A dreamy date with myself

Back in 2019 I had one of the best days by myself. It was one of those weekends where Mr Poachie was away and my friends all had plans but I didn't want to waste a gorgeous sunny day so I decided to book in some of my favourite activities and enjoy some quality time for myself.

Having travelled solo I'm not fazed by doing things like this. Obviously it's more fun to spend time with other people but the benefits of being alone is that you can do things 100% your way! And no-one gets annoyed with me for taking 1000's of photo's.

To start my day I booked in an outdoor session of yoga that was taking place at Eggs to Apples Farm shop. The weather was divine and it was a lovely beginners session (I'm not very good at yoga I have short hamstrings and can't touch my toes) but I liked the flow and being outdoors with these stunning views.

After an hour of vinyasa flow I treated myself to a cappucino and a pastry to rebalance the hour of exercise.

I had a mooch around the shop and bought some yummy bits for me and some beers for Mr Poachie.

The farm shop is located in Kent near Sissinghurst Castle so I drove over to visit their gardens which ae are incredible in the Summer.

I don't visit Sissinghurst as often as I would like as it's about 50 minutes from where I live but I always enjoy my visit. The garden was in full bloom and there is so much to stop and see.

I do love a garden statue.

Sorry for all of my photo's from Sissinghurst, It's impossible not to take so many! 

 I have also written a previous posts on it here - it is a photographers dream.

They have a variety of different gardens; the white garden, the walled garden and also an estate walk which I have done before but I didn't do this time.

You can also go inside the castle and climb the stairs to the top for some spectacular views of the Kent countryside.

After spending the rest of the morning here wandering around and taking photo's Mr Poachie called me and was back from his trip away so suggested he drive over to meet me for lunch. 

At the time, The walled garden nursery was open in Hawkhurst and it is one of my favourite places to go so I asked him to meet me there. 

I have just found our that it has been bought and under new ownership so hopefully it will reopen this year!

The Walled Garden Nursery serves up delicious home made meals like quiches and salads and they also serve Chapel Down wine so that is what I ordered! It was lovely and quiet so we sat in the shade in the garden and enjoyed our meals. 

I think that is one of the things I have most about being in lockdown and being in Winter is not being able to visit a nice garden for a slice of quiche in the sunshine! 

I have many places I want to visit as soon as we are able to.

They used to sell lovely things in the gift shop like candles, planters, photo frames, cards. 

And no visit would have been complete without a snoop inside the Victorian greenhouses and choosing a succulent to purchase.

Such a yummy lunch!

The cafe inside is like a garden tool shed. I love all of the old fashion garden implements.

We pretty much had the place to ourselves!

After lunch, the final place on my agenda to visit was Scotney Castle. It is on the drive home and I wanted to make the most of the sunshine so we headed off for our last stop of the day!

Scotney Castle is one of my favourites to visit and you can read my old posts on my visits here, here and here. I think the photo's can explain why I adore it so much!

There was a jazz on the lawn event which was so fun to have the music going on in the background as we wandered about.

Life was so much simpler then when you could just turn up and not worry about having to book!

Although truth be told I do prefer that element of things as it means you can guarantee parking etc.

Scotney is great to visit whichever season you go but for me Summer always wins. When England is lush and green and the flowers are fighting for space and all vying for your attention is what makes me happiest.

After walking around the ruins and the mote we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed the music. 

Even though this was meant to be a whole day by myself I was very glad to have have Mr Poachie for company.

I have written my list of places that I want to visit once the weather is better and once lockdown has been lifted. It is much of the same really but after not being allowed to go anywhere for such a long time I am keen to visit vineyards, the bluebell woods, steam trains, picnic spots and the beach!

I'm sure there will be plenty of National Trust visits too...

Sorry this was such a long post! I just had so many lovely pictures that I wanted to share with you all!

Thank you for reading 😊