O/S WOMBLING, Road Coinage, Skips, Roadside 'finds' etc

PipneyJane

I forage for crab apples and sloes. In the autumn, I've been known to spot a good tree on my way into work then pull off the road on the way home to harvest it.   The crab apples go into crab apple jelly and crab apple chilli cheese, while the sloes are first steeped in gin to become sloe gin and then the flesh is stripped off and made into sloe gin truffles.  (Like the author in the sloe gin truffle recipe, I got my recipe for both from www.sloe.biz, but that website is defunct and not archived.)

During Lockdown, I've been eyeing up the blackberry bushes on our daily walk.  Does anyone know when blackberries are due to ripen?

- Pip

balabooberlies

I took my dog through the park today and saw a lady jumping up at a tree.  She was collecting Linden flowers to make a herbal tea.  Her little daughter was playing beside her.  I do hope she learns what her mother has to teach.

As we left the park I was rushing a little as we had already got soaked once and there it was...........£30.00

I looked up and down the road and waited for a little while to see if anyone was looking for it.  Nope.  I feel sorry for whoever has lost it because it has always upset me when I have lost money.

But this never happens to me and I have had to wonder if it is the energy from this thread.  I had better not start a thread that has any unpleasantness.  Not that I would..................

joedenise

@PipneyJane blackberries are usually ready September but may well be a bit earlier this year because of the weather we've had recently!  I know that my courgettes and peas have been much earlier this year than usual as we've already had some and they're not generally ready until at least late August.

suki1964

Oh that reminds me, where I used to live there was a single mulberry bush in the park. Very few people knew what it was and there was always a rush to get there first

Where I live now, when we first moved here 15 years ago, there were a lot of old abandoned dwellings and you could pick damsons, crab apples. blackberries to your hears content and the verges were full of wild strawberries .  Unfortunately with the sites being sold for development and the need for clear sight lines, foraging is scarce 

Up in the forest above us blueberries grow wild as well. They are tiny but delicious 

MovingForwards

I do have a 'road kill'* tub, it's my cats piggy bank and I think she is doing quite well, especially when £1 coins are found. 

* I thought OP meant proper road kill when I put my other post up 😁

balabooberlies

No, I did mean the things we find when we are out and about. 
 But am impressed that people have the skills to use real 'road kill'.

PipneyJane

MovingForwards said:

I do have a 'road kill'* tub, it's my cats piggy bank and I think she is doing quite well, especially when £1 coins are found. 

* I thought OP meant proper road kill when I put my other post up 😁

So did I. 

I have a couple of containers for "road kill coinage".  We save 1p, 2p and 5p coins - one jar for coppers, one jar for 5p's - so any found get added to those.

Thanks @joedenise for the information regarding blackberries.

- Pip

balabooberlies

Thank you Pipney Jane.  Have changed the title.

Very dismayed to see so much stuff left outside charity shops as mine are still closed. However................

Today I found a brand new wicker cot, the carrying kind.  Absolutely brand new.  It was thrown down the alley next to a charity shop all beautifully HALF wrapped.  There were loads of bags in front of the shop.......torn and scattered.  I will either use it to carry clean dry washing upstairs (dodgy hip) or a bed for my dog.

I have taken things from the front of closed charity shops before.  A few times.  I put money through the letter box.  I don't know what the ethics are for this situation.  Would love your thoughts..........

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Balabooberlies, Rather than posting money through the door, I think I would get home & put money in an envelope. When the shop has reopened I would visit, buy something I wanted for the marked price & hand over the sealed envelope at the same time as paying for the new item. Explanation offered to the person at the till. I would then know that the money has been received & will be used for its intended purpose. 

But well done you - I love honest people 💕 

balabooberlies

Ah..........thank you.  Never thought of that.

It's difficult to know what to do or how charity shops feel about this situation.  Have always been too shy to ask even though I am on name terms with some of the people working in them.  But your advice is great.