The Lavender Festival

Hello! It's been hot this week, most days reaching 35 degrees or more. But, we do have a pool, which we made use of on Thursday after work for a quick swim. 

I've also been out and very busy visiting libraries at work. I went to the biggest one in our system which is 35,000 square foot, and also one of the smallest, which was just one small room. The large one is on the top of a hill and has glass windows all along one side, so you can look out at the view while you read. 

This one has the prettiest inside

This one has the prettiest outside

On Saturday, we drove over to a town called Cherry Valley, to go to the lavender festival. 

They had relaxing music playing all around and it smelt lovely. Our first stop was some lunch, so we got some lavender tea and a fig, goats cheese and lavender pizza to share. We then went into the bread hall which was combination shop and sourdough museum. They had some samples and I tried some lavender olive oil and balsamic vinegar which was very tasty. 

We then went to the 'galleries' which was a series of tiny houses, each just one room and a tiny shop inside. They had one set for independent vendors selling everything from specialty chocolates to parasols, and another for products from the farm itself. They had a honey room, an olive oil room, an essential oil room and more.   

Outside the shops

Inside the shops

Mitchell inspecting the bees

We then went to the sheep maze (a little maze which had fun facts about sheep in it) and 'Mary's Little village' which was three little houses where you could look through the windows and imagine what Mary and her little lamb's day would look like. There was a little school room, a shop and a newspaper office, all decorated with sheep and small cute things. 


Sheep school

They also had some outdoor markets, selling items made from the lavender and small plants. We bought some lavender pillow spray to help us sleep and then went to see the petting zoo. It was very small, and the animals were out in the heat, so we didn't bother them for too long. 

The outdoor market

It was then time for the main event. They had two fields full of different lavender varieties which you could walk through. One was big and had no-one else in it and we got some fun pictures. The other one had all the varieties, some were in bloom and very bright, while others still had a little while yet to go. 

We also went to go and see the old oak tree, which was apparently 1500 years old! It was pretty big, but unlike the old oak at Sherwood forest, there were no restrictions around it and you could go right up to it. 

We then made one last stop under the trees at the food stands and got some lavender ice-cream and lavender lemonade which was really tasty. 

Lavender lemonade and lavender ice-cream

It was a really lovely day out, with a lot of different things to see and everything was decorated in some fashion. Because it was really hot that day, everyone was just walking around really slowly and it wasn't too busy, which made for a nice relaxing day.


They had sofas and chandeliers dotted around

Round the back of a food stand

Just some toasty trees

On Sunday, we went to the cinema to see the new Jurassic World film, and when we got there, they had a line of cars from the franchise outside and the theme music playing! It was pretty fun to see them all, especially as we weren't expecting it that day! 


Lots of Love,

Emily and Mitchell

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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