As you might have guessed from the rather large gap between posts we have been away for a long weekend. Anyone from this country will immediately recognize where we headed to first thing on Saturday morning after a long day spent in the car on Friday.
It is of course The Eden Project, in Cornwall.
We went there when we first thought about this lifestyle change of ours way back in 2008, to try to pick up tips and ideas and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time on that visit too. This time we were simply wanting a repeat visit whilst Lovely Hubby still has is digs down south, just so that I could drive to to pick him up and then he could take over the driving for the final five hours of the journey.
We didn't really pick up on any more tips or new ideas during this visit but we did have a lovely relaxing day. Wandering around in the heat of the Rainforest and Mediterranean biomes whilst a heavy shower went on outside. By the time we stepped outside again the sky had cleared and we could wander the grounds in comfort.
I had to get a snap of LH conversing with a chubby Blackbird (sat on the sign).
Afterwards before going back to the hotel we called to St Austell for a walk along the bay.
As you can see from the photos it was a beautiful evening.
High up the hill we stopped for a breather on a bench, once the view would have been amazing from there but Mother Nature was claiming back her ground leaving only gaps to peer through.
After a lovely meal out and a good sleep we spent most of Sunday traveling along to Romsey near Southampton to break our journey home on Monday.
Then to round off our weekend away we called in at two National Trust properties on our way home on Monday. First we went to Mottisfont and had a good mooch about the house and garden, and then onto The Vynes, which is close to where LH lives during the week. I love the walled vegetable garden here, in fact I love to visit any National Trust property that has a good vegetable plot .... even in preference to a manicured garden.
Although you can't see much in this photo there was lots of bee activity around the hives.
Dropping LH off at his digs I made my way through the horrendous Monday night weather to get home just in time for bed.
These sort of weekends recharge our batteries, fill us with new inspiration and occasionally reassure us that we are on the right track in doing what we are doing. Seeing how food used to be produced, how lives used to be lived make us even surer in our minds that we need to be as far away from modern consumerism as we possibly can be and firmly on the road to self sufficiency in as many areas as possible.
It's good to be home.
Sue xx
