A Weekend Away

Last weekend (not the one that ended yesterday!) saw H and I off for a long weekend in Sidcup.  Now it might not immediately spring to mind when thinking of somewhere to spend a weekend, but there was method in our madness.

Do you remember last November we met these loons, friends, when they came up to visit?  The wheelchair photobombs everything!!

Well it was time to repay the visit.  I am sure the town was warned and was on high alert for our invasion!  Thankfully Mum and Dad get on with everyone so were happy to join us (& drive - thanks Dad).

The journey down was pretty uneventful, indeed we had a picnic on the way and it was lovely and warm.

H & I in the sunshine.

 Now, I could say that we had a weekend of high culture and didn't go into any pubs but I would be lying on at least one of the counts :-)

I did get up early on the Saturday and met a new friend in person.  C & I are in a carers group online and I really wanted to meet her.  Well, I couldn't go all the way there and not meet the one other person that I knew lived there.  I am so glad it worked out.  We had a real catch up and a fabulous hot choccie.

On the Saturday we went to Rochester.  Did you know that you can go into a pub and not drink alcohol???? (I sound such a lush..........), it was a cold day that day.

The only person in the group who I had not meant was D, the daughter of V & J.  Now, I have been friends with her on FB for ages but we'd not yet met.  When you see the photo below you may wonder why I was so looking forward to meeting her.  D loves SOUR sweets and I fell for the "would you like to try one?".  OMG.  The photo below is the white one - happily I don't have a photo of when I tried the green one.... you'd think I'd learn after the first time.

Still I think I've gotten my own back.

We had a lovely Greek night at P&D's on Saturday night but I was too busy to take many photos.

On Sunday we all split up and did various things.  Mum, Dad, P & I went to Chartwell, when we found it (don't ask).

Chartwell was the principal adult home of Sir Winston Churchill. Churchill and his wife Clementine bought the property, located two miles south of Westerham, Kent, England, in 1922. (taken from the web).  

P also told us that Churchill himself built a wall around the vegetable garden but never put in foundations.  The National Trust who own the building now have to decide whether to rebuild the wall for safety or keep the public away.........

I love the pumpkins hanging up in little nets. They were causing amusement and bewilderment of why they were hanging, but I just assumed that it was to stop the creepy crawlies eating them. 

I absolutely love the rose below.  I don't often go for white flowers but this one was so lovely catching the sun and any ideas what it might be called?

Churchill also ran out of money at the end of his lifetime so his friends paid for the upkeep of Chartwell so he could keep living there.  How fabulous was that?

We used the Travel Lodge in Sidcup and I couldn't have been happier.  A huge bedroom (single beds though :-( ) and our first wet room, boy did it make it easier for H.  We'll def be asking for one in future, when we travel.

Excuse the mess - I must remember to take a photo when we check in not just before we check out! Note the wheelie photobombing again............



PS The rose is called "Ice Cream"