Chilli

It was stunning day. Hardly a cloud in the sky, and locally we had the 20th annual Chilli Fiesta. This seemed like a great excuse to spend some time in the open.

We joined the thousands of visitors as they flocked in to the event. The cars spread in perfect rows across the surrounding fields. We were lucky. We were ushered to a parking row quite close to the entrance.

We were surprised when we first got through the barriers. It seemed a lot smaller than on our previous visit. In fact, this wasn't the case. It was better laid out, and spread across a number of different areas. There were hundreds of stalls selling chilli in every way imaginable - chilli plants, chilli oil, chilli sauce, chilli jam, chilli jelly, chilli chocolate, chilli ice cream, and even chilli candy floss. As we wandered around, the Gorse Fox sampled several of the offerings, enjoying the choice, but not enough to actually buy anything.

After completing a complete circuit of the stalls we headed off into the West Dean gardens. These were beautifully manicured and cared for. As we wandered back we found this Artichoke Camera Obscura. GF went inside to take a look, but the angle was such that al he could see was a small patch of blue sky.

Back at the event we grabbed a snack and an ice cream, then stopped back at one of the stalls we had seen earlier. We bought a saucer which has a serrated centre. This allows you to use the saucer as a grater for garlic, ginger, cheese and so forth.

No doubt about it, it was a super little outing.