Out and about all over...Kent, Sussex, the Midlands

Sissinghurst Castle Garden

It's been a jam-packed few weeks. We took Mr Bite's mother up to the Midlands last weekend, revisiting Solihull (south of Birmingham) where Mr Bite spent some of his formative years and taking in the sights of Birmingham and surrounds. The weekend before, we took in local attractions, making use of the many National Trust properties in Kent and Sussex. I thought I would share some photos and highlights.

Bateman's House and Garden

The friendly garden hedge, above, was at Bateman's House and Gardens, the once home of Rudyard Kipling. It is now managed by the National Trust and the house contains various exhibitions on Kipling's life and work. We visited in between spring showers and the outside views were also impressive.

Bateman's garden scenes

Beautiful outdoor scenes can also be found at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, which I was pleased to revisit as I had fond memories from a trip when I was 14. The gardens were less extensive than my 14-year-old memories would suggest (so often the way when returning places as an adult!) but still extensive enough. Open expanses and green stretches are set against smaller, more manicured garden rooms.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden

The spring flowers were a particular highlight and those sections were crowded with colour (the top photo is from Sissinghurst too).

Sissinghurst Castle Garden

I didn't take too many photos in the Midlands because we explored the area fairly thoroughly on our trip in 2012. Also, it was cold, and my hands were often encased in gloves! Nonetheless, it was nice to see Mr Bite's childhood neighbourhood again and take in the modernised Birmingham city centre. We also visited the Black Country Living Museum, which focuses on the industrial and social history of this area of the UK. It's well worth seeing if you're in the area and the underground mine tour was a particularly authentic experience.

Black Country Living Museum

While on our travels, I had the opportunity to try some of Pret a Manger's new vegan range. Pictured below is the chana chaat flat bread, featuring Indian spiced chickpeas with mango compote, coconut yoghurt, red peppers, coriander and spinach. I liked it, and also enjoyed the mushroom and avocado sushi salad with sticky rice, pickled cabbage, miso mushrooms, avocado and edamame beans. Neither was a complete fall-in-love dish, but I'm pleased to have them as readily available options when out and about.

We have a long weekend this weekend, which will provide more opportunities for sightseeing, and I hope also for catching up on day-to-day things at home and online. Recipes may even follow!

What have you been up to lately?

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