March 2019 - Part 2

 We stayed overnight in Kent (Just in a premier inn, nothing too fancy) and we started to head home. We made a point of making two stops en route to break up the journey. First of all, we stopped off Sevenoaks to feed some friends. 

Sevenoaks is perhaps a misnomer, as most of the original oaks were blown down in the great storm of 1987. Its infamous in British consciousness, as well as a reference point for any storm, made more famous by a clip from the BBC, where one of the most respected weathermen of the day, Michael Fish, told the nation there was no hurricane on the way. (Although he did also say there would be strong winds and a lot of rain, but that bit gets forgotten about). The great storm of 87 was one of the strongest and most destructive England, and particularly the south had ever experienced. I've heard my grandparents discuss it frequently whenever a storm is forecast to approach. The devastation in Sevenoaks was particularly acute, the historical seven oaks which give the town its name, all but one were blown down. In an interesting twist of fate, there is now 8 oak trees on the site, so perhaps we should change the name to Eightoaks? Just a thought.

But anyway, we found a nice little wooded area around some ponds, and we took a bag of bird seed with us and treated the birds there to a lovely Sunday breakfast. 

It was only us there, and it was beautifully quiet, aside from the honking & quacking. We then set off to find our own breakfast, before hopping in the car and continuing our journey home.

We then had a stop at Petworth, which is this beautiful little town around the Petworth estate, which has a large park and house. The park was originally designed by Capability Brown, and are both expansive and pleasing, with wide sweeping views peppered with trees to create interest in the landscape. There's also a large deer park too. The house is beautiful, built in the Baroque style in 1688, replacing a former house on the same site. The house was closed when we visited, but I am determined to go back, as it  has a vast collection of art and sculpture inside.

There was some beautiful blooms and blossom starting in the gardens, and later on we saw the most magnificent Magnolia tree

More friends to feed! Not often you see ducks, geese and a moorhen feeding together!

The view across the lake towards the house

It was a shame to leave, but we will definitely be returning, the town also has a little museum, as well as lots of little shops and independent traders, including a very nice looking wine shop.

A few nights later, we had another Tetris Jenga tournament, which ended with the most awful tower that wobbled every time you even looked at it, let alone touched it.

I then had an evening out with some friends a bit later in the month, we stopped off at one of the local restaurants Sadler's, having this incredible dinner, before heading out for a few drinks. 

And low and behold, in Brewdog, they also had Tetris Jenga, and as we discovered it a lot harder to play after a few drinks! I think also we tried to sabotage each other, hence this most ridiculous tower!

And finally, with the ending of March came the warmer weather, and to my surprise while I was eating lunch one day at home before heading into work for a late shift, I heard a noise above me, and discovered one of the local cats sunbathing and snoozing above me on the roof of the conservatory.. 

Oh to be able to lay on someone's roof and snooze all day in the sun. Wouldn't that just be lovely?