A treasure trove of locally grown seasonal flowers found at the garden gate stall

I am seeing my mother-in-law tomorrow and I always like to have a small gift to give her, so I headed out this afternoon in the rain in search of some pretty flowers for her.

A short drive away from my home is a smallholding that had a garden/farm gate stall – it often is a treasure trove of locally grown produce and the most beautiful flowers (all of which you can see growing just through the hedge).

This is where I headed straight for, although you can often turn up and the stall be empty – such is the loveliness, I think, of a garden gate stall: you never know what you’ll find.

Luckily for me, today it was laden with buckets and jam jars of flowers from their patch.  When I see such a sight, I usually go a bit doo-lally and if I had enough coins in my purse I would most likely buy the lot.  Sadly I had limited funds and therefore had to choose what I wanted.

For my mother-in-law I chose a gorgeous bunch of ranunculus in hot yellows, reds, pinks and oranges; and two bunches of anemones in shades of purple, lilac and blush.  Together they look like a rainbow.  I also couldn’t resist a small bunch of sweetpeas for myself in delicate creams and pink.

Happy is a girl with a big bunch of seasonal, locally grown English flowers.

 

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A stop over in Somerset discovering farm gate stalls and the best breakfast view in England

Last weekend Mr Rigg and I headed to Cornwall for a long weekend.  In order to break up the 5 hour journey we set off after work on Thursday and made a stop-off in Somerset, staying at a beautiful B&B called Farndon Thatch.

Arriving at about 7pm we decided to stop at a local pub for dinner before checking in.  We came across The Crown Inn at Fivehead, where we were met with a warm welcome and a menu prided on being homecooked by the owners Steve and Jacqui.  Mr Rigg couldn’t resist a curry and I went for a slice of homemade venison pie.

And what a slice it was – huge, stuffed full of flavoursome meat, and possibly the best pastry I’ve ever had.  It wasn’t cheffy or fancy food, but just really nice homecooked meals, just what we needed.  We were also entertained by a stunning fish tank with living rocks and a host of unusual creatures.