Cornetto o'clock and feeding the piggies at Cogges

The summer has finally arrived. It is such a hot day today. Nobody fancied going to the swimming pool today, instead we decided to visit Cogges (it's our third visit in the last month).

It is +27C today, and what a better excuse one needs to have a Cornetto? Well, the guys had their Cornettos and I chose a Solero, and lovely it was indeed, I can't remember when it was the last time I had eaten a Solero.

Visitors to the farm are encouraged to buy small pots of food to feed the animals, and the pigs are always the grateful recipients of the fruity bonanza. And they look darn cute too. Eddie keeps talking about them all the week. For some reason he says "Let's go to see the pigs and animals", as if pigs are a completely different species, not animals but humans.

Aren't they adorable?

This time we went all around the enclosed sheep pastures and saw the Manor farm from afar. I also observed the plants' progress in the kitchen garden and the orchard with great interest. A fab place. If I were in charge of the educational bodies in the area, I would make it obligatory to take the nursery and primary school kids to Cogges to see how the vegetables and fruit grow. Not everyone has a luxury of a garden and/or an allotment, and too many kids have no clue where the food comes from.

We had a quick round through the house to check what's cooking today. I love, love, love that stove in the kitchen. Last week we sampled some gorgeous Welsh cakes, and the lady making them offered me a printed recipe. I made a batch of apple Welsh cakes on Friday, and they proved to be very tasty (a separate post will follow with the recipe).

As it happened, today the ladies in the kitchen were offering a slice of a courgette cake to the visitors, and it looked very pretty. Alas, we were too full of ice cream and drinks to even consider having a cake. Maybe next time.

If my guys were not running like mad to the play area, I would have loved to spend more time in the orchard, admiring the flowers and vegetables. This part of the Manor farm is always so peaceful and serene.

But No, to the pay area we all ran. The zip wire was calling, and the slides and the swings. As the day was getting hotter by the minute, the parents with tired red-faced children were leaving for the cafe area to hide from the sun. And I begged my guys that it was time to go home.

I'm a true snow maiden, I don't like the heat and feel like a dozy fly on the window in the hot weather. When we came home, I quickly whizzed a batch of milkshakes (milk, strawberry jam and vanilla ice cream) to cool down a bit.
And now I am relaxing with a glass of Pimm's.