Sunshine returns. During my morning workout I could see a little window of blue in the gray. And while I sweated it out, the blue spread and widened until everything shimmered in the sun.

A nice reward for me!

Once I finished and cleaned up, I headed out to join Laura for a tour of the kitchen gardens. Met up with most of the gang—Kat, Griffin, JR and Kayla going off to the pool. Jason, Colt and Savanna going off to kayak.

Logan had overindulged the night before. Here’s a helpful hint: Never try to out drink an Irishman, especially on his home turf.

You’re welcome.

Laura and I met up for a nice walk over to the kitchen gardens for a tour. What an amazing, beautiful and efficient space. Alex, the head gardener—handsome, French and incredibly knowledgeable about every inch, every plant–explained what they plant, why, how, when they harvest, and how they make use of all that space.

And the chefs find creative ways to use as many parts of the plant as possible in their creations. Only one reason the food here is just amazing.

All kinds of veg planted at different times, with edible flowers, flowers that lure the insects away from the veg. They’re expanding in hopes of producing enough for the castle and lodge to source all their fresh produce from their own gardens. And that would mean, for instance, hundreds of heads of various lettuce alone.

The greenhouse I saw them building on a previous walk is part of the expansion.

They’ve grafted from an apple tree the Guinness family planted over a hundred years ago. And there are lots of berries. Chefs use the fruit, of course, and also make jams, chutneys—full use. It’s fascinating to see strawberries growing on raised stands of dirt and straw—to keep the fruit from rotting on the ground with so much rain.

There are bee hives for honey, and a greenhouse—Alex called in a tunnel—with gorgeous pots of basil, more herbs, seedlings. The big surprise here? Elephant garlic. HUGE bulbs. An experiment, we’re told. In a couple of weeks, they’ll be ripe enough for the chefs to judge if they like the flavor.

One chef is there, with his clipboard, so Alex cuts a bulb, breaks off a clove. The chef deems it mild—but it’s not ripe enough as yet. We all get a sniff. It’s lovely!

We also get a taste of peas straight from the pod.

It’s an enormous undertaking, so well thought out. And the tour a real education.*

We walk back, and the day’s too pretty to go inside. So it’s a little lunch outside at The Cottage. Kayla joins us for some basking in the day time with food. It’s just so nice to sit out, drink a little wine, eat a little soup.

The others are eating at Stanley’s—they’re making the famed chicken fillet rolls for them. And they’re going to add them—and Savanna’s cherry Coke—to the menu.

Later Laura’s meeting the Little Brown team for dinner in town. It happens we’re going to a pub right across the street. Some of us walk, some of us drive, to The Crow’s Nest. It’s lively, and our server is delightful. Jason’s deciding between an orange Fanta and a Club Orange. She tells him, definitely, Club Orange is superior.

He goes for it, and so does Kat.

We hear kayak adventures. Jason and Colt were in a double at first, and Savanna in a single. After awhile Colt and Savanna switch. I see from the photos they’re all trapped out in waterproof jackets, and I think pants as well.

Ours are some of a pub full of voices.

Laura brings Gina, Laura and Clara in to say hello. It’s reallly good to see them—and they brought me a gift. A warm, soft, beautiful throw I can easily imagine snuggling under when it’s time to read by the fire again. And when I do, I’ll think of them.

Today’s the tea at the Lodge event, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone who can attend. My voice was mostly back yesterday, all day, so I’m counting on the same today. I’ve had enough ginger tea with honey to last me a lifetime!

Time to get moving, make myself presentable. I’ll meet up with Laura, Gina, Clara, Laura and Ana Huang—the talented author who’ll interview me—about an hour before the event.

Nora

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And Savanna took the time to look up.

*To learn more about Alex and Ashford’s Kitchen Garden project, click this link.  -Laura