Pre-Christmas Deer Cheer

I didn't get up the lottie today despite the lovely winter sun.  I was busy being driven around Essex, secretly enjoying ordering game for my family's christmas meal, despite me being a vegetarian for over 20 years! So I have reserved a haunch of muntjac deer and a pheasant, both of which will hopefully have had jolly lives before obliteration. I'd prefer the obliteration to not have to happen, but then the family will be eating meat anyway, so we may as well make it as happy-before-death as possible. This is where we get it  http://www.ashlynsfarmshop.co.uk/

Anyway muntjacs have spent the last 40 years making a delicious feast of Mum and Dad's veg and flowers in their lovely garden in Buckinghamshire, and a muntjac wrote off my cousin's car, so we could consider this apt justice.

Essex Sundown 08/12/12

Then it was on to the garden centre: the aim was to purchase some allotment supplies for my family to give to me for christmas- and I was excited at the prospect. I knew they have a huge range of seeds, and their perennial plant selection is extensive and imaginative.

http://www.harlowgardencentre.co.uk/

However there was nothing I wanted this time: they didn't have any peat free compost and I couldn't locate any labels or string. I'll visit again if we need fleece or netting, as it all came by the metre and was good value.  This time the one thing I did take away from the visit was, coming through into the main retail area, I had the impression I'd accidentally wandered into Santa's Grotto-On-Acid.

Essex Festival of Psychedelic Penguin and Reindeer 08/12/12