A lesson in scrumping

Nowhere in the beginners guide to scrumping apples does it say take a seven month old Alsatian pup with you, neither does it say take a wheelbarrow for the fruit, the most usual container is the front of your upturned t shirt or woolly pulley held in one hand while you select choice fruit with the other. But the pigs can eat more than the contents of the upturned item of clothing, so the builders barrow was receptacle of choice, and Acer needs building up so another walk around the hill would do him good.
He tried to help, chasing the "windfall" apples (it was windy and they fell, the fact that they were aided by a big stick is a separate semantic issue) down the hill which was entertaining. There was a worrying moment when out of the corner of my eye I was certain the curtains in the Ghost House (don't look back!) were moving, and being uncertain of the protocol for avoiding summoning witches I thought it best not to stand and stare on the just in case principle. Sensing the need for speed Acer ably helped by taking the largest apples out of the barrow as they were placed in and dropping them by my feet. Crispen and Daffodil, two Ryelands who can always be counted on to turn any drama into a bigger crisis then tried to lay claim to the contents of the barrow in preference to foraging amongst the nettles. I uttered the age old shepherds four letter volley of abuse at naughty sheep and eventually they got the hint to move on. Geisha could be seen moving in for the the kill so Acer, me and the now very heavy wheelbarrow headed for home.

We did have a few apples to spare for these Gypsy Cobs that are currently resident on the Bonsai Mountain. The foal is a real cute one and very interested in strangers bearing gifts of apples.