Last weekend we were all invited to Colin's Sister's home for a birthday party for baby G, her 1 year old Granddaughter, daughter of my nephew and his wife. During the afternoon Sister in Law handed me an envelope with a card from LAST Christmas from nephew. She had come across it somewhere in her large old farmhouse!
When I got home I discovered it wasn't just a card but a voucher to spend too. What a lovely belated surprise.
I googled to see where I could use it - lot's of restaurants that we don't have locally and some big chain stores that I never go in. Instead I headed out to the Dobbies Garden Centre in Woodbridge, 40 minutes from home.
Many years ago, before Dobbies took over, it was a proper Garden Centre - now they sell all sorts of stuff and even more random things at Christmas.
I wonder if the reindeer is there to frighten the children from touching the decorations!
Pot Grown Christmas trees are in stock..............
My gift card wasn't used on plants or garden stuff or even Christmas decorations as there is nothing I needed so it got used to buy some of THIS years food presents for relatives! Handy. Although I did get a pack of 6 luxury mince pies to pop in my freezer for the festive season. Once upon a time I used to make my own mincemeat and then two dozen or more mince pies - but tastes change and mine went off them a few years ago. Six is plenty.
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Even so, still lovely to walk through and look, but like you I'd look for plants.
ReplyDeleteWe have two garden centres just along the road from us, one is an independent family-owned "real" garden centre, with the plants taking centre stage (and of very good quality, the owner and his son both really knows their business), and the other is a Dobbies, with, like yours, the plants as very much an afterthought. It even has a mini branch of Waitrose inside, along with indoor aquaria, books, kiddies and adult clothing, every imaginable kind of Christmas tat, and the inevitable coffee shop.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first moved to this area, the local post office manager always had a small selection of bedding and other plants alongside the more usual post office fare. When the lease came up on the nearby garden centre, at that time in a very run down state, he took the opportunity to quit the post office and take on the garden centre. Since then he and his wife, who is the houseplant expert, have really built a plant heaven, and have been frequent winners of garden centre of the year awards.