Off we went this morning, baskets in hand, children in tow, down to the woods on a mushroom hunt. A perfect Sunday morning jaunt with the kids and their two friends Jacca and Rosie. Rope swings, fungi in abundance, a flask of hot chocolate and a good old hearty walk on a misty moisty morning.
We immediately had a great haul of slippery jacks, ceps, yellow brittlegills and numerous wonderful and poisonous fungi. After a good slug of hot chocolate, we were just reaching the end of the woods and about to return back to the van when Molly the dog started sniffing in the hedge and sharp eyed Rosie spotted some creatures scuttling together. They weren't rabbits, they were too small for foxes or badgers; were they rats? or ferrets? On closer inspection it was a whole family of guinea pigs, apparently recently dumped judging by the pile of fresh straw next to them. Minutes later 3 pit bull terriers tore past us as we cradled our guinea pigs affectionately, shielding their gentle souls from the dogs, with their owner steaming up their rear shouting 'don't believe everything you read in the press.' A close shave, they wouldn't have stood a chance if we'd arrived 10 minutes later.
We bundled them up into our basket, took them home and the children were ecstatic with our newly found pets. Ella and Rosie both said it was the best day of their lives and we were all rather excited about our unexpected find.
The guinea pigs were immediately named beefsteak (for the big daddy), pine, cep, fly agaric and lucky.
So we now have 5 guinea pigs – one is already missing down a hole in the granite workshop wall and some very happy kids.
Needless to say, our repeated attempts at putting braised guinea pig with ceps a la creme on the menu that night didn't go down too well with the kids.
Now, who's going to feed them????? xxxx