Singing in the Rain

I took my first passenger in Bertie Bus (since lockdown) today - Louise and I went to Mayfield Lavender Field and we both wore our face masks in the car, had the windows open, and of course because of the size of Bertie, with Louise sat in the back seats, we were more than 2 meters apart.  

I picked her up at 8.40am and we arrived at the lavender field by 9.30am which was perfect as there was hardly anyone there.  I've only ever been before when it's been really busy, and of course as it wasn't a sunny day I guess that helped.  I bought this umbrella off Amazon and it arrived yesterday so was perfect not only a prop, but during the intermittent rain showers.  One guy asked if he could borrow it to take some photos, but I refused in light of Covid, and he understood - I said I would normally but not now.  And a little boy who must have been about 2 years old saw it and couldn't take his eyes off it, he just stood looking at it, and even when his mum picked him up and started walking away, he was still looking at it :-)

We spent about an hour an a half in the lavender and then took a slight detour home via Knepp Castle Estate in West Grinstead.  I'd seen photos on Facebook of storks and wanted to go and see them before they fledge.  There was an attendant in the car park who gave me a map and showed me where the storks are, so we set off walking.  Luckily it wasn't too far, and when we arrived at the tree we could see the nest but no sign of any storks.  We didn't have to wait for long though until we noticed a head appearing and then soon after the parents flew in with food so there was quite a lot of action, It was wonderful to see.

I got home about 5pm, so after planning just a morning out, it turned out to be a full day, but it's been lovely, and after dinner Alan and I just chilled out in Palace - a perfect end to the day.