Autumn foraging

I've spent a lovely few days enjoying the autumn sun. On Friday I spent a day in Dovedale with a good friend and our motley children, foraging the old spots I used visit on my daily walk around when we lived there. We didn't manage to get around to the blackberries, plums or apples but we did gather enormous amounts of newly fallen hazelnuts and chestnuts. Chestnuts are always an adventure to gather, as I remember well from my childhood. Yes even in suburban Auckland there is scavenging to be found,, or at least there was in those days. The spikes on the chestnuts certainly took their toll on poor Tobin's fingers on friday!. They are near to the most beautiful, serene spot, by Dovedale church, where the children and I used to spend a bit of time playing amongst the fairy toadstool rings and sheep brought in to keep the grass down. It was a stunning day, and I always come away from a visit there and especially a visit with my friend feeling full of love, not as strange as I sometimes feel about myself, and with lovely ,sleepy, children!!!





So far today has been lovely too. Anoushka rode down to the local sunday market on a bike, all by herself. The vege stall was selling cooking tomatoes for a dollar a bag, so tomato soup for lunch, the best recipe in the world from my friend Gill. I found a recipe for chocolate chestnut cake from rivercottage and made it, and there are still more chestnuts left. When I was young we roasted them on the old pot belly and hoped they wouldn't explode all over the place. Autumn days are good!