A day out in Kent

We had a lovely day out today when Nick, Katy and I hit the M3 and M25 and head to Tonbridge.

We were planning a day out but I wasn't up to much so it was great to get there and find that it was Tonbride Medieval Fayre in the castle grounds. It was fascinating seeing how people lived, how they ate, how they dressed and how much bigger they were then than they are now. And they say that previous generations were shorter!










It was a lovely event and even Richard turned out and posed for the camera.













The jester was making bubbles using a strap and they were souring high about the crowd, it was fascinating.










We had a trip to the new Slade Community Allotment having taken a gift of some plastic sheeting. It had previously been covering some unused ground at our allotment having been left overs from Brian's foundations so it is recycling the recycling. The site is transformed since we last saw it. At that time it was a bramble patch and I really couldn't see how anyone could even contemplate making it into an allotment. It is fantastic and we will be showing particlar interest in plot 5.









After a lovely lunch we hed home and managed to get to the allotment before dark so I did a bit of harvesting. I picked some leaves for Nick's lunch box,












a couple of tomatoes













a bowlfull of blueberries












and a cat litter tray full of beetroot.

The allotment has been so neglected over the last few weeks that I didn't realise that there was so much and so varied in size.

I think my daily project for tomorrow is going to be pickling beetroot.








I also made the first harvest of fennel seeds. It is crucial to time it right. Too early and they won't dry properly, too late and they will pop all over the allotment.















Talking of daily projects. Yesterdays was refurbishment and reupholstry of the stool I bought at the allotment. This is going to be the stool for the dressing table in the master bedroom and will be covered to match the new curtains (another days project).

I overestimated my daily ability and it only got as far as stripping the seat and getting the old varnish off the legs.

I seem to be better at destruction than creation at the moment.

I forgot to mention that part of the project is converting a one legged stool into a four legged stool. Thankfully it came with three spare legs.