Again I Am Only Making One Post Today,

as, you guessed it, 

I took so many photographs, and as Diana had another day off so did she! out into a nice day,

with a nearly clear blue sky, Steve very kindly picked me up, the girls, Diana and Kai were going to London for a afternoon cream tea and evening meal in Chinatown, and lots of window shopping, Steve and myself were going to visit a orchid nursery near Lewis,

the satnav took us the scenic route, rounding a bend in the road a couple of pheasants were having a scrap,

the victor struts his stuff,

we made our way towards and through Ashdown forest,

which was very pleasant,

we both agreed if you are going to have a driveway to your country mansion it should look like this,

and here were are, at McBean's Orchids, 

past a few homes into the car park,

and short walk to the nursey, the entrance is behind the greenhouse you see from the carpark

the sign says it all, as it happens Diana and myself first visited the nursery way back in November 2019, 

as soon as Steve and myself walked in,

we were surrounded by orchids with their stunning blooms,

everywhere we looked,

there were blooms waiting to be photographed,

when we were here in November 2019 the gentleman that we were chatting to here said to come back in January/February,

as so many would then be in flower,

and he was right!

flowers everywhere!

and so many in bud, 

and so many that we had never seen in flower before,

like this one, that actually has a scent,

row after row, 

on both sides of the central aisle,

as well as mature plants,

youngsters are being grown for future sales,

Steve was defiantly going to buy a orchid for his home, alas for us the ones here grow so large, 

we did buy one on our last visit,

 and it has swamped the window sill,

I must admit, 

that on this visit if I was going to buy one,

it would be a difficult decision as to which one to buy,

having said that,

this one looked stunning, the flower 3 or 4 inches across,

then I turned around, 

and saw this beauty,

looking at me,

on the end of the opposite row,

this peach coloured bloom,

was near this stem covered in blooms,

stunning!

I had to take a closer look at a individual bloom,

we made our way along the rows,

Steve looking for his purchase,

for myself I was in seventh heaven snapping away with the camera,

what a beauty!

I think Steve might have made a decision,

well this one was on the short list,

having said that,

we were both taken with this row,

where a delicate aroma filled the air from the flower,

we carried on looking,

each row having plants with so many buds on, this month the display was amazing,

next month there will be even more plants with their flowers open,

also on many benches there is a slight difference in the blooms of each plant,

all of these next photographs,

show slight, 

but subtle differences between the flowers of each plant,

with the intensity of the colours of each flower,

varying ever so slightly,

another bench,

with so many in bloom,

we still had a few more benches to see,

which made Steve's choice even harder,

I carried on looking at the plants being grown on for the next few years sales,

and spotted this one,

which looked so familiar to one we have on the kitchen window sill,

and there was one that defiantly was not a orchid,

a Christmas cactus putting on a good show,

as were these Paphiopedilum,

or Slipper Orchids as they are known,

this orchid was huge, more like a bush in size,

at the end of this row, a number in flower,

all looking so nice,

this one looking very different, 

a closeup was in order,

whilst I was snapping away at these,

at the other end of the greenhouse,

Steve had made a decision, well two actually! I have to say the ladies whose names I omitted to ask, gave Steve so much help and details of the plants care that Steve was thinking of buying, a big 'thank you' from both of us,

purchases made back into the car, we decided to take the faster route,

to Polehill nursery, 

 we were both a tad hungry, past the seafood stall,

and into the main building,

we were going to go to the restaurant in the other building, 

but first some shopping, almond slices that both Diana and myself like,

whilst in the food section,

I took a couple of photographs of the vegetables, the colours looking so bright,

we made our way past the succulents,

and house plant section,

and out into the open but covered area,

where there was a nice display of primroses,

in an almost unimaginable range of colours,

some bi-coloured,

like these,

back inside and past the garden ornaments,

anyone for a elephant?

which was big,

to the friends at the bottom of the garden,

this one with its own light,

with Christmas only 344 days away, now is the perfect time to buy next years tree and decorations,

pretty much everything 50% off,

so plenty of bargains to be had,

from a decorative arch,

to a full sized toy soldier, we arrived at the restaurant, only to find it was closed, so back to the snack bar,

past all of the outside pots,

in all shades of colours,

just what the doctor ordered,

a bacon bun with onions and a coffee, whilst at McBean's I mentioned Christmas cactus,

well here are a few more Christmas cactus, 

but not like the one we had seen before, I went back to the home of Steve and Kai for a coffee and a look at his aquariums, after he dropped me off back home it was feet up until the evening, meanwhile in London, this is the girls day out, 

Diana and Kai all wrapped up for the cold,

they had booked a table at the Landmark Hotel,

for a afternoon cream tea,

it was all as expected,

and the waiter kindly took a photograph of them,

Diana sporting her haircut of the day before,

'Cheers!', with a tea,

a refill for Kai,

the cakes look,

so yummy!

after the meal a quick pose,

before hitting the shops, 

next the girls arrived at Chinatown,

so a Chinese meal it was then,

I do not know what the soup was,

but Diana was getting stuck in!

giving everything a good stir, 

smiles from Diana,

and Kai, meal finished, 

it was time for some food shopping in Chinatown,

meanwhile at home I was having a read and a sherry,

and a sandwich before going out to meet Steve for a beer or three,

I mentioned lots of markings on the pavements at the entrance to the park, and this is what it has resulted in, a 5 way traffic light system, which of coursed caused chaos in the early evening with queues of cars and buses backing up into the towns High Street, 

but no matter I soon arrived on the 227 at the Moon & Stars, where Steve and myself chatted the evening away, 

after saying our farewells it was the 227 to the graveyard,

and I was on my way walking home,

it was by now late, so no traffic at the entrance to the park, and thankfully it is Saturday tomorrow so no rush hour delays, I just hope for everyone the works are over quickly, many thanks to Steve for doing all of the driving today, and what a fabulous day we had at McBean's, arriving home Diana and myself had a chat and a nightcap for myself, as we watched a New Tricks before we were off to bed.