Frome

Last weekend it was Father's Day and P decided that he'd like us to go for a stroll and a cup of tea in Frome, a town not too far away which is one of our favourite places to shop and pootle around in. We haven't been for a while and the afternoon was warm and sunny, so it was perfect for a bit of leisurely wandering.

Frome (pronounced froom) is a pretty Somerset town on the river Frome founded by the Romans, then the Saxons and mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a rich history and has a high concentration of listed buildings, originally based around the wool and cloth industry. Most of its terraced cottages are weavers' cottages and are three stories high with the top floor originally a work space housing the weavers' looms. After falling a little into decline in recent years it has been rejuvenated and is now a thriving centre for arts and culture with a distinctly bohemian flavour, with an annual festival as well as regular artisan markets and vintage fairs. 

We headed to St Catherine's Hill, a cobbled, steeply winding street which runs up and out of the centre and is the artisan quarter of Frome.

It's full of little independent shops of the vintage, craft, recycled and antiques variety, and is a fascinating place to while away an hour or so. Most of these shops are only open from Wednesday to Saturday, so as we were there on a Sunday they were closed, which is probably a good thing from my purse's point of view. As we wandered down I took photos of the shop fronts which we passed. There are reflections on some of them as it was such a sunny day it was hard to find angles to take my photos from. 

Are you ready for a wander? Right, off we go ...

Here's my favourite yarn shop. The owners are very imaginative with their window displays and are always friendly and helpful.

Their window displays are usually seasonally-themed and I love to look at the crocheted blankets and knitted bunting and tea cosies.

This is a pretty shop full of lovely homewares and woolly sheep.

Next is my favourite bead shop.

I loved these colourful baskets in the window of another shop.

There are some gorgeous vintage clothes shops too.

As we walked down the hill, views of winding alleys and high pavements appeared around corners.

Here's a gorgeous sewing shop which sells the most wonderfully colourful collection of fabrics and pretty trimmings.

And now a shop selling soaps and toiletries made with herbs and natural ingredients. When it's open the scent wafting down the hill is very fragrant.

It was quite quiet on the hill with not many people around, which made photography much easier.

Some of the shops are quite quirky with some interesting objects like this old sign.

The vintage clothes shops are very appealing with pretty floral dresses in the windows.

Another quirky and creative little shop.

And this one which is an artists' collective - the felt masks were amazing.

Finally a lovely homewares shop which I've bought presents from many times, as well as things for our home.

After our stroll up and down the hill it was time for a coffee and a cake here, at one of our favourite cafes. There is a little courtyard garden at the back which was full on this sunny day, so we headed for the new 'next door' section where we all enjoyed a cake and hot drink.

It's a delicious-smelling vegetarian cafe which is also a wholefood shop. We have always enjoyed a snack here, and definitely approved of the new extension to the cafe. One day I'll show you the garden with its herbs, pots, water feature and quince tree. Here's the cosy interior.

Back at the bottom of the hill, it was time to head for home. I hope you enjoyed our little wander around this very old and pretty little town. Next time we visit I'll show you around a bit more x

Lavender Farm

After a week of grey skies and drizzle, we finally had a warm sunny day this weekend,so we headed off to a nearby lavender farm for a short visit. Somerset Lavender opened 10 years ago and has become one of our favourite places.

We usually visit a couple of times each summer, for a wander in the lavender fields and a cup of tea. 

There are lots of other plants to enjoy at the farm besides lavender, like this nepeta, or catmint, which is planted in swathes and is always covered in bees. There's a little herb garden too.

These chives were in flower and attracting lots of bees as well.

There's a large silo which was used to store feed when the farm was a dairy farm. You can see it on the left.

Now it's surrounded by herbs, and inside is a plant-sales area with lots of varieties of lavender for sale. I'm usually tempted to buy a plant or two, and today was no exception. A french lavender, thyme and dianthus accompanied me home.

We sat outside at the cafe and had a cup of tea, and admired the view of the nearby lavender fields. As you can see, they're just starting to turn purple. In full summer it's a lovely haze of colour. Lots of swallows swooped repeatedly over our heads, chasing each other, providing an exciting aerial display. Wish I could've captured them on my camera, but they're much too fast!

We had a look around the shop - so many lovely tempting things, but I restrained myself this time.

Look at this lovely wreath, displayed in the middle of the shop - such lovely colours!

There's an area of beds full of each lavender variety with information about each one.

 We had a wander around these and at the end is a rose arbour absolutely covered in roses.

You can just see the little bench inside. I don't know what variety the roses were but they were gorgeous.

By the end of the visit the sun had gone in, but it was still very warm. When we got back we'd only been gone an hour and a half, but it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon x

A Country Garden

Back in March we visited the Walled Garden at Mells. Set in a pretty village full of stone cottages and sweet gardens, the 17th century garden is very beautiful with views over the nearby rolling hills. It's a popular place, especially at weekends.

There was some very pretty early spring planting, like this wheelbarrow.

It was one of those days that surprise you with their sudden warmth at the end of a long winter. There wasn't a lot happening in the beds, but the structure of the garden was easy to see.

Lots of hellebores and primroses were out, but most of the perennials hadn't got going yet.

These white periwinkles were very striking in a shady hedge.

I went again last weekend with a friend, and we spent a warm, sunny afternoon there. Just look at the difference! The perennials had filled out the garden in a flurry of colour.

There were the most gorgeous ruby red oriental poppies, translucent and glowing in the sunlight.

The fruit trees were in full leaf, and plants spilled pleasingly over beds, creating a lovely patchwork of flowers and leaves.

This single peony was gloriously blowsy, eye-catchingly pink in the sun.

The beds had swathes of purple alliums running through them.

The flowers are globes made up of lots of little stars.

Dotted here and there were features such as bird feeders and wrought iron ornaments and screens.

There was also a plant sales area where you can buy the varieties of plants grown in the garden.

We sat at a table in the shade of a tree and had coffee and cake. I was so busy enjoying myself I forgot to take a photo! This is how the cafe area looked in March.

 After that we wandered and looked at the flowers some more. This wonderful blue iris stood out so well in the mixed borders.

 And this peachy-orange rock rose had lovely crinkly petals.

I looked at a centaurea closely. Those long lavender-blue florets are like a lot of long twirly trumpets.

You can't beat a country garden in the summertime, and although we're not yet officially in the summer, it certainly felt like it that day. 

Henry James put it perfectly: 'Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language'.

Think I'm inclined to agree x.