Dunstanburgh and Alnwick Gardens

We left in good time to get into the Craster car park as it is half term so would be full later. Mr C and Tim got the ticket but for only 3 hours (£6) as the didn’t notice all day was £8. This meant we didn’t have time to walk to Newton by the Sea so we just went to Dunstanburgh then along a bit of beach and had the picnic on the way back. It was sunny with a cool wind.

Bev and Tim wanted to see Alnwick Gardens so Mr C dropped us there while he went to Lidl for some birthday Cava and other supplies - he’s not into the gardens and Bev and Tim thought it over-commercialised compared with NT which he works for. It was heaving and there were awful burger stalls and cocktail huts just not conducive to a lovely garden. In the walled part we met friends Marion and Ken up from Newcastle, admiring the peonies.

A nice happening was stopping to see fields of a blueish mauvish flower which Bev said was flax but my Seek app said something else. A couple of cyclists also stopped . They were horticulturalists from Vancouver and we had a lovely chat. They had cycled from London and are going home from Glasgow.

It was warm on our terrace when we got back so we had a cup of tea and cake then Bev and Tim walked to the village to buy us some wine and a no-dairy margarine spread for her. I made padron peppers and a tomato, pepper, radish, spring onion salad with a pomegranate molasses and sumac dressing. Then we had a one baked oven dish of potato, caper, tomato, garlic, olive, caper and lemon salmon with asparagus. Fresh pineapple and kiwi to follow.

We’ve had a lovely day. Tomorrow we’ll do less than 18000 steps!