We Had A Couple Of Visits,

to garden centers,

 planned for today,

 the first was to Coolings Garden Center,

 which we had never been to before,

 so we had a look around,

 a nice selection of cactus,

 and the main sales area nicely laid out,

 I had to have a look at the orchids,

 not as many as here were at Homebase, but still a nice display,

 there were a few showy garden ornaments,

 like this peacock,

 plus lots of smaller ones,

 like these two bug eyed fanged tooth fish, (pisces opticus biggidus),

 outside,

 the sales area was huge, 

 we made our way through the outdoor section,

 to this glass house, 

 and this is what we were here for, a antiques fair, we spent more than a few hours looking around, but alas found nothing that interested us, having said that we saw a couple of nice pieces, but way out of our price range,

 my Grandmother liked these pinks so much, 

 and Diana had a laugh trying to smell them,

 there were so many plants outside,

 and even more in one of the greenhouses,

 the aroma of these hyacinths was everywhere,

 daisies,

and primroses,

 were the main plants in flower,

 if only we had a garden,

 of our own,

 still you never know,

 we might have won the lottery last night!

 now these flowers everyone can grow,

 and you can paint them any colour you like!

 a nice display of heathers,

 we made our way inside, 

 to where the artificial flowers were,

 next stop the car, 

 and a ride to Polhill Garden Center,

 we still had some whelks from our visit to Bromley, so for today a plate of cockles,

 and into the sales area,

 a nice golden barrel cactus, or mother-in-law's cushion, as some unkind people call it, (Echinocactus grusonii),

 we made our way outside, past some of the water features,

 and spotted one of the Cotteridge fairies, 

 we walked past the open area,

 where most of the shrubs were,

 to the section,

 that housed the bedding plants,

 like these outdoor cyclamen,

 where there were some nice bi-coloured ones for sale,

 I had to have another look at the hardy outdoor orchids, a definite must have for us,

 and of course some pansies,

 so time for a coffee, then shopping,

we had come here for some almond macaroon cakes which for some reason are only sold here, also to stock up on steaks, chicken and gammon ham, all of which here is reasonably priced compared to local super markets, 

 also whilst at Polhill we bought some dressed carb,

 for our starters,

 next,

 one of the Polhill steaks,

 'Cheers!',

 and many thanks to Steve and Kai for this Christmas present,

we had a dessert of chocolates, 

we listened to music until the start of Have I Got a Bit More Old News For You, which as usual was so funny and cutting, if you were the hapless politician to be lampooned, a couple of quiz shows later and we were then off to bed.