Wednesday 30th July - Magical mystery tours

 This morning we went out to visit a garden centre. BB had been there a couple of times as it is a handy place to while away a couple of hours while the car is at the nearby garage for servicing. 

He had discovered that

• It has an excellent cafe with outdoor seating 
• The indoor shop area is airy and spacious 
• There's lots to see
• It's pretty much deserted until about 11am

All of which makes it an excellent place for me to enjoy for a bit of 'retail therapy', a coffee and a cake. I have a weakened immune system so crowded indoor spaces, and especially cafes and restaurants are no-go areas unless we both wear masks. BB has to mask up in order to avoid catching anything too.

We knew the route; it's notvfar, only about 30 mins by car, but something went wrong about 10 minutes away. Suddenly all the shops and houses looked slightly wrong... we must have missed a turning. Still, it was a pleasant drive through previously unknown little villages until we circled back. I'd always wondered where Wivelsfield was, and now I know.

The garden centre had lots to look at - so much so that I never made it out to the plants! I was enchanted to see a little crocodile of small children from a local nursey making their way through the shop holding hands in pairs and led by a woman pushing a double buggy and another double buggy bringing up the rear. I watched as they visited all their favourite areas in turn, lingering over the tanks of tropical and garden pond fish. It was clearly a regular outing. I wonder if the toy shop area was included on their route...

I think sitting in cafes and people watching is something I miss the most. 

Going home, we took a different route to avoid some road works. For some reason we often take the wrong exit from the fast-paced main dual carriage way, and today was one of those days. So we skipped Handcross (location of 'The Toll-Gate', for Georgette Heyer fans) and wended our way along narrow leafy lanes through Warninglid and Slaugham instead. We weren't in any hurry. 

The afternoon's entertainment was provided by the building works next door. They 'found' a gas pipe which wasn't in the place marked on the plans. Apparently they had only slightly damaged it, so bound it with tape and called the gasman. It wasn't very long before another two gas vans joined the first, to repair the pipe properly. Meanwhile the first man walked up and down outside with his gas leak detector - and now we have mysterious symbols marked on the pavement outside our house and a couple either side.

Now what...?

Music

Bernard Cribbins, of course!