After a morning that’s best consigned to the ‘write off and start all over again’ type classification which involved an uphill struggle over an issue to do with my bank (stupid me forgot to cancel a standing order for something) we were hankering for a bit of RnR time, outside.

We’d been invited up to a Walled Garden open day / “Apple Day” – up near Ripon. The gardens were the kitchen gardens of the former Bishop of Ripon’s palace. They’re now used to provide horticultural training for adults with learning disabilities. Our friend volunteers there. The gardens were lovely – lovingly tended by the look of things. The most impressive thing about it for me was what could be described as an apple tree arboretum. I’ve never seen so many different apple trees laden with such varying types of apple. A great time of year for us to see it as well – it must be around the peak of the apple season.

After a walk through the surrounding woods, where we discovered a nature hive (quelle surprise- we’d scared off any nature that may have been lurking there – a predictable occurrence when you’ve got a dog and loads of kids) we headed back to our friends for a glass of freshly pressed apple – from the very trees we’d just been admiring. We also had a cider (nice) whilst we watched the dogs play dog dog dog.

Came home to the smell of the Goulash I’d left in the slow cooker all afternoon. Ate that, kids in bed and now I’m record hunting (and blogging, obviously).  Next up..netflix night.. The 4400 / Breaking Bad.