This is probably the star of the show - Jane got me this dehydrator:
It will be perfect for drying chillis and tomatoes later in the year!
Acting on inside information, my MIL got me this book:
You all know that I am keen on foraging, so this book is perfect for me. I expect it will allow me to broaden my range of foraged harvests, because it has lots of good photos which will be a great help in identifying edible plants.
As well as providing information about plants, fungi, nuts etc which are suitable for foraging, the book contains lots of recipes, so my culinary repertoire is likely to expand too.
My daughter Emma bought me a Honeyberry plant, which I have planted over by the fence, in front of the Raspberries:
The Honeyberry's Latin name is Lonicera Caerulea, which tells you straight away that it is related to the well-known flowering shrub Honeysuckle (Lonicera Pericylmenum). My plant is just beginning to produce leaves and their resemblance to Honeysuckle leaves is very obvious.
I can't help thinking that Emma's choice of gift may have had an ulterior motive - her daughters Lara and Holly love picking fruit in my garden when they visit, so I'm sure they will soon be eyeing-up this plant as a likely source of edible goodies!
My other daughter, Fiona, tells me that she will be giving me my Birthday present next month when we visit her in France. She says the present may be in liquid form and encased in glass. I wonder what that could be???