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Yes good luck and well done!

Well done Rosie that really brave how about making some bramble wine its really delicious i've got some great recipies if you want some.

Well done Rosey, sounds like you have beaten it

I don't eat them (though I wouldn't call it a phobia) for the same reasons - although having picked a carrier bag full of the blighters last year before I saw the little buggers wiggle out, we rinsed carefully, and then made it in to jam for other people

Well, they say ignorance is bliss!

I picked some yesterday (not a lot, yet ) and they've been soaking all night but nothing there. It was only when someone mentioned maggots last year that I decided to soak them overnight and keep inspecting them.....

well done, overcoming any phobia is dead hard and really brave. i guess i was lucky to be brought up to soak everything and skim off any undesirable guests; which i do with my dandelions for dandelion wine too, though i try to pick out every beetle because i'm stupidly soft hearted even about bugs. there's something primevaly horrid about maggots and certain caterpillars though my bugbear is millipedes [got bitten by one when i was a teenager and spent three days off school with swollen arm and temperature] and worms [big juicy one down neck from big brother when aged three] though i will make myself pick up worms because they are good for the garden [excellent brainwashing by mum], seeing them squirm on compost heap leaves me wanting to heave though.

Yep, phobias are a tad difficult to overcome - well done, Rosie.

For what it's worth, I used to be a champion arachnaphobe. I dealt with it by reading everything I could about them - and ended up completely fascinated. I still don't like them, but at least I don't break out in cold sweats if one comes near me any more.

Mike