On Sunday, we took advantage of the sunny weather and headed up to the mountains, to Bilpin, for some apple picking;
It is the start of the apple picking season and we were among the first to sample the first Gala Apples, fresh off the trees;
There are many apple farms in the area, but we chose Shield's Orchard;
Because of all the rain recently, only a small section of the orchard was open to us, but it was perfect for these little legs;
It wasn't just the fruit picking that kept the littlies entertained;
I had visions of the girls with quaint little baskets, skipping up and down the rows of apple trees. The skipping definitely happened, but the basket we were given was slightly more utilitarian than the ones in my dreams;
We stopped halfway, to lay out a picnic rug and sample some of the goodies;
Me in my apple top;
The girls couldn't be stopped and ate two apples each!
We finally filled our basket and we each took a guess as to how many kilo's we had picked.
I won with my guess of 5 kilo's! At only $2.50 a kilo, it was a very inexpensive day out! We could have stayed there all day picking apples, it was so lovely in the sunshine, but we finished up at Shields...
And then drove to a pretty picnic spot for some lunch.
Unfortunately the only thing to mar the day was Livinia getting a leech stuck on her ankle. She started screaming, I yelled for Nick (who was far away, under a tree, relieving himself!) before I realised, with great horror, that I would have to be the one to get it off her (Why do I always get stuck with the horrible jobs?!?!!).
Don't ask me how, but I managed to rip it off her and threw it away and then spent the rest of our picnic too scared to sit down! I really dislike slugs and bugs and creepy crawlies of any description. I had been coming around to the idea of trying a camping trip soon, but I think this has set me back a few years!
It was the perfect little day trip, as the girls spent the drive down the mountain sleeping soundly and catching up on some much needed rest after their first full week at school. In the afternoon, they got busy washing all the apples....
Can you guess what is on the menu for our Valentine's Day dessert?
3 comments:
Ooooh... what I fabulous idea! We have to do this too!
We love fruit picking too, it is so much fun, you definitely belong on a farm you guys!!!!And you had a science lesson on leeches to top the day off, my idea of a fabulous day out. Apple tart...hmm you got me thinking.
At Christmas my Mom asked if there was anything that she could bring from the Okanagan Valley. My answer jokingly? Honey crisp apples! You know what - she brought them :-)
I appreciate your post as I love apple picking too! Delicious!
Great top as well for the specific occasion :-)
FYI - to remove leeches - pour salt on them & they curl up & die. Now, you can go camping!
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