Oh Dear!

things are soooo sloooow today,

 despite switching everything off and on again, it is, (the Internet), taking an age, but there it is, so just one post today, first thing we were off, Steve and Kai kindly picked us up, 

 and we were off strawberry picking, 

 today a farm we had not been to before,  

 it was Stanhill, in Dartford,

 and nice it was too,

 the strawberries were huge,

 and there were lots of them,

 in no time at all Kai had half filled her basket, 

 and Diana was not far behind, 

 the farm was huge,

 at first we were worried that there might not be many left,

 and despite the crowds,

 nothing could be further from the truth,

there were so many strawberries it was almost untrue,

 although we walked more than a few rows into the field we need not have bothered,

 I do not know what the variety is, but it is the heaviest cropping one I have ever seen,

 bearing in mind in my youth we were strawberry picking 3 or 4 times a year every year for years,

 in adjacent fields young plants were making a start for later in the summer,

 looking back to the car park it was packed,

 there were also some crops being grown under plastic,

 as I mentioned there were a lot of people here, but way too many strawberries for them to even dent the numbers available, 

 next stop raspberries,

 Steve and Kai wanted some,

 so Diana had to have a try,

 unfortunately the number of customers had made a difference here, not many for the taking,

 we started our walk back,

 leaving the raspberries behind,

 I should mention that there was also a rhubarb patch, plus if you like them broad beans that you could pick,

 on the way out we passed the Blues Brothers car, 

 we then called into one of the many garden centres in the area,

 I thought this was neat, a bar-b-q, or flame pit as they call it in the middle of the table,

 a nice entrance to the centre,

 lots of pots on display,

 in all shapes and sizes,

 I wondered if I should buy a stone owl as a companion for the one in the attic,

 as you might expect at this time of the year,

 so many flowers to choose from,

 all nicely laid out,

 we have a number of succulents, 

 in a couple of boxes on our window sills,

 and can not fail to see how popular they seem to have become,

 pretty in pink,

 these Hydrangeas looked really nice, 

 as we left the centre, we passed a very hi-so restaurant,

 the roses at the exit,

 putting on a nice display,

  next stop, food!

 and where better for a snack than McDonald's?

Diana likes the chicken nuggets,

 off again, this time to Keston Ponds,

 where the aroma of a bar-b-q filled the air,

 and apart from the views of the pond, this is what we were here for, ice creams!

 the pond, there are actually three of them, looking nice,

 and the ice creams tasting even better,

 a couple of fishermen were trying their luck, 

 on the other side of the lake a few geese,

 a last look at the fishermen and we were off, we dropped Diana at her work, and after saying thanks and goodbye to Steve and Kai, I was off home and upstairs,

 playing with my rocks,

 I had now unpacked most of my books,

 they will not win any prizes in the bindery department, but I like them, 

 all around the 1900s, most about fish or natural history,

 many written by the Rev, J. G. Wood, I actually have a copy of his biography written by his son, you can read it here,

and now for something completely different, 

 a revolving stand for my mineral specimens,

 I had also bought 2 ultra violet or black lights to illuminate them as a number fluoresce under UV light,

 it all looked rather pretty as they slowly made their way around, sparkling as the turntable turned,

 however the UV light gave Mr. Fox a rather sinister look,

 I have a collection of mainly quartz,

 with a few pieces of azurite,

 the quartz easy to spot,

 I also have some fluorspar in blue,

  green, 

 and dark blue,

 at the top of the display a piece in ice green

 plus lots,

 of other crystals,

 making their rounds,

 I particularly like this piece with its single large growing crystal,

 some more quartz,

 this crystal clear,

and this one smoky quartz,

 and a couple more,

 of fluorite,

 beneath this specimen, there is a supporting bridge that I had made, until I put 2 of these in it was a tad wobbly, but now all is well,

and for a bit of fun, a very short video of the crystal roundabout,

 it was then time to pick up Diana from the bus stop,

and walk home, where it was feet up for a couple from Game of Thrones and then we were off to bed.