A Warning.

 It has been an amazing year for fruit, both  cultivated and hedgerow.  Those of you who enjoy a glass of sloe gin will find the fruits in plenty and can use the long, dark evenings to make a warming winter tipple.  It is not necessary, as some would have it, to wait until the first frost before picking your sloes, nor is it beneficial to put them in the deep freezer unless you want to store them to be dealt with at a more convenient time. It should be remembered, however, that blackthorn, which produces the sloe, has very sharp thorns and a prick or a scratch from these can rapidly turn septic, so take care when picking the fruit.

   
Epperstone social life gathers momentum as the evenings get longer.  A Wine Tasting event, organised by the Sports and Leisure Club, was sold to capacity and raised welcome funds for the Club. A large crowd enjoyed Bonfire Night and fireworks at the Cross Keys.
Members of the Womens Institute are looking forward to a party celebrating ninety-five years since the formation of the Branch; not a bad achievement.

Things have slowed down a bit on the farm now that we are well into November.  The weather remains incredibly mild (I am tempting fate again) so it is no hardship to start on the list of outdoor jobs waiting to be done.  With daylight hours being shorter most of these jobs will be started in the morning and that, at the moment, means leaf sweeping.  I probably say the same thing every year but I don't think I have ever seen so many leaves on the ground.  That may be because there has also been very little wind so the leaves have remained where they have fallen instead of being blown into drifts.  It has also been quite wet so a good time to plant out the wallflowers, which will have a lovely scent when they flower in the spring.  Once again the orchard has yielded more fruit than we can possibly eat but the birds will be happy to feed on the surplus.