Busy Day.

The day started with rain, lots of it. I spent the morning in town, went to the usual places, library & post office etc. and met up with 2 friends for coffee and a chat. Cheesecake twice in one week! I am living the wild life. 

As usual on a Friday, especially a wet one in the holidays, town was bustling with shoppers. A busker was playing the Scottish bagpipes in the high Street, though not wearing a kilt and in our small shopping mall groups of youngsters were showing their prowess at street dance.

Markets have been held in Barnstaple since Saxon times but the Pannier Market is only 160 years old. Friday is the day that farmers can sell their wares though a lot of the stalls are traders rather than farmers. The lady on the left sells produce from her organic market garden and she spins and knits the wool from her Jacob sheep. The fruit & veg stall on the right is one of 2 in the market, their produce is a bit cheaper but the quality is not so good so I buy from the other one.

I don't like the taste of olives but I love their smell so I have a good sniff as I pass the olive stall with its many varieties of olives. On the other side of the aisle the ladies from the Gurkha restaurant sell hot take away curries, they smell lovely too. 

 Many of the farmers' stall had daffodils for sale.

One stall here has a selection of home baking and the other has home made chutneys, pickles and jams.

I also drove over to Lidl's and took back the car seat covers. I can live with the old ones and instead I'll use the money to buy plants for my hanging baskets. It's a bit early to be planting up the summer hanging baskets but BJ's had some special offers which I wanted to take advantage of. I bought the white trailing lobelia that I found so difficult to find last year (and then they flowered blue!) and then I couldn't resist buying violas and pansys for some early colour. There were so many colours to chose from but in the end I fell for these rust and yellow violas and pansys which I've crammed into a basket with garlic chives and a coriander plant hoping to foil the slugs. It stopped raining in the afternoon so I was able to get the pressure washer out and clean the paving by the barbecue so I feel I've done a good day's work. I'll have to get some more hose before I can clean the paving around the conservatory.