Blockerz

Hmmm. 🤔 The Goode Wyffe & I are in agreement that (blind folded) & given a glass of this fruited goze beer alongside a glass of young, still fermenting bittersharp cider, it would be incredibly difficult to tell the difference. It's very nice - but not "beer" enough to be beer for me.🙂 #BSkybeer

Finally got speakers mounted & wired up. So time to travel back in time to 1966 when as a 10yr old kid, I was lured into Tamla Motown's sound.😊 Got these & more TM stuff on vinyl, but turntable not set up yet. The sax on 'Road Runner', Jr Walker & The All Stars, still hits the spot. 👌 #tamlamotown 🎵

Today I have been mostly trimming & cleaning up Hazel withies. These bad boyz emerge every year from the rootstock of our Corkscrew Hazel & grow like one-oh..! Longest in this crop is just shy of 4 metres. 😳 #hazel #rods #withies 💚

Good times. But sadly such players as these two girls are now missing. 💔 They live on in fond memories of fun, antics, long walks, pubs - & of course pork scratchings... 🐾🍺🐾 Yarly & Shambles as we walked along behind the dunes at Holkham in Norfolk, 2019. #loss #memories #goodtimes #dogs

Nice steady day pressing fruit from @huck-cider.bsky.social after a overnight maceration. There's plenty of everything in this blend acid - royal somerset, and tannins from Dabinett and Yarlington Mill,for a cracking cider Now we wait and in 7 months time it goes back to Hucknall to the beershack!

Back dahn sahf clearing the cider apple trees & sorting final removal dates.🤞🏼 So popped to our second home 'The Beer Shack', #Hucknall for a few pints + bags of scratchings to share with La Bestia Negra.🐾 Beer for me, ciders from @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social for The Goode Wyffe. #cider #local 🍺😋

Uncle Luke @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social popped round today for Round 2 of apple picking. 6 hours later, he left with sacks of Dabinett, Yarlington Mill, HMJ's, Royal Somerset, plus a few King of the Pippins & Stoke Red. Waiting to hear what it measures up to after pressing. #cider #wholejuice 🍎🍏

My take on the 1921 recipe for 'Oatmeal Betty' by May S Metzler, shared by Darren @orchardnotes.com Converting US 'cups' to grammes & ml was a bit hit & miss. Used our own 'Royal Somerset' apples which stay firm when cooked & swapped the Cinnamon for Ground Cloves 😋👍 #food #oats #dates #apples

In some alternative reality, why this song from my yoof has been an earworm through a sleepless night, may make sense. Still a cracking choon though. youtu.be/2uH5AhFh8UI?...

After trekking to the Copper/Bronze age stone circle at Duddo, it was disappointing to find no virgins to sacrifice. So we plodded on to the village of Etal & The Black Bull, purveyors of fine ales & good food. Pints of Durty Brewing's "Gold Run" & Firebrick's "Pagan Queen" went down very well. 😋

So: get the Slow Cooker going & then stretch our legs.👌 Just under 7 miles in total & just under 3hrs - we spent an hour picking Sloes...🙄 Some of those hills are steep! Beautiful countryside right on our doorstep, complimented by great beers in the village pub - perfect finish. 😋🍻 #walking #sloes

Bright sunshine swiftly changed to grey clouds - then rain stopped play.🫤 So as it's our last full day, a bit of shopping & packing, then retire to the pub. Local ales from Anarchy & Firebrick brewers going down well, & Stokey🐾 is very content with a bag of pork scratchings. Woof! #beer #micropub

Nice to see this prominently displayed today.👍 Chatting to the staff, it lists what they are both keen to & will uphold. 👌 I did point out that "Fosters" needs company, such as Lilley's & assorted shite "fruit ciders", plus kak such as Madri et al. #basicdecency #liferules #standards

No ice creams today...😮☹️😳 But a circular walk along the coast then overland to Brewis Beer Co. for pints of excellent beers & yummy fresh-cooked pizza from Lucca pizza co. Nom nom nom. Oh - & Stokey says free dog-biscuits to die for, made from the spent grain used in the brewery. 😋🐾 #BskyBeer

"I chuffin' swear Australia is down here somewhere...!"

"Where's the dog..?" "No idea. Isn't she with you?" "No..." ~~~~~~~~~~ Stokey🐾: "You go ahead & I'll catch you up. Still trying to find Australia..!"

Afternoon in 3 pints: Walk to Warkworth & the Castle Brew House. But none of their beers available! So had only cask ale on from Anarchy Brew Co. After exploring village, into the Hermitage Inn for pints of Wainwright's Gold. Then steady walk back to Amble for ice creams & now more Anarchy beers.

An afternoon in 3 acts: The tide was out, so a walk along the beach from our front door following the coastal path to the far end of Hauxley beach; then hot foot it back along the beach to Spurelli's for today's ice cream ration. 😋🍦 Now relaxing outside in the warm late afternoon sun with a pint. 😋👌

En route to Spurreli's Maison de la Glace, where The Goode Wyffe had Bubblegum & Sea Buckthorn ice cream, while I had Rhubarb Crumble & Chocolate. 😋 Then into The Harbour Inn for a couple of different ales brewed by Alnwick Brewery.🍻 Stokey very content to devour a packet of pork scratchings. 🐾👍

Pffft! 🙄 A whole 5-odd hours spent answering questions from the "buyer's solicitor" this pm.. A few clearly copied from: "A British Standard Guide To Questions To Ask Of Someone Flogging A House. 2026 version". Luckily Stokey decided to drag us down to the pub for liquid sustenance & relief.🐾 #beer

Looking for advice from folk who grow #Damsons 🤔 This "self set" was growing under the canopy of our Merryweather. Yes: it may be 'orrid or amazing, may even revert to a Sloe🙄. Should I try to train it - or as I've just read "never train Damsons"..? Was thinking fan or espalier - but now..? #damson

First day of our annual "Ice Cream & Beer" pilgrimage to Amble, Northumberland.👌 Used to take us well over 3hrs to get here; now just over 50mins.👍 Excellent pale ales from Anarchy Brew Co "Midnight Metro" & Firebrick Brewery "Stella Spark" being enjoyed in the Cock & Bull micropub. #BskyBeer

A very good, well balanced perry that we demolished last night, big thanks to @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social 👌 From Hellens Manor nr. Much Marcle, Ledbury 🇬🇧 A blend of perry pears including a high proportion of the eponymous Hellens Early perry pear, which originated here. Lovely stuff 😋 #perry 🍐🍐🍐

A wander down to the village local for beer & food. First & Last brewery are based in Bellingham just north of Hexham, Northumberland. Tempest brewery is due east of us just over the Cheviots & just over the Scottish border in Galashiels. Well kept, very tasty beers.😋 #Bskybeer

How it started: April 2026. Current state: September 2026. Pleased with the growth of these grafts. 🙂👌 #grafting #apple

Today was a 1+🐾 exploratory foraging walk while The Goode Wyffe was in't' office. First stop was the wild apple tree earmarked for scions: crisp, sweet, dessert, very tough skins. Then spotted the most bright red apples think I've ever seen; need to contact the owner. Sloes: lots & lots of Sloes.

As I'm playing with Damsons at the mo, I needed one spice: Cloves.😋 None in any of Wooler's stores; then remembered 'The Good Life Shop' on the High St., hardly changed since the 80s/90s/00s/etc (apart from new paint job). Big glass jars full of herbs & spices, sold loose.👌That handful cost me 16p.🙂

This is the first glass of Yarlington Mill #cider I've had since Yarly passed 🐾🌈. So raising this glass of Luke's finest in memory of her; she's never far from my thoughts 💔. In other news we've had a very good offer on our house which we've accepted - & I won a tenner on the Lottery. Bittersweet.

Caught 697 Borders Bus as far as Akeld, to nearest micropub: The Cheviot Goat. Only 1 cask beer on now but very well kept: Allendale's Pennine Pale. Bottled ciders include Aspall's & Cornish Orchards "Vintage" - could be much much worse. Sat enjoying peace, quiet, & birdsong.👌 #pub #micropub #beer

2kg of our Damsons passed over to next door for jam; 2kg left for me to prepare. Cold water soak, wash & rinse, de-stalk, then in the freezer. A few Plum Moth grubs but all good protein.😋 2pints of Luke's @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social cider handed over to Phil next door for looking after my grafts. 👍

Time waits for no man or Damson. Heartbreaking to see the floor with a purple carpet of shrivelled damsons but with this ongoing drought, we're just pleased to have enough for a crumble or three.😋 They are sweet though.👍 Half the tree picked so far. #damsons #merryweather #pie #crumble #jam nomnom

Enjoying some excellent full juice / whole juice #cider from Luke @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social which has been made from apples grown in our garden / mini orchard picked in 2025. Cracking stuff 😋 #cider #realcider #fulljuice #wholejuice #eastmidlands

Had house viewings this week & more early next week, so we had to pop down to Hucknall & so sadly have missed this year's event. 🫤 Hopefully we'll be there next year. 👍😋 berwickslowfood.org/berwick-food...

Hmmm. 🤔 Windfalls everywhere - nice & red & shiny, many likewise coloured up but still on the tree. Damsons black & carpeting the floor but hard as nails still. 🙄 The latter are probably good for jam but need to do some proper checks on those apples. #windfalls #drought #damsons #apples

Yesterday evening we cracked open a lively bottle of "Betty Prosser SV" perry from Kev of Monnow Valley Cider. Betty Prosser is a unique perry pear named after the owner of the farm upon which the original tree grew. Made in 2024 & bottled early 2025, the sweetness level had dropped to medium-ish.👌😋

Popped down the village to our local for pints of Loch Lomond & Tempest ales. Lovely well kept beers, along with excellent food.😋 The Wee Black Beastie 🐾 is quietly crashed out under the table; she's still not worked out why she is flying solo but seems she no longer feels she has to defend anyone.

2 weeks on, finally plucked up the strength to unclip & remove Yarly's harness from the back seats. Stupid old fart that I am, I welled up while doing this.☹️ I miss her Back Seat Wooffit antics & pubs just aren't the same without her always at my side ready for a pork scratching & a good tab fuss.🐾

I think this is one of the better & more "user friendly" articles I've read in CR, plus it features folk I know very well.🙂 Well done to everyone, particularly Luke 👍 local-boy-done-good 🍐👌 @mnkybridgecider.bsky.social #cider #perry cider-review.com/2026/08/08/t...

Removed grafting tape yesterday & trimmed side shoots.🙂 Also was told that I can't register a name for these mild bittersweet apples as they are "small" & therefore classed as "decorative". Pooh!🫤 Could have saved the cost of the DNA test if I'd realised size of apple would be an issue.🙄 #grafting

And why not? Had heard of "Sassy Cidre Bio Normand", saw it on the shelf at Tesco in Berwick-upon-Tweed... so in for a penny, in for £5.50. Nice toffee-apple nose, rich amber colour; very fizzy with plenty of mousse, long lasting too. Rich, less tannin & sweeter than I'd hoped, but very pleasant.😋

In Notts we haven't seen, seen evidence of, nor heard Song Thrushes for well over a decade. 🫤 The habitats for wildlife have been devastated in the area. Here in Northumberland, we hear, see, & find evidence of Song Thrushes daily.😊 This stone in our garden is a favourite "anvil stone" for them.💚

Feels like our hearts have just been ripped out. 🐾💔 We knew this was coming but it never makes it any easier. Go have fun, Yarly! Chase skiwwels & bunnies, paddle in streams, pee in puddles (& then drink out of them), roll in the snow, & go swim in warm seas. We'll miss you & never forget you. ❤️

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly; "'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy. The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I have many pretty things to show when you are there..." Giant House Spider (Eratigena sp.) living behind our outdoor tap. #spider

Seems a good idea to me.? Worth a shot anyway. Old pub in town we visited in the late 80's / early 90's "The Seven Stars" has sat closed for over 30 years despite attempts to take it over & having an ACV. Plans have just passed to demolish it. #pubs #community petition.parliament.uk/petitions/77...

Goodbye, old friend 🫤 Spring 1981: clutching some of my first teaching pay, I went into Moorgate Acoustics in Sheffield, where in their upstairs studio they'd set up a system for me to "audition": Mission 700's, Dual CS-505, & this A40. 😍 Just take my money - & they did.😊 Still works perfectly. ❤️🎵

And verily, thou pooch shall say unto thee: "If thou doth leave the Holy Slipper without an overseer, then Lo! I shall taketh it up unto the wilderness, lick it, anoint it with slobber, & cast it upon the grass." And when thou doth cast thine own eyes upon thy slipper, thou shalt beg forgiveness...

I really hope this gets to Number #1 on some chart or other... 👍🤣 Very clever, very well put together. Bit of fun, satire & parody - makes a very refreshing change from hatred & intolerance. 👌 [Need sound on to fully appreciate this 😉]. #clacton #binface youtu.be/iNp16EPj1Us?...

We're in the end zone now; the brain-racking, emotion-draining time of what is best for Yarly. 🐾 The vet said Yarly clearly has dementia, she also now has cystitis - & currently losing around 400g-500g a week. Shit. Then she comes to you wagging her tail, wanting to play, barking for treats. 🫤 #dogs

I'm going to call this a win..? 7-0, no penalties. 😊 Very happy that all seven grafts have taken & are thriving. I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed but not quite so tightly.. 👌"Cherry Melville's" on MM106 rootstocks. 🍏🍎🌱🌳 #appletree #grafting