On Wednesday evening we celebrated our wedding anniversary at Lemon Tree Bistro. We've been five or six times now and we've always enjoyed the food and the relaxing surroundings and some very good service. It's great to have a choice of good places to eat within a few minutes walk of the house. The Lemon Tree and The Crown are our favourites but there's also a good Indian restaurant and a Chinese that we haven't got around to trying yet - we aren't huge fans of Asian food.
Yesterday we took advantage of the continuing glorious weather and ventured a few miles down the road to Helmingham Hall. In the hands of the same family - the Tollemaches - since Tudor times, it is a magnificent and spectacular moated mansion. The house is not open to the public but the gardens are open four afternoons a week and what beautiful gardens they are. Landscaped by the current lady of the manor and Chelsea gold medallist Xa Tollemache there is a formal walled garden, a wildflower walk, a yew walk, a knot garden and much more.
As well as stunning borders, there's an impressive display of topiary which added a nice touch of humour to the visit.
We were lucky enough to see the glorious gardens at their summer best. After walking around and taking in plenty of Xa Tollemache's ideas we enjoyed a pleasant bite to eat at the hall's cafe. Our own garden may be on a substantially smaller scale but our designer is also a Chelsea medallist and I'm sure that, as it matures , the garden will be equally colourful.
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