Bramble crop

Mr hazelh and I popped out for a short while this afternoon to pick some brambles. We discovered that the hedgerows along the cycle paths are currently laden with fruit. It didn't take long for each of us to fill a couple of two litre ice cream tubs. My blip shows part of our crop.

When we returned home, Mr hazelh combined some of the fruit with apples from Mummy hazelh's garden to make a crumble for dinner this evening. Meanwhile I prepared a crunchy roast potato and green vegetable bake to serve with pakoras and bhajis. Then we took Mummy hazelh with us across the road and into our shared garden to enjoy Friendly Friday drinks with our neighbours.

We had a great evening with our dinner guests Bruce and Elly. We started with a pretty even game of Catan that lasted much longer than usual due to a lack of resources to build cities. I was the lucky winner, just beating Mr hazelh to 10 points thanks to the roll of a much-needed 4 on ore. Then, over dinner, we caught up on one another's news following our recent holidays. Bruce and Elly brought some delicious praline chocolates which we served with mint tea in the sitting room at the end of the evening.

Also today I completed my usual Friday morning exercises; sorted out some excess china from Mummy hazelh's house to pass on to Jackie and Richard; made a charity shop donation; attended a Teams meeting about a presentation that I am due to deliver on campus in a couple of weeks; and worked part-way through my holiday email backlog.

Exercise today: 35 minutes on the exercise bike: pilates class; Swim (30 lengths); walking (16,650 steps).