The day began in the morning, as they tend to. There was a bit of a drama when Sharktooth, my niece's friendly cornsnake, slithered unerringly into the base of the ice-cream maker, via a tiny weeny hole which didn't look big enough for a cornsnake to fit through, but somehow she did. If you are not familiar with cornsnakes, they are a type of snake - a bit like a big snake, but smaller. The ice-cream maker was duly dismantled using a various tools, thus freeing Sharktooth - who seemed entirely unaffected by her unexpected sojourn - and enabling us to make ice-cream later, whilst avoiding puréeing one of the family pets.
Post sumptuous cinnamon-flavoured cappuccino hand-crafted by my brother-in-law and his magic machine, we headed to town for the Festival of Butterflies. This consisted of a whole load of local organisations promoting themselves, fundraising and selling their wares, as well as a lively Mariachi band who were fun to listen to. We went into the butterfly garden and saw two butterflies, or it may have been the same one twice, I couldn't be sure. Butterflies are very pretty and do all sorts of useful environmental things. Last weekend in the UK, the Big Butterfly Watch took place - this is for spotting all butterflies, not just big ones.
My sister and I walked to the supermarket, Trader Joe's, the equivalent of Sainsbury's rather than Waitrose or Lidl. I've been to the Middle of Lidl a couple of times recently - if you haven't experienced it yet, you must go, although beware - you may find yourself going home with a portable garden pizza oven or a stand-up paddleboard, just because they are there.
Trader Joe's was a friendly place - the staff on the check-outs even pack your bags for you! Not like in the UK where your purchases form an unsightly pile whilst you speedily attempt to bundle them into your plethora of planet-saving cotton bags. Speaking of cotton bags, did you know that you have to use your cotton bag every day for sixty-nine years to balance the amount of water it took to make the cotton? I read this in The Guardian, so it must be true. Now there's a challenge.
We came home and the epic strawberry ice-cream making process ensued. It was a lot of fun doing this with my sister and niece. I had the very important job of chopping up half of yesterday's yield of strawberries from 'You Pick' or 'Pick Your Own', as we would call it in the UK. I chopped them into tiny pieces then we puréed the rest. Ice-cream is really just, well, ice, cream - surely not - sugar and eggs. So you heat them all up, let it cool, freeze it, remove any family pets from the mechanism, then churn the whole lot. We added the strawberries, both the pieces and the purée which dyed it pink and the result was sumptuous. Author's note - do not follow these instructions if you want to make some - find a recipe or ask Alexa, if she is speaking to you.
I've sort of planned the next part of my trip. Booking.com tells me that I'm a 'Genius Level 2' which is quite flattering. I messaged one of the places where I may stay to ask about transport details, to which the reply came - 'Absolutamente'. Helpful or what.
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