We went to a local orchard called Berry Hill Farm, where they gave us a bag for our apples and let us loose among the trees.
It was a long walk, and we needed to stop several times for Jay to have a rest (he just started physio - more on that later), which suited me just fine because I couldn't get enough of the peace and quiet.
The apple orchard at Berry Hill is the kind of place that soothes your soul and reminds you that life isn't just obligations and bills. It was so great to get away from everything for a couple of hours, surround ourselves with nature, and soak up some sun.
Jay had a great time too, even though it did hurt his back more than he expected. He found a handy branch to use as a walking stick - until he also tried to use it as a tree basher and it smashed into several small twigs.
We had a funny moment, trying to get at a couple of particularly juicy looking apples at the top of one tree. After trying to knock them down with a branch and failing, and when jumping up at them didn't work, Jay had the idea to grab the tree and give it a good hard shake.
But those trees fight back!
An apple flew down and hit me square in the stomach. Doubled over in laughter (and a little pain), I heard Jay's ''Ow! Ow! Ow!'' and laughed even harder. Several apples hit him right on the head - but not one of them was one of the ones we wanted.
Our carrier bag got too heavy to carry before we ran out of yummy looking apples. When we finally made our way back to the gift shop, the attendants laughed and said that we'd been gone so long that they'd forgotten about us.
Jay and I had a great time and we both agreed that it needs to be a yearly outing for us.
Now... if only I had a stove so that I could do some serious baking with all these lovely apples!
