another secret shame.....

(199 days to go...)

I want to share with you another of my secret shames.

I actually don't like strawberries very much.

This seems to be a cardinal sin. Turn down a raspberry or a gooseberry and you're fine. Turn down a strawberry and everyone looks at you like you've just kicked an orphan downstairs.

I think it's because the strawberry seems too smug and jolly for my liking. Therefore I shun the uncomplicated optimism of the strawberry for the damaged and needy blackberry and the cynical blackcurrant.

I also think it's because my father, a keen gardener, always maintained that the best way to grow strawberries was to use lots of manure. As a result we had a huge pile of manure delivered outside our house every year.

A a result the strawberry is irrevocably associated in my mind with horse poo.

Enjoy Wimbledon 2008 everybody!