Here is Sheila celebrating her birthday this weekend with a splendid cake baked by Katie, Queen of Cakes.
Note the strawberries. Because Sheila’s birthday falls in July, strawberries have always been a very special part of Sheila’s birthday, sometimes, accompanied by cream, being substituted for the cake itself. Since our grandparents grew strawberries in their garden at Woodgate, as children we had frequently stolen quite a few strawberries, before they officially appeared on the table. We weren’t too greedy, just a few here and there so that the gardener and grandparents didn’t notice (as if). Same policy for pinching peas, and tiny tomatoes from the greenhouse, with that wondrous smell that you just don’t get from shop-bought tomatoes. We could legitimately pick as many wild strawberries as we wanted, and they were delicious too.
Probably it is not surprising that Sheila continues in her very grown-up life to pick fruit which is just waiting there to be eaten on the spot, or brought home to be baked or cooked in wonderful ways. She lives in Kent, the garden of England, of course, which is a help. She and Stewart live near the edge of Canterbury and within easy walking distance there are many orchards, some of which have apple trees which are rarely attended to. She comes home from walks laden with plums (including damsons), mulberries, pears and blackberries too.
Thank you to all the kind people who, instead of giving Sheila a birthday present, have this month contributed to the 3G Kili Climb charities instead. Leslie x