Blog Posted,

and we were out, 

again way too many photographs, so only one post today,

today out for a drive, 

to a couple of our favorite destinations, 

as we headed out into the countryside it was getting increasingly misty, 

Diana made a short video of out trip through the country lanes,

and here we are, 

at Polhill Garden Centre, 

looking out towards the M25 it looks even worse than here, 

the seafood stall, we will we back!

on the way in,

we were greeted with pots of plants,

and here is Diana again,

gone again!

a tip if you have a water feature, do not ever use detergent to clean it, even the smallest amount, 

causes this, bubbles everywhere, 

inside we had a look at the fruits on offer, 

everything looked so nice,

I fancied some raw sweetcorn, so we bought 2 of them, and then we noticed a real treat, 

the first of this years Kentish cobs, (Corylus maxima), when picked, shelled and sold they are know as hazelnuts,

we carried on looking, 

and there they were, 

almond macaroons, 

lots of them! normally we are here a tad later and they have sold out, but today so many, 

another look at the vegetables, 

before we started looking at the indoor flower section,

looking down on some Widow's-thrill or flaming Katy as they are sometimes known, (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana),

the unmistakable flamingo flower, (Anthurium scherzerianu), 

only a small selection of orchids today, 

this display looked so nice, 

featuring miniature planted gardens,

if we bought one with luck like mine I would have to do an emergency stop on the way home and everything inside would then be a total jumble!

a look at some of the other indoor plants, 

on display, and look there, 

pineapples!

yes real miniature pineapples, we were so used to seeing fields of these on our drives out when we lived in Thailand,

a few hanging orchids and a reminder, 

it will soon be Halloween!

and then there they were, 

trays of insectivorous plants,

so many to choose from,

pitcher or trumpet plants, 

as well as Venus fly traps, 

talk about spoilt for choice!

I resisted, we really do have enough traps,

a tray of Wandering Jews, (Tradescantia species),

what was that? Mind Your Own Business! or Baby's tears as it is sometimes known, (Soleirolia soleirolii),

on to the cactus section,

lots to choose from,

as well as succulents, 

everywhere we looked,

opposite them,

palms, it still seems strange seeing all of these as expansive house plants, when outside of town there are hundreds that you have to trample over where we used to live, 

another favorite of ours, air plants, (Tillandsia spp),

we often saw them in the market and grew so many at home,

a look at water features, 

this one with a moving water wheel,

a Buddha with light, 

and a rock formation,

some statues, 

before the outdoor plant section,

cyclamen, 

so many of them,

in so many colours, 

opposite some what I call spring flowers, 

before walking past more cyclamen,

winter pansy's,

and heathers, 

then more cyclamen, 

before a display of chrysanthemums,

opposite Diana's favorite, 

dahlias, 

this one so red it is almost untrue, 

at first I thought herbs, but they are hebes, 

these cone flowers as they are called, (Echinacea),

looking almost like giant daises, 

a bee was busy working, 

it is amazing how 'furry' they are, 

another one here, 

I have to say it was a tad cold,

but it did not seem to stop them,

I was busy snapping away,

when, you guessed it!

more cyclamen, 

it was as if they wanted to corner the market on them!

next a few red hot pokers, (Kniphofia),

looking carefully, 

the mist had condensed on the flowers,

a plant I do not see very often, stonecrops, (sedums), 

 back in my youth they seemed to be in every garden, but fell out of favour I guess, maybe they are making a comeback?

mental grass, I have mentioned this before, 

when we first arrived in the UK we were walking past a restaurant that had outside planters, when Diana asked "What are those?", 

I replied "Ornamental grass", 

Diana misheard me and for years thought they were 'Mental grass'

these here, 

also condensing, 

the mist on their leaves,

winter pansies, 

in abundance, 

in this section, 

as well as some more cone flowers,

something no Far Eastern chef would be without, 

peppers!

they looked good enough to eat!

back inside we started shopping, 

the tomatoes looked so different, but for us, almond macaroons, a apple fruit cake, and a few other treats to nibble on, 

into the seafood stall, some whelks, cockles, 

and crayfish tails, 

shopping done, 

we were back into a misty car park, before a short drive to, 

Coolings Garden Centre, 

where we are gong to have a bite to eat, 

we passed the displays, 

stopping every now and then,

to take a few photographs,

and the they they were, the insectivorous plants, 

not as many as Polhill, but at Cooling's they have the Venus fly traps with huge red traps, which are not available at Polhill, 

we carried on walking to the restaurant, 

another reminder of the upcoming Halloween, 

some small ornaments for the garden,

these reminded me of the Cottingley Fairies, who Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought were real and put his name to the 1920's great fairy hoax, the Cottingley Fairies,

not quite the same as the photographs, 

but near enough!

and of course no garden would be complete without toadstools,

a slightly different take on fairies, 

back outside, 

we continued our walk to the restaurant,

and here we are, 

I snagged a table,

as Diana brought some of the food and drink, 

a hot chocolate, toped with cream and marshmallows, and a cake,

our food arrived, 

a ham and cheese toasted sandwich for Diana,

with chips, 

a egg and cress mayonnaise sandwich for myself, 

'Cheers!', our bill came to £34.70, 

back outside we had a look around, 

this Acer palmatum looking so nice, but then it was £999.00!

a look at the greenhouses, 

as Diana caught me up, 

some more dahlias, 

Diana happy looking at all of the flowers, 

I was totally amazed, 

at the number of bulbs on offer, 

there were everywhere!

Diana liked these, 

tulips by the wheelbarrow full,

so many to look at, 

for those with bigger gardens!

we had a closer look, 

and decided we both liked the crocus and iris, both miniatures,

and of course snowdrops, lots of them,

we walked on, 

in the distance some indoor hanging baskets, 

and indoor cyclamen, but these were different form the 'normal' ones, 

the petals face down, 

the normal one, the petals go up, 

some more mental grass, 

well there was only one thing for it, 

Diana had to go mental, 

and wear it!

this section the grass grew a lot larger, 

more cone flowers,

they are so bright, 

even on this dull grey day, 

looking at the sky, the weather was not improving,

a nice display of acers,

if we had a house and garden of our own, 

this would be us on a summers afternoon, 

another border of cone flowers, 

looking so nice, 

but my attention was drawn to just one, 

a bicolour, the only one I have ever seen,

these really brighten up the day, 

porcelain garden ornaments, 

hanging planters, 

and pots, 

with huge butterflies, 

and of course the sun,

a few water features, 

which seem to be popular, 

we took advantage of a sale, these picnic mats, 

half price, at £6.99, 

and then we saw something we said we would buy also for next year, 

for our trip to the sunflower farms, a tall wide sunflower vase, £17.99,

and we were on our way, 

past the artificial flower displays, 

all wrapped up so back to the car, arriving home we watched some television then Diana had a few ZZZZZ's, so I started on the blog, after a couple of hours Diana was up so a treat for me,

a plate of whelks, 

delicious! 

after some time a read before our evening meal, 

Diana had made a huge crayfish tail salad, for the evening a Deadliest Catch, after which I was out to meet Steve in the club, 

it was drizzling with rain, 

in the distance the tennis courts still being used despite the weather, as we were chatting away Frank joined us, the evening just flew past, after saying our farewells we made a move for our homes, Diana was already in the land of Nod, for myself a It Ain't Half Hot Mum before I too was off to bed.