Mrs Downs Diary November 3

These drinks are especially welcome on shooting days and not unwelcome at any other time, especially later in the evening when you are just winding down from an arduous day.

Whilst there is a very good crop of sloes this year, we struggled to find many decent blackberries. John's Mum picked quite a few for us, but because of the dry season, many of those we picked were small and dried up. Plus I made the mistake of taking Jessica and Oliver with me when I went picking.

Hopeless. By the time I rounded them up, lifted them out of the bushes, soothed nettle stings and removed rabbit poo from Oliver's mouth, I had hardly any berries in my basket. Luckily, a friend had picked too many and we have swapped eight pound of brambles for eight pounds of walnuts. The walnuts have been prolific this year and we have felt generous enough to share them with the squirrels.

Mrs Down's Diary appears every week in the West Sussex Gazette. To read the full version of this article, see November 10 issue.