We Took Lots Of Photographs,

mainly of us!

so we will only be posting one post today, and as it was Diana's day off we were out,

to Mayfield Lavender Farm,

in no time at all,

Diana was in the middle of the field,

looking back to the café and farm shop,

we were hoping it was going to be a sunny day,

but it was a bit overcast,

the tractor train makes its way around the farm,

I just had to, landscape,

and portrait,

and of course,

a couple of Diana,

and a panorama of the farm,

time for a few more poses,

considering how many people were here on our last visit,

there were very few people here today,

but I should say that the blooms are not yet at their finest,

yes another couple of myself,

and a pose,

or two from Diana,

one thing we both noticed was an almost total lack of bees,

as we walked through the aisles of lavender,

we then walked down to the farm shop,

for a photograph with the tractor train in the background,

and a look,

around the farm shop,

as you may have guessed if lavender is your favorite aroma,

you are spoilt for choice here!

every lavender themed product you can think of,

back outside,

for a few poses,

by the most photographed telephone box I can think of,

and a close up,

Diana made a video,

we made our way back to the car,

we both fancied a snack and a coffee,

as neither of us had a breakfast before we left,

a last look at the field,

as clouds came rolling in,

a last one from myself, and we were off to Woodcote Green Garden Center, we had been there before,

but when we arrived it was no more, the center was now called Dobbies, these Harry Potter characters seem to be everywhere!

we made our way inside,

apart from the name change,

nothing else seems to have changed,

all of the usual mini gardens on offer,

as well as garden ornaments,

like these,

but it has to be said, this is the first time I have seem gnomes for sale in a long time,

we made our way to snack part of the restaurant,

I found a table whilst Diana bought the food,

a huge latte coffee each,

a cake for Diana,

and a sandwich for myself, our breakfast came to £12.00,

then back in the car,

it was strawberry picking time!

we had a 30 mile drive to the farm,

and here it is,

Diana just loves the Jaguar,

well we both do,

the farm we chose was Stanhill,

as it happens we had been here before,

all kitted up with a plummet,

and we were off,

making our way to others pickers in the distance,

start picking when you see this sign,

Diana started, eating,

there were plenty here,

although a tad small,

why are the nice ones always just out of reach?

the first half a dozen,

in the plummet,

Diana picking the best ones,

and sampling a few in the process!

almost half full,

crickey that was quick!

and here they are,

my turn,

for a pose,

on the way back to the farm shop, the strawberries took a bit of a hit,

I had to rescue the survivors from Diana!

£3.50 each for the strawberries and the cherries, which were from another farm, and £2.00 for the raspberries,

as we made our way into the park,

looking on the left hand side, lavender growing at the front of one of the homes,

in our flat it was time for our evening meal, first a read and a sherry,

I have mentioned before that artists at the time could be attacked, stoned and even shot, and some went mad,

and then there are the camels,

I turned a page and there it was, a very familiar painting by by Richard Dadd, as mad as a hatter, but a great artist, a little about the artist, if you believe in fairies, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did and put his name to the 1920's great fairy hoax, the Cottingley Fairies, which brings me on to one of the greatest fairy artists of all time Richard Dadd, (1819-1887) who is recognised as one of the most individual of English painters, the story of his sad life is now quite familiar: he was born in Chatham in Kent, after routine art training at the Royal Academy Schools he entered upon his career as an artist in the circle of painters known as The Clique, in the years 1842-43 he travelled to the Middle East and Greece with Sir Thomas Phillips, on his return from this trip he suffered a bout of insanity in the course of which he murdered his father, (he cut his throat with a cut throat razor), for the rest of his life Dadd was confined in the asylums of Bethlem and Broadmoor, in which latter place he died in 1887, I have know of him as for some time he was in a hospital in Beckenham where I have lived and worked in my tropical fish shop for some of my life, and have visited the hospital there, (not as a patient, my mother worked in the pathology lab there) called the Bethlehem Royal Hospital which was originally called Bedlam and is where the Imperial War Museum in London Stands today, it was at one time on the site of Liverpool Street Station, 

above is the most famous of Dadd's works and is considered by many to be Dadd's master piece is The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, in The Tate, and why do I know all of this? because Richard Dadd is one of my favorite artists, and why did I mention it is familiar?

because every time we go into,

or out of our flat,

there it is,

the painting is called Halt in the Desert, it has been there since the very late 1980s, when it was 'found' I liked the painting so much on one of my visits to Thailand I took a postcard of it I bought in the British Museum and had a local artist paint it for me, I brought the canvas back to the UK, framed it and put it in the hall where it has been ever since,

on to our evening meal,

spaghetti for Diana,

cheese and biscuits for myself, 

'Cheers!', we listened to music until the start of a Midsomer Murder which we followed with a New Tricks after which as Diana has an early start in the morning we were off to bed.