It is 4 O'Clock.

Must be time for tea.

And if your are 4 years old, that means sandwiches, sausages and strawberries and lots of cake. Followed by pass the parcel. Whilst the grown ups eat the rest of the tea!

Getting Ready for a Wedding Tea Party

The trestle tables are coming out of store and the Potting Shed is being swept and cleared.

Tea cups are lined up ready for the guests.

As the afternoon and the preparations get underway the sun starts to peep out from behind the grey clouds.

It is not long before the tables are set...

... the table plan is in place

and the flowers are arranged in jam jars.

As the sun comes out in earnest the heady fragrance of sweet peas begins to fill the area under the awning...

...that, and the gentle scent of lavender.

Before the guest arrive the staff head down to the orchard to grab a quick supper.

Whether your taste is for tea or Champagne (my preference!), everything is ready

Captain Jack in the Garden

It may not be Glastonbury, but we have the rain, the mud and some music (and Captain Jack!)

The Anonymous Traveling Market is at Pythouse, complete with stalls of food, drink and crafts.

There are fewer than normal staff here today (the pull of Glastonbury was too much) but Mitch the manager is doing what he does best - managing.

Despite the misty damp weather the garden is full of visitors and their families.

I am here with my daughter Libby - and we are finding it hard to decide between the Paella or the Pythouse Farm lamb sausages with onion marmalade. In the end we go for the sausages.

Matt the chef tells me that the cafe has been quiet this week because of the persistent rain, so they have been out in the garden giving Heather a helping hand. He laughs as he says, "I think she likes it as much as I would if she started to potter about my kitchen!"

In amongst the stalls I find some pots and pans and watering cans, that a couple, Annie and John, have sourced from French markets and jumble sales ... or what ever the equivalent to a jumble sale is in France.

And whatever we may think of the rain, the garden loves it, and in the kitchen shop the latest produce is going on sale.