My Storm

Before The Storm

The Lavender Farm

field of lavendin

"Fancy a day in Kent?" asked emminlondon.  A break from Brexit, politicians, imploding political parties and to top it off clean air!  I leapt at the opportunity.

In less than an hour the woes of London were far behind me, even unreliable Southern Rail behaved and the train actually turned up and kept to schedule.

It was a glorious day as we drove through the lovely countryside and passed through quaint English villages until we reached the lavender farm.  Wow.  Our timing was perfect, it is just a week or two away from harvest so the fields were looking their picture postcard best.

In Victorian times this part of Kent was renown for growing hops.  As recently as the 1950's and 60's working class families from London would spend their annual holidays picking the hops which would then be transported to London to be traded at the Hop Exchange. Times change and for the family farm to remain viable they needed to diversify.  Beef, apples, dried flowers and honey are among the new products, but the biggest crop is lavender covering 85 acres making it the largest lavender farm in the UK.

field of lavender

To get a closer look at the fields and learn about the behind the scenes workings of the farm we took the one and half hour tour.  Starting in a magnificent field of lavendin with a flower stem in hand gently squeeze the flower bud to get the full nest of the scent, then off to an equally grand field of lavender to learn the difference between the two.  Well what is the difference you ask?  A rather big one actually.  Lavender is what we traditionally know, what our grannies put in the underwear draw, the little sachets under the pillow to help you sleep.  Yes it is a relaxant.  Lavendin on the other hand does the exact opposite, it is a stimulant and has a much stronger camphor smell.  Then it was off to the distillery to learn how the oil is extracted and the various products that are made.  Oils, balms and essences.  Medical uses and culinary uses.  Who knew that lavender was such a versatile crop.  Then it was a quick exit through the gift shop and off to explore more of the countryside, but that's for another post.

Castle Farm
Redmans Lane
Shoreham
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN14 7UB

http://hopshop.co.uk

Roadside gnomes in the Karoo

I always go on about all the treasures one get to discover when road tripping.  Well known landmarks, inadequately marked but well worth taking turnoffs, interesting attractions, beautiful views, fascination people, lekker food, unusual sights and so much more.  Driving back to Port Elizabeth from Graaff-Reinet the other day I passed through the town of Jansenville and a few kilometers outside of town spotted something from the corner of my eye.  My head swung to the right and I had to make a double take.  Was that a garden gnome I just saw next to the road?  "Full stop, Mister Chekov." Or Mr Sulu if you're still an old school Trekkie fan.  Sharp turn to starboard, u-turn made and back for a closer look.

And no, I wasn't mistaken.  Two garden gnomes sitting on an old drum next to the road, one in Springbok colours and the other wearing the Southern Kings colours, watching the traffic go by.  I seem to remember reading something about a gnome that used to sit around here that was broken off by some passing idiot, so this must be the spot and they're probably his replacements.  Two, so that they can keep each other company and chat about rugby and the weather. 

Not-real cats

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C is for constructed cats.

As if Israeli cities don't have enough stray cats roaming the streets, some Tel Aviv neighborhoods have added cat sculptures.
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(Linking to ABC Wednesday.)
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