Yesterday morning, I met up with the other ladies from the Rural at Southdean, and we were soon on the bus and heading south to Heighley Gate garden centre, just outside Morpeth. We did have a small detour on the way, as the driver was relying on his satnav, which took us on a rather scenic route. On arrival, first stop of course was the Ladies, then second stop was the coffee shop for a cuppa and some of the biggest scones known to man - they are probably visible from the moon!! (however I didn't want to embarrass my friends by taking photos - you do get some strange looks when you photograph your food in public!)
However, once we started looking round the plants, I had ample oppottunities for photos. First was this wonderful collection of different varieties of lavender
This put me in the mood for blues and purples, as seen in the following photos
As we came out of the garden centre to get back on the bus to go into Morpeth, I snapped this gorgeous old car
You can imagine my surprise, when five minutes later it overtook the bus!!
Having used up the calories from our scones with some shopping (I think we inspected every item of ladies' clothing in Rutherford's department store) we then headed to the pub for lunch. Now, I am sure you all know that food eaten on a day out does not count (Ithink that may be diet rule number 7), so I had something which I love, but rarely eat ...... pizza!! Not just any pizza, but a hot'n'spicy pizza, with spicy meatballs and jalapenos (yum, yum, yum!!). A glass of wine might also have been consumed. After lunch
(sorry, there was an interruption to typing, as Malcolm got a bit over-excited ..... he's watching football on tv - Aston Villa v Newcastle (his team) ...... Newcastle are teetering on the edge of relegation, but Manchester United have just scored against Hull, which helps Newcastle ..... if you don't follow football, that was all a bit meaningless to you!!)
to resume ..... after lunch we returned to shopping - or perhaps I should say browsing round the shops, because we didn't actually buy anything! But I wouldn't want you to think we are very shallow, and weren't paying attention to the lovely architecture in Morpeth, so here is the Town Hall
and the Clock Tower
All too soon, it was time to get back on the bus and head for home - the driver didn't use the satnav, so we didn't have any interesting detours! As we crossed the border, I phoned Malcolm, so by the time I got home, his fish pie was cooked to perfection, and with a glass of white wine, was the perfect end to a lovely day out.
It's day two of the giveaway ..... day one was something for knitters, so today is something for sewers ..... this gorgeous YLI thread.
Oh dear, Aston Villa have scored (that's BAD!) ..... but we 've just channel hopped to the cricket, in time to see England win decisively against the West Indies, by six wickets.
ps - my football team, Airdrie United (except for me they will always be Airdreionians, aka the Diamonds) are also involved in a relegation play-off - it's just all too much!!!
pps Malcolm has just read the post, and I'm having to add this pps, to say that Morpeth means 'murder path' ... from the days of cross-border raids, when the raiders travelled through what is now Morpeth .... of course the town's other claim to fame is that Malcolm was born there!!!