Mad dogs and Englishmen



      A corner of a slightly neglected orchard and while all seems quiet in the hot sunshine the insect world is as busy as ever.
      Bees are all over the wild flowers gathering pollen and pollinating. Ladybirds are in the fruit trees and hundreds and thousands of nameless insects are going about their normal business.
      What are we doing there? Picking fruit of course, more plums; but this time 'yellow egg' plums from the hedgerow. They're utterly disgusting to eat raw but they do make the most fantastic jam and jelly. Strangely when they're cooked some strange alchemy takes place and they become absolutely delicious.
      Right, back to the picking.