
Why oh why do some folks insist on pronouncing Dabinett as "Dabin-ay"? I often come across it with an "e" on the end too. Pseudo-posh Frenchness? English name not good enough? Answers on a postcard too: Mr William Dabinett was a Somerset man, and wouldn't have a poncy name like "Dabin-ay" or "Dabinette" attached to any tree discovered and named by him!
Just having a quick break with a cuppa of Earl Grey tea and a couple of slices of bread-and-dripping (oh, the savoury bliss of it all!) before going back to laying the screed over the cider-shed floor. Got about halfway so far, but had to dash back to Wickes this fine morn for more sharp-sand and cement. Does anyone else encounter black holes when doing any work with recommended quantities? How come you never have enough despite following the instructions on the packet? Where does it all go? I reckon the evil fairies that live at the bottom of my garden nick it while I'm not looking...
The original concrete floor was fine, but always intended to screed it so that we can paint it so that it's more easier to clean and keep clean. Also invested in a "Wet 'n' Dry" vacuum cleaner for same purpose. What a beast!
Getting a consistent depth, in this case 50mm, while screeding is challenging but intellectually stimulating. Using 50mm battens as when plastering is my preferred option so far.
Oh Cider Trees - Where art thou, Cider Trees?
I'm getting frustrated waiting for the newly-ordered trees to be delivered... especially when the weather is nice and dry. We've got 6 x Yarlington Mill; 6 x Tremlett's Bitter; 6 x Morgan Sweet; 6 x Harry Master's Jersey; and 6 x Dabinetts on order, all on MM106 rootstock's. This should give us a good start while we wait for the next delivery this coming Winter 09. We wanted the early-cropping Morgan Sweet to blend with the Tom Putts and other early fruit that we collect. We also have some Major on order for later in the year, another early-fruiter, our aim being to lengthen and even out our cider-making.
We've also ordered a standard Dabinett on M25 rootstock and this eventually quite large tree is to go in the front garden at home, now that we have removed one of the large conifers that was growing like a rocket and dwarfing the house; I love Deodar Cedars, but it was a mistake to plant one in the garden! After 20-odd years it showed no sign of slowing down so had to go. Anyway, the Dabinett should look pretty in blossom, give us some fruit and not block light in the winter months.
What's in a name?
Why oh why do some folks insist on pronouncing Dabinett as "Dabin-ay"? I often come across it with an "e" on the end too. Pseudo-posh Frenchness? English name not good enough? Answers on a postcard too: Mr William Dabinett was a Somerset man, and wouldn't have a poncy name like "Dabin-ay" or "Dabinette" attached to any tree discovered and named by him!
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Tree life: The ascent of man (or woman in this case)
Gerrup't' tree, lass!
I am no technophobe but the technology of getting images off my mobile phone onto my computer has defeated me - until now. Finally managed to get some shots taken during a collection expedition to the luvverly village of Lambley, near Nottingham, where Helena and Dean had kindly offered their excess apples to us for the second consecutive year.
In her usual ultra-competitive spirit, Gail was determined that she would climb the tree to give it a damn good shake to try to bring down those crafty and sneaky little apples hiding in the upper-most branches. That's the trouble with "standard" trees, ie. those with a lot of bare tree trunk (usually about 1.5 - 1.8 metres) before the branches start - it can be a pig to get up and into the tree. Luckily we had a step-ladder to help, so Gail was quickly up the tree.
Gail also has considerably less girth and weight than me, so maybe it was better for the tree for Gail to go up it...
For the uninitiated, a half-standard is a tree which has been cleared of shoots and growth for the first metre or so. A bush or pyramid tree has growth close to the ground and is limited in height by it's rootstock, so is the sort favoured in most modern orchards as it makes fruit collection much easier.
You can see the walking-stick dangling from the tree in the photo - we use this to hook around branches to give them a good shake to loosen the fruit and cause it to fall. We really need to make ourselves an extendable panker, the name given to very long poles with a large hook on the end, which were traditionally used to reach up high into the branches of apple and pear trees to shake down the fruit ready for being made into cider or perry.
Friday, 13 February 2009
Catching up - again!
Snowy days!
Here we are in mid-February 2009 and I realise I haven't added anything since last year... Sounds worse than it actually is, but I need to get more regular with this blog lark.
Anyway, these images were taken during our late-November foray into deepest, darkest Nottinghamshire to collect another load of apples. We once again travelled north to the Hempsall Heritage Orchard to see what the wind and rain had encouraged the trees to drop. After un-hitching the trailer and pushing it into the orchard, Gail unloaded the trailer while I helpfully took photographs.
Due to all the recent rain, the ground was really soft and I was worrying how we'd get the trailer off the orchard before we'd even got any fruit in it... The trees had dropped most of their leaves and the floor was littered with fruit of all colours, shapes and sizes.
We scouted round for the dessert and dual-purpose apples, and avoided all of the culinary varieties. It made it much easier to spot the best apples by looking for where the local rabbit and hare population had done most of it's nibbling! Curiously - or maybe not - the order Legomorpha do not seem to like to nibble cooking apples; unfortunately they do like to nibble and bite great chunks out of the russets. It wouldn't be so bad if they ate the whole apple, but the furry little bundles appear to browse over as many apples as possible.
Never mind, we worked on into the cold, dark and drizzle, and by late afternoon had the trailer full of fruit. By luck as much as brute force, we managed to manhandle the sinking trailer out of the orchard to a point where we could successfully hook-up the trailer onto the car. We need to adapt the trailer to take the weight it is capable of carrying, as full-to-the-brim we still have capacity to carry another 150Kg of fruit. I need to make some form of frame to raise the height of the sides.
Hot-aches set in during the drive home, but it was worth it. The next couple of days saw the apples rapidly milled and pressed until we had no more container space left. An impending Christmas trip to Spain to spend the festivities with Gail's father, meant we were pushed for time (and cash - £1=Euro1 is not fun!), so the containers would have to wait.
In early February we had a break to visit Chesterfield Beer Festival and our friends Paul & Julia kindly put us up (or should that be put up with us?) overnight so we could explore what was on offer. I didn't fancy the cider and perry choice much, so spent the night drinking the beers on offer, including the "Winter Ales" section which had a nice Thornbridge at 7.7%ABV and a really lovely rich ale at 12.0%ABV whose name unsurprisingly escapes me... It was good to meet up with Julie and Andy from Chesterfield CAMRA, who are also planning on coming down to the Ross-on-Wye Cider Festival with us in early September. Hopefully Karen and Mark (Rockingham Forest) can also make it so it should be a good bash.
Here in mid-February, the new containers are sat under cover - still empty - but I also have a new cider-pump ready for action, so the next week should see the pump proving it's worth by transferring the very-slowly bubbling (and very cold) cider into the new containers. This cold weather has really put everything back but I hope we'll have something ready by the beginning of April for the 18th Mansfield Beer & Cider Festival.
What else is new? Well after 14-odd years together, eleven of which we've been engaged and nine or so we've lived together, Gail and I are finally(?) getting married. Been to the register office today to sign on the dotted line and hand over some cash, so it is all systems go for May 23rd 2009 - which also happens to be Gail's birthday. Aaah, romance is not dead!!!! I'm looking forward to it - even though the date clashes with this year's Welsh Perry and Cider Championships at The Clytha near Abergavenny. Oh well. Next year we can go as Mr & Mrs. Nice.
Here we are in mid-February 2009 and I realise I haven't added anything since last year... Sounds worse than it actually is, but I need to get more regular with this blog lark.
Anyway, these images were taken during our late-November foray into deepest, darkest Nottinghamshire to collect another load of apples. We once again travelled north to the Hempsall Heritage Orchard to see what the wind and rain had encouraged the trees to drop. After un-hitching the trailer and pushing it into the orchard, Gail unloaded the trailer while I helpfully took photographs.
Due to all the recent rain, the ground was really soft and I was worrying how we'd get the trailer off the orchard before we'd even got any fruit in it... The trees had dropped most of their leaves and the floor was littered with fruit of all colours, shapes and sizes.
We scouted round for the dessert and dual-purpose apples, and avoided all of the culinary varieties. It made it much easier to spot the best apples by looking for where the local rabbit and hare population had done most of it's nibbling! Curiously - or maybe not - the order Legomorpha do not seem to like to nibble cooking apples; unfortunately they do like to nibble and bite great chunks out of the russets. It wouldn't be so bad if they ate the whole apple, but the furry little bundles appear to browse over as many apples as possible.
Never mind, we worked on into the cold, dark and drizzle, and by late afternoon had the trailer full of fruit. By luck as much as brute force, we managed to manhandle the sinking trailer out of the orchard to a point where we could successfully hook-up the trailer onto the car. We need to adapt the trailer to take the weight it is capable of carrying, as full-to-the-brim we still have capacity to carry another 150Kg of fruit. I need to make some form of frame to raise the height of the sides.
Hot-aches set in during the drive home, but it was worth it. The next couple of days saw the apples rapidly milled and pressed until we had no more container space left. An impending Christmas trip to Spain to spend the festivities with Gail's father, meant we were pushed for time (and cash - £1=Euro1 is not fun!), so the containers would have to wait.
In early February we had a break to visit Chesterfield Beer Festival and our friends Paul & Julia kindly put us up (or should that be put up with us?) overnight so we could explore what was on offer. I didn't fancy the cider and perry choice much, so spent the night drinking the beers on offer, including the "Winter Ales" section which had a nice Thornbridge at 7.7%ABV and a really lovely rich ale at 12.0%ABV whose name unsurprisingly escapes me... It was good to meet up with Julie and Andy from Chesterfield CAMRA, who are also planning on coming down to the Ross-on-Wye Cider Festival with us in early September. Hopefully Karen and Mark (Rockingham Forest) can also make it so it should be a good bash.
Here in mid-February, the new containers are sat under cover - still empty - but I also have a new cider-pump ready for action, so the next week should see the pump proving it's worth by transferring the very-slowly bubbling (and very cold) cider into the new containers. This cold weather has really put everything back but I hope we'll have something ready by the beginning of April for the 18th Mansfield Beer & Cider Festival.
What else is new? Well after 14-odd years together, eleven of which we've been engaged and nine or so we've lived together, Gail and I are finally(?) getting married. Been to the register office today to sign on the dotted line and hand over some cash, so it is all systems go for May 23rd 2009 - which also happens to be Gail's birthday. Aaah, romance is not dead!!!! I'm looking forward to it - even though the date clashes with this year's Welsh Perry and Cider Championships at The Clytha near Abergavenny. Oh well. Next year we can go as Mr & Mrs. Nice.
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