It Was Diana's Day Off,

so as soon as the blog was posted, we were out, 

picking Kai on the way we were off to Mayfield Lavender Farm, 

although late in the season for lavender, 

it was still quite crowded, 

time for a pose, 

as we made our way through the avenues of lavender, 

the girls bimbled off, 

I decided to photograph a few bumble bees, 

and the occasional honey bee, 

it was a hive of activity, sorry about the pun!

the girls had lost me as I zoomed in,

back to the bumble bees, 

they were hovering everywhere, 

as well as the honey bees, 

it has to be said the lavender although looking nice was past its best,

I caught the girls up, 

and started, 

snapping away again,

also here in numbers, ladybirds,

by now the girls were at the bottom of the field, 

taking advantage of some of the 'props', 

also Diana gave Kai a hand at making a podcast I think it is called,

the tents house the café and sales area, 

the 'train' take visitors around the fields,

we started on our way back to the car,

a last look at the café in the distance, then we had a busy afternoon, first stop Costco, to stock up an all of the household bits & pieces we need, next stop the café in Wing Yip for coffee and cakes, all of that walking around the lavender fields worked up a appetite, then shopping in Wing Yip for all of those delicacies that are not available in most supermarkets, after that we popped into Kai's home for a coffee before making a move home, 

the latest copy of Private Eye was waiting for me, you may remember yesterday I mentioned my telephone had stopped working but was fine now, well I was one of the lucky ones, the outage continued for many, from the article: "Following a claim yesterday that the issues were fixed, EE and BT have now acknowledged that they're still "experiencing some voice call issues today". They added that they're "working to resolve this is as soon as possible", but haven't yet offered a timeframe", the worst thing is the phone companies are fazing out land lines, making the public totally dependable on a failed product, which seems to let people down as a fairly regular occurrence, but there it is the phone companies know best, 

on to our meal, we had bought some crab claws in Wing Yip, they did not make it to the freezer!

'yummy!',

a 'Cheers!', as we both tucked into saveloys and curly chips, after which a outback Opel Hunters and Deadliest Catch before a Midsomer Murder, one we had not seen for some time, next for us a Have I Got A Bit More New For You, followed by one from the It Ain't Half Hot Mum box set before we were off to bed.

Blog Posted,

and I was out,

to visit Duncan, it was a grey day, but not cold, arriving there before I could see him one of the nurses spoke to me, evidently he has had trouble swallowing and often chokes, so no cherries incase he chokes on the stone in them, which was a shame as we had bought cherries for him, but from now on strawberries or grapes, Duncan was awake when I went and as usual he was happy to see me, I brought him up to date with what we had been up to in the past week, and mentioned that on Friday we would be picking up Kai and going to Mayfield Lavender Farm, 

as his lunch arrived we said our farewells and I left into a still grey day, arriving home after a coffee I had a play, with some ruins, 

   Bayham Old Abbey,

Waverley Abbey,

and Lindisfarne, after my evening meal I decided to watch a series we had watched together before, 

 The Terror, although I had watched it before with Diana, I decided to watch it again, what a treat it was, it is a fictionalized account of what befell the men of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the two British ships that in the mid-1800s, underwent an ambitious voyage to the Arctic in order to force the Northwest Passage, it was doomed and the crews didn’t return, as you might expect being produced by Ridley Scott it had a little bit of terror thrown and was to say the least extremely good, the attention to detail amazing, I was only going to watch one episode, as it happens I watched three of them! as an aside here is a more in depth look at the now found wrecks of the doomed ships, as the third one finished Diana arrived home, so a Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before rounding off our evening with a It Ain't Half Hot Mum, after which we were off to bed.

Another Day Of Just One Post,

for two reasons, firstly it was Diana's day off yesterday, 

and secondly today as soon as I post this I will be off to visit Duncan, back to Tuesday, out of the park in the car, 

to the Toby Carvery at Eden Park,

for our breakfast, 

a all you can eat English breakfast with unlimited tea or coffee, 

bacon, sausages, eggs, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and Yorkshire pudding filled with bacon, all for £7.95 each,

 

Diana's first helping, 

and mine, we were hungry, so after a break a second helping, 

which we finished off with toast, butter and jam,

then full, (diet starts next week), we started to drive, 

towards Croydon,

the trees full of foliage,

and into the country, 

arriving here,

 

Mayfield Lavender Farm, as it happens we have visited here many time before, 

considering how busy it has been on pervious midweek visits, 

it was remarkably quiet today, 

so time for a pose from Diana,

looking back towards the entrance and café, what is that poking out of the lavender?

a selfie stick of course!

no visit would be complete here without a photograph of the big tree,

 

the choo-choo train leaving the café for a trip around the grounds,

it was a gorgeous day, 

blue skies with small white clouds,

well I just had to!

the sun behind Diana for this one as she took my photograph,

Oh Lordy, Lordy a close up!

the thermometer in the car that records the outside temperature was at 28°C on the way here, 

and it felt like it, 

as Diana got down amongst the lavender, 

then it was my turn, 

sans hat, 

which after the last time in the garden,

I was glad I was wearing, 

whilst down here,

I had a close up of some of the lavenders,

and who should pop up?

Diana of course!

all mine!

up a bit, 

next to me some sweet nettles, it was at this stage of the day that Diana told me she had found the only patch of stinging nettles in the entre field, she found them with her right knee as she knelt down ready to spring up in the lavender, 

new for this year, 

a lovers heart in the field,

I had to, 

sans hat, 

a couple from Diana, landscape,

and portrait, 

and a reminder of our visit, 

one more of Diana,

we then made our way back to the car,

taking photographs,

on the way,

just one more of Diana, before we made a move to Dobbies Nursery along the road a tad in Woodcote Green,

in to the garden centre, 

park up,

and walk into the entrance, 

where this peacock,

reminded me of our vintage sewn fire screen,

I am not sure how old it is,

we bought it a few years ago when we returned from Thailand to England, 

Diana liked the tiling planters,

also here a few orchids, 

succulents, 

bonsai, 

and a veritable rain forest!

we then went out side, 

past a few water features, 

Diana remarked how nice the sound of water was, but in a first floor flat not really practical especially for the folks living downstairs if it leaked!

lots of garden ornaments,

on display, 

I thought these were tin ladybirds, but they were plastic,

past a few herons, or are they cranes?

the photograph does not do the display justice, it was a riot of colourful flowers, 

these were neat, 

indoor peppers,

and tomatoes, 

we were both thirsty, 

so into the restaurant, 

for a carrot cake,

and two iced latté coffees, 

on the way out we passed another peacock, into the car and the start of our drive home,

past one of the gold letter boxes, 

and the trees that were pruned the last time we drove past here, 

Diana mentioned they looked like the Madagascan Baobab trees, next stop, to meet Steve, after closing the front door as we left Diana realised she had locked our keys inside! luckily Steve and Kai had a spare set, so he took them to the apiary he looks after every Tuesday, 

and here he is meeting us at the lane that leads to the apiary, 

the first of many hives here, 

it is a busy time of the year for Steve, 

he is the 'go to' guy when home owners report a swarm on their house or land, Steve will normally go himself or coordinate with a nearer beekeeper in the club to remove the swarm and rehouse it in one of the clubs empty hives, 

around the hives, 

apple and pear trees are growing, as well as a huge vine, 

just as well with so many bees to look after!

Diana did not get too close, 

as Steve explained what was happening in this super tall hive,

the entrance on the other side to Steve, 

and here it is,

outside the hive on the right a huge amount of activity, 

at the entrance, 

Steve explained that they had just been disturbed by an inspection so many of them were now going back inside, keys picked up, 

back to the car to Waitrose where Diana had to drop of a parcel, but all of the postal boxes were full, 

better luck tomorrow,

inside, 

 out again for my meal for tomorrow evening then home feet up and cool off under the fan as we watched some television, the thermometer in the car told us it was 30°C outside, after our evening meal it was a BattleBots followed by a Wicked Tuna, there was not much else on that we wanted to watch, 

so a Taboo it was, as it happens we watched 2 episodes back to back, after which a Have I Got More News For You before we were off to bed.