Hatfield House and Gardens

Hatfield House and its beautiful grounds and gardens has always been one of my favourite places to visit for the day. The house itself is steeped in Elizabethan and Jacobean style and has a Victorian political history. The gardens date back to the early 17th century and there is a stable area which is now a shopping area with exclusive gifts, jewellery and a restaurant serving snacks, lunches and refreshments. There's also a farm and children's play area so plenty to keep young children occupied. 

Take a wander round the gardens...

Fruit Picking

There's nothing like the taste of freshly grown and picked summer fruits - something that's always a treat on a hot summer's day. 

A visit to a fruit farm is always a lovely day out with family or friends - enjoying the sunshine and coutryside, enjoying good company and searching for the best ripe and juicy fruits in anticipation of later in the day when you're going to enjoy and savour eating them with afternoon tea or for dessert after dinner. 

We enjoyed a lovely day at a local fruit farm in Gravely. It was a hot summer's day and we arrived in time to have some lunch sitting in the cafe garden. We had a lovely time picking strawberries and filling up our punnet baskets, then finished off our afternoon with ice creams and tea. Baby Freddie loved seeing the farm pigs and then enjoyed the swings in the children's play area. We enjoyed a barbeque later and had fresh strawberry meringues with cream for pudding. There were plenty of strawberries left, which we've frozen ready to use in fruit smoothies or with ice cream. Yum! 

Lavenders Blue

Lavender is always one of my summer favourites and a visit to the local lavender fields at Hitchin is always something I look forward to. At Hitchin Lavender, there are breathtaking fields of lavender set amongst the rolling Hertfordshire countryside - rows upon rows of lavender reaching uphill towards the sky. 

For a small entrance fee, you can walk around and in the lavender and fill your own paper bag full of lavender cuttings to take home - a perfect treat on a hot summer's day. There's also a delightful tearoom serving snacks, lunches and afternoon teas - set in the farm barns with a gift shop, lavender nursery and tea garden. We arrived in time for lunch, then went to explore the views and fields and spend some time picking lavender. After that thirsty work, it was time for an afternoon tea...obviously scones with jam and fresh clotted cream! 

One of those very memorable hot day's of summer. 

Hot July

A little sunny and hot weather and the bright flaming colours of the July plants start coming into their best. The reds of the perlargonium pots, the oranges of the crocosias and vivid pink shades of the begonias are tempered and softened by the gentle, soft hues of the lavenders, hydrangeas and anenomes, which are also springing into bloom. 

Honeysuckle and climbing roses are racing up the walls and trellises in full flower now and giving off heady scents in the hot sunshine and balmy nights. The archway around the front door is swathed in honeysuckle and I keep finding myself stopping and loitering for a few minutes under the front porch, as I breathe in the beautiful perfume that lingers. The rose and honeysuckle tend to flower on and on all summer and will often continue through into December if the weather remains mild. 

This is always a magnificent time in the garden, the whole garden a jumble of spectacular colour; the whole garden buzzing with bees and butterflies amongst the froth of flowers.