part two: first day in the uk

first stop Grayson Perry's A house for Essex in Wrabness Essex, I visited his exhibition in January of this year 

it was still very early as we had left the ferry at 7:30!! and so we traipsed around Manningtree in search of a café open for breakfast, nothing like the sea air to whet one's appetite

I should be able to manage a couple of plants in pots!

after breakfast (which consisted of scrambled eggs and excellent coffee for me and a full english variety for himself) we trotted off to the Beth Chatto gardens in Elmstead Market near Colchester; I love visiting other people's gardens, not just to get inspired (f.e. lots if different succulents in lots of different pots) I can relax a lot more than in my own garden as I don't have to be worried about all the work involved. Plus there's a fine reward at the end of it all: tea and something sweet, in my case a gluten free scone followed by a visit to the shop where we tend to spend more than we should. I'm considering dedicating an entire post to all the stuff that we have bought on this trip, although it might prove too embarrassing, in which case I won't.

We arrived at our first B&B in Streetly in time for yet another walk before dinner, this time along a Roman road, the most one can say about it is that the Romans sure knew how to draw a straight line, the views fortunately were very fine indeed. I forgot to take photo's so you'll just have to take my word for it.

to be continued