Forde Abbey and gardens

After going to Beer we decided to head back home and see if we could stop off somewhere else on the way.  I suggested that if we were heading past Axminster that we could go to the River Cottage canteen and  enjoy the buzz that the day before had provided.  It was a totally silly suggestion as it was a Sunday and if that wasn't the reason it would be packed out, the fact that people had travelled to the event the day before and thought the exact same thing as me did.  

Instead we bought a couple of bottles of Stinger (we shared a bottle I work in road safety after all) and two amazingly chunky leek and potato pies and decided to head somewhere for a picnic.

We drove a bit further and then followed some signs to Forde Abbey and gardens in the hope it would provide a nice setting on such a beautiful day.  It was a pretty pricey decision but since we still had the rest of the day we figured we could spend a while there, do some reading and wander around as the photos show.

An afternoon at Petersham Nurseries

On our way back from London we took a detour to Richmond and walked down the river to Petersham Nurseries.  

It is a really pretty garden centre with (in addition to plants) a greenhouse where you can have food and drink from the teahouse and a greenhouse where you can buy pottery and suchlike and eat a set menu.  

We personally prefered the teahouse as having a three course meal at a garden centre seems a bit formal to me!

The greenhouse looked like a great place to wile away an afternoon but was a bit busy so we took our tea and cake outside.  I loved the style of this garden centre, adding all the furniture to my mental wishlist and wishing I had a big garden to put it in.