No such thing as a free lunch? Well there is if you forage for it. And we’re a bit of a foraging family, particularly in spring and autumn. September’s a great time for free treats from the earth – apples and brambles a-plenty for chutneys and vinegar; rosehips and hawthorn berries for a winter syrup. And the veg in the garden are still producing – tomatoes, beetroot, kale and green beans. It’s the last of the fresh produce before the hard winter months come in. A time to stock up and bed down.
And so with Mrs Rooke away – the kids and I jumped out to the hedges to pick natures fruits, and returned with magenta coloured fingers and mouths and a massive tub of blackberries. And then it was over to Mrs Rooke on her return to magic up blackberry vinegar and blackberry and apple chutney. It’s good for the mind, body and soul to live off and with the earth.
We're a great fan of experiences and so earlier in the year had arranged for the the girls to get presents of a half day zookeeper experience at Edinburgh Zoo. We’d heard stories that it could be quite fun but we still weren’t really sure what to expect, so we just followed instructions and duly arrived with wellies and facemasks on early on a Saturday morning ready to see what the animals could throw at us (apparently Covid restrictions have only just stopped for zoos!). It had taken quite a few months to get a booking so it was clearly quite popular, and we sat waiting in the entrance lobby quietly excited.
Their zoopkeeper guide was called Hannah, and she quickly explained the running order and equally quickly it became obvious that this was a zookeeping experience for the girls, and that Tanya and I were somewhat superfluous, mainly there to hold the coats so to speak. The girls were going to be working with their very own big five – red panda, meerkats, opossum, hairy armadillo and then a grand finale of feeding the penguins. There’d be some mucking out to do, some mucking in to help feed and train, and then a little bit of mucky play thrown in. Needless to say they loved it!! The whole experience was really, really well done and really, really hands on. And then with the rest of the day to look round the zoo (my personal highlights being the cheetah and chimpanzees), all in all it was a top-rated day out, really educational and fun. Thanks to all who contributed to the experience and special thanks to Hannah the zookeeper for being spot on in her approach and managing to get an unsure Niomi to feed the penguins.
