I half prepared breakast when I got up this morning and left it to thicken while we went on a long walk.

It was sunny 🙂

We walked from the village through the orchards to the castle gardens and were there way before they open to the public so we more or less had the place to ourselves.

We walked round the lake – how lucky are we to live so close to this beautiful place!

Milton managed a little swim.

These guys just oinked and wallowed.

Hello, what’s going on over there then?

It felt great to start the day with a nearly 4 mile walk, especially knowing I had a really lovely breakfast that was practically ready when I got home.

Oat and Strawberry Parfait

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 1/4 cup almond milk
• Banana (optional)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
• Approx 20 strawberries
• 1 tropical fruit soya yogurt
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar (or sugar alternative)

Method

1. Combine oats, oat bran, chia seeds and almond milk.
2. Mix well and share equally between 2 glasses.
3. Set aside and leave to thicken for 2-3 hours or overnight.
4. Place sliced banana or maple syrup on top of thickened oats.
5. Puree strawberries with yogurt and place in glass.
6. Sprinkle coconut sugar on top and enjoy.

I had banana in mine and Harvey had maple syrup.  This was lovely and we both (Harvey and I ) really enjoyed it.  It is very easy to do and just requires some forward planning.  You could add any type of smoothie on top and any fruit in the middle.  Try it.  It is nutritious and delicious.

Our next destination was Whitstable and on the way there we stopped at the farm outside the village to buy a punnett of just picked cherries – yum!.  We were meeting Michelle there for the oyster festival.  When we got to Whitstable, the wind had blown the clouds away, the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue.  We have missed you, bright blue sky 🙂 .

Whitstable was packed with people, strolling around, drinking, eating, chatting, chilling in the sun.  Fantastic.  The atmosphere was brilliant.  We started with a drink (cider for me) and then we pottered about round the food stalls.  I had a tempura soft shell crab with 1 fried oyster which was served with salad, aioli and mayonnaise.

I am not a huge fan of raw oysters and was reading on a blog only last night about a fried oyster so I tried one today.  In fact I had 4 fried oysters as Harvey didn’t like his so I swapped his oysters for my crab.

Where did I eat my lunch?  Beside the sea 🙂

It was hard to find a spot to sit down, Whitstable was so busy today.

Having eaten, we wandered along the seafront to the Old Neptune.

We walked past big dogs pulling carts, Morris dancers dressed in black shredded costumes, conventional Morris dancers and then this lot dressed all in black with drums and bells.  We do have some unique customs in England – love it.

After a pleasant afternoon spent on the beach,

we made our way to Michelle’s weekend retreat in Deal.

After a revivatory cuppa, which I had with 3 caramel chocolate digestives and 2 water biscuits with hummus, we took Ted out for a walk down the high street and along the seafront.

The baker had got in to the spirit of the olympics by making these rings from meringue.

On the way back we picked up some fish and chips.

Which we took back to Michelle’s.

Not very healthy I agree, but as I had walked nearly 10 miles today, I think I can justify them.  They really were very good.

Whitstable and Deal are 2 very different seaside towns in Kent.  We were lucky to visit both today and had a lovely day out.  They are both very different from the lovely village I live in which I enjoyed walking in this morning.  Kent really is a fabulous county, with so much to see and do in it.  Go and visit somewhere lovely today 🙂