Lavender's blue dilly dilly

SOMERSET LAVENDER

Topping up the little heart shaped sachets in my shop has left me low on lavender, so Mc, Sophie and I went to Somerset Lavender in Faulkland somewhere between Frome and Radstock to replenish supplies.

This is a very photogenic place. Sophie took her camera and props to do a photo session, and almost every one else was taking photos. The view of the lavender garden and fields was stunning, the fragrance wonderful.

It is great to be able to source lavender products from within Somerset.

This is a family run farm. They grow, harvest and distill lavender to make essential oils, soap and other toiletries as well as producing a culinary grade lavender which features in some of the recipes used in the cafe.

Originally I had planned to arrive in time for the 11am farm tour. Tours are not every day, so I was fortunate that there was one on the day I was going. After a horrific choking incident involving No1 son and a detour to drop papers off at college we arrived in time for lunch. We will catch the tour another time. The cafe menu had choices suitable for us all, so we decided to eat before looking round. The cafe and part of the shop are housed in the same area, so we got a good look at the items available for sale.

Here one of the cats seeks shade by some camomile. Wild life abounds here. As well as the butterflies and bees that love the lavender there is a pond that attracts dragonflies.

We were taking photos in the field to the sound of humming bumble bees. There are also honey bees making honey in the farm's bee hives.

The rows of lavender were providing runways for speedy young children.

There is lots of space to move around plenty to see and loads to photograph. I liked the willow tunnel and the vegetable garden. A lot of the food in the cafe is home grown. This place is a sensory playground with great sights, smells and even sounds (especially the acoustics in the plant sale area). Everyone was rubbing the tips of lavender plants between their fingers to release the fragrance. Lavender scones were on the menu at the cafe. I had Ceylon and lavender tea.

I'm going back for some lavender, but took home a candle, soap, essential oils and a greetings card.

Farm opening times and details are on http://www.somersetlavender.com/

Junk shop joy

I've hit apon an idea to get rid of some of my stuff. I've open a shop! I'm on a scheme with the jobcentre. I get a mentor and 6 months trial.

Running a shop takes up a lot of time and that's my excuse for not updating my blog. Three months in to the scheme I can see the apeal of having a shop, but wish I could aford to have an assistant. It's great having happy customers, but I need to be out and about finding new stock.

I do get to spend time making things like the heart shaped lavender bags and crochet biscuits while waiting for customers.

Now of course I have an excuse for buying lovely vintage items or more fabric. The local auction is a great way to spend every other Saturday.