The Weather Looked Nice,

so we were out,

our first stop of two,

Hewitts pick your own farm,

 but before we start picking a photograph of Diana by a huge elderberry bush, (Sambucus nigra),

 whose flowers you can make a wine from, and if you are patient the berries mixed with sultans make an even nicer wine, I know, back in the 1960s I made some, and as Peter from Scotland will attest, it was pretty nice!

 as well as strawberries there are numerous stands of fruit trees,

 empty container,

 and off we go, 

 this one looks good enough to eat!

 we made our way down the aisles of strawberries,

 eating, picking them as we went,

 another nice one,

 so good we have to have picture of it

that's enough for tonight and tomorrow,

 a quick look at one of the orchards,

 as Diana goes to have a closer look, 

 and here they are, plums,

 into the car and here to our next destination, 

 but first a look at a Morris Minor Traveller, 

 and nicely restored it looked too,

 we were in the car park of Coolings Garden Center,

 as we entered there was a huge display of Hydrangeas,

which looked so good they nearly fooled me, 

 Miltonia orchids, often referred to as pansy orchids took my eye as we walked in, 

 as well as some conventional ones,

 we passed some of the garden ornaments,

 like this owl,

 and peacock,

 and soon found ourselves outside,

 where at the end of each aisle,

 a display of plants for sale,

 each themed around a shade of color,

or mood,

 if only we had a garden and £850!

 in the covered houses,

 a stunning display of flowers,

 like these hanging begonias,

 and these Diana really liked,

 fuchsias, 

 in so many petal types,

 and colours,

 and if you like African daisies, (Osteospermums), 

 there are plenty here to choose from, 

 in so many colors,

 as we walked in there was a show of Hydrangeas,

 and it seemed to be that these were the 'in' flower this year,

 there were so many different varieties of them,

 and for the Japanese garden,

 Japanese maples, (Acer palmatum) had their own large area, outside,

 and inside,

 we continued,

 past the outdoor specimens like this one,

 and some smaller ones for small gardens,

 then a wonderful fragrance filled the air,

 roses,

 there were not a huge number of flower, but those that were here certainly gave out a nice aroma,

 we made our way to the restaurant,

 a quick pose by the GPO telephone box,

 and we were inside,

 a sunny afternoon snack of tea and cakes,

 what could be better? 

 I made my way to the table,

 and had a pose on the garden side of it,  

 my turn to pour,

 Victoria sponge for Diana,

 and for myself a current scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam,

 more tea vicar?

the wonders of selfies, whilst here we bumped into Rodger and his wife, we had seen them in the bank only a few weeks ago, I first meet Rodger in the print trade so many years ago, 

  pied wagtail, (Motacilla alba), called by for some cake,  

 we then decided to look at some of the koi for sale,

 some in a raised outdoor pool,

 we decided to go inside past the water features,

 a found a few more huge raised pools,

 some of the fish were enormous,

 so Diana had to have a pose,

 and so did I,

we went upstairs to have a look at them from above,

 and nice they looked too,

I keep saying it, if only we had a garden and a pool!

 we made our way down stairs and headed for the car,

but first a video that Diana made of our day out, and what a pleasant day it was too, next home, feet up, a snack for our evening meal, then feet up for the evening's entertainment, firstly a few antiques quiz shows, a Police Interceptors, as one quote from a film commented, 'never underestimate the stupidity of criminals', this episode certainly proved that to be true! we will only be making one post today, as I have an early morning appointment at the doctors for the results of my blood test, and if the weather clears up we will have an early start out, we rounded off the evening with three episodes of Game of Thrones, and with the end of the third one we were off to bed.