A Trip Out to The Lavender Patch!

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Abi

A couple of weeks ago Anne and I took a trip to a local Lavender farm called The Lavender Patch in Hilton, Derbyshire. This is a pick your own lavender farm, but unfortunately it was a little early in the season for picking on this visit.

I have to say I felt rather daft that I’d never noticed this wondrous place before. It’s part of Hall Croft Farm which also runs a 5 star B&B. I love lavender and we often use it in our products, so to think that all this time there was a local source of many varying varieties made me somewhat shame faced.

The day we went was actually rather overcast, so I was very surprised when I walked into the cafe and it was jam packed full of customers. It seems that once you’ve visited, you don’t forget in a hurry and visitors are prepared to travel a distance for a cake. We had tea and cakes, huge cakes in fact that I ate too much of because they were just wonderful! I often whine at the state of shop/cafe bought cakes, they look fantastic but often don’t measure up to my expectations. But these were big, light and tasted homemade.

I took my youngest son who was mesmerised by the chickens wondering about and he absolutely loved running up and down the aisles of lavender.

The cafe sells various gifts as well as food, you can also buy dried lavender by the pot full. But I really fancy returning was they are in full bloom and picking my own. The fact that I will again visit the cafe followed by cake is merely a side benefit 😛

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Fabulous Places Summer Food & Gift Fair!

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Abi

As I’m sure you’re all aware I love attending Creative Events of all kinds. Whether they offer the chance to learn a new skill, or introduce you to artists you might otherwise have never been aware of, they are a creative person’s dream. So I am particularly excited at the moment as the upcoming Fabulous Places Summer Food & Gift Fair is fast approaching. Not only is it offering over 50 retail stalls to excite and entice, there’s also loads of children’s activities and events. Plus so many fabulous food retailers as to threaten to expand your waistband at the sheer sight of them.

But best of all…….

We’ll Be There!

Bit of shameless self promotion there (sometimes you just have to). But it really will be a fantastic event for all the family. With tickets priced at only £1 and under 16s going free, it’s the perfect day out for everyone.

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Wild Flowers everywhere!

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Abi

Last week I found myself admiring the beautiful wild flowers growing along the sides of lanes in Cornwall. If you’ve ever visited Cornwall then you probably have an idea how easy it is to see the side of the lanes, thanks to some insanely narrow roads. I spent a good part of each trip with my hands clenched firmly together, fearful that at any moment we’d meet another car. Thankfully my husband is very good at negotiating these somewhat perilous journeys.

The other day the sun popped out and as we were back in Derbyshire, we thought it was time for a picnic at the National Stone Centre. You might be wondering what’s so interesting about a ‘stone’ centre. In fact it’s a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’ and it’s possible to learn an awful lot there about Natural History. The site is made up of six former quarries, four lime kilns and over one hundred and twenty disused lead mine shafts. But on this visit my attention was on the wild flowers that frequented the area. I spotted more than I could count and took pictures of at least 16 varieties. There were the common ones such as daisies, dandelions and cow parsley but also others whose names I’m not sure of, so if you spot one in these pictures do let me know their name.

These particular flowers are so common that I think it is easy to overlook their beauty. Plus if you look closer, you’ll notice the abundance of bugs. There must be an awful lot of wildlife we normally miss out on.