Hampton Court Flower Show and the Further Summer Adventures of Victoria Plum - Part One

I went to my first RHS Flower Show last Friday!!! It was great ... I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds, but it was worth it to see all the lovely gardens and we did manage to escape the hoards by heading to the champagne bar! I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a Country Living tent! With a Joules stall (yes, this is truly an obsession!).

I spent my pennies on seeds from Rebekah's Vegetable Seeds (peas - Feltham First, turnip - Manchester Market, tomato - Roma, squash - Waltham Butternut, onion - White Lisbon, Chinese Chives) and Growing Old who specialise in Heritage and Heirloom seeds (tomato - Yellow Grape, pepper - Long Red Marconi, basil - petra red for my Dad as he loves purple basil, sweet pea - Everlasting and Grandiflora Mixed Collection and some mixed lettuce). I also got a lovely flower for the garden ... but I can't remember what it is called!

What a lovely day ... and the rain held off! What a lovely start to my slightly longer than usual weekend!

On Saturday we popped to Wimbledon village to have a look at the Joules sale (!) I got a lovely dress and skirt - both were half price!

I also ended up in the Cath Kidston sale .... and got a new mac ... so ended up spending a bit more than planned, but I have sold some old stuff on ebay this week - so that has made me feel slightly better (such a once for impulse purchases when egged on by Mr Plum! No more shopping for Victoria Plum this summer :)

After a lovely breakfast in the local Giraffe we headed off to B&Q to pick up a few house bits and of course ended up in Ikea ....

Saturday night was spent watching Prisoner of Azkhaban and Goblet of Fire whilst knitting something for the Sleepover Swap I am doing. I can't wait to see Half Blood Prince!!!!!

Sunday was much lazier ... housework and gardening before heading into town to join my brother for drinks to celebrate the 10th anniversary of him moving down to London to start his job at Claridges! He doesn't work there anymore, but had some drinks there - which was very luxurious and completely excessive - but a rather nice treat for a Sunday evening!

All in all, a lovely weekend! The good news is that I have booked this Friday and the following Monday off work - woohoo! We were going to go camping, but have decided that as the weather is a tad unpredictable, we will stay at home and do a few bits at home. I hope that you are all having lovely weeks!

I'm nearing my first blogging birthday - time for another giveaway methinks! Keep reading!

Wonderful Rye!

We had originally planned to go to Berlin with  some friends for Mr Plum's birthday ... but due to other commitments (well, the friends being invited to a wedding oop North!) we had to postpone. I had been looking forward to getting away from London for a day or two, so put on my thinking cap and tried to find an alternative .... 

I have always wanted to visit Rye.  One of my favourite programmes "Mapp and Lucia" was filmed there (and I can't wait to go back to my parents for Christmas so that I can watch their DVD!) and it always sounds like the most enchanting place to visit.  I wasn't disappointed.

Last Friday afternoon we hopped on a train and started our journey down to Rye.  We got there at about 4pm, it was cold and dark ... but we were greeted by the prettiest  streets and Christmas lights.  We stayed at The George Hotel on the High Street, so headed there to drop off our bags before going out for a walk around town.  We wandered along the cobbled (some quite steep) streets and found a lovely pub where I tried a small glass of the local cider.  We then walked on to find a pretty little pub (re-built in the 1600's) with a roaring fire and radio 2 playing in the background.  We stopped there for tea and a drink and then headed back to the hotel.

After a lovely breakfast of poached eggs on toast, we checked out (but left our bags at the hotel) and wandered around Tilling, sorry, I mean Rye.  Our first stop was the Tourist Information Centre where I picked up a map of Tilling with all the main places from the books by E.F Benson.  The Rye Christmas festival was due to start with a procession through the town at 4.30 with drummers, pipers and ..... Father Christmas!

We pottered around for hours and hours, looking around antique shops, craft shops, kitchen shops, antique kitchen craft shops .... stopped for hot chocolate (with cream and marshmallows) and a huge piece of homemade battenburg cake (delish!), had chips for lunch, and walked around some more!  

I bought lots of bits and pieces ... new thicker knitting needles and some lovely wool, Cath Kidston notelets, crafty bits, Mapp & Lucia book (of course!), Christmas presents ..... the shops there are wonderful! Everyone is so friendly ...

We easily spent from 10am until 4pm pottering around ... after a couple of glasses of mulled wine by the fire in The Mermaid Inn, we headed off to find a good spot to watch the procession.

At 4.30 the procession arrived outside The George Hotel and after a visit from Father Christmas in a horse-drawn carriage, the Mayor turned on the lights of the Christmas tree outside the hotel and we watched the fireworks display.  

Here is a clip from "Mapp & Lucia" from Youtube .... this one has lots of Rye (which was used as the location for "Tilling")

At one time, Rye was surrounded on three sides by the sea ... and although the sea receded hundreds of years ago, the town still has a "seaside" feel to it.  I think that next time we visit we will hire a car so that we can drive out and visit the other Cinque ports and Camber Sands.

Sadly, at nearly 6pm we had to start our way back up to London (which, of course, was an absolute nightmare on the trains...).  I would like to live in Rye.