Aromas

We had a lovely walk today. Nice to get out and about around the local footpaths and enjoy the warmth. Only one downside - we’ve reached the unfortunate time of year where the recently-harvested fields get covered in shit. And for those of you not familiar with life in an area dominated by farmland, I mean ACTUALLY covered in shit. There is something in effluent that is good for the soil, so anytime they’re due to be ploughing, farmers hire a tanker full of silage to be dumped on their land. It’s alright for them – they’re in an air-conditioned tractor while they’re spreading it, and they probably live miles away. Those of us with homes near the fields, and utilising the paths around them, are the ones who suffer.

Mathew was not impressed. It’s hard to explain the necessities and complexities of ‘working the land’ to an 18-month old child, but I did my best. “Poo-poo make food grow” seemed quite a good way to start to me, but he didn’t seem pacified, and Philippa asked me to stop talking and to start taking photos, while she distracted him with butterflies and ears of corn.

It all meant I had to change my plan for tea. Out went the BBQ (I really did not fancy standing outside for an hour cooking with the smell of raw sewage wafting through the garden), but we’d already got everything out, defrosted, marinated and prepared. So, being resourceful and being an adaptive kind of guy, I just fired up the grill and did an indoor barbecue instead. Not quite the same, but an enjoyable feast nonetheless.

RC 2-8-20