Well it's Wednesday with Pat in Kent

it is great to be here. evtalk and the weather is overcast  with rain, so the garden outing planned is ruled out. we chew the fat about most issues.

Instead we go to Blue Water which is or was the biggest shopping mall in Europe but today it is to see John Lewis's, a huge complex all by itself. A department store. e are looking at everything in general and kitchens in particular. Wow ! it is built out of a quarry and takes the word huge to a new level.And yes it incorporates a lake with foot bridges etc.

Taken inJohn Lewis wearing the bum bag - not flattering.

Along with that we look at their posh food store in the basement, which in fact is Waitrose. really styley. 

here Pat is choosing a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie, yeay, for Andrew, who loves them.

A real English delicacy.

We are off to the Cricketers Arms a pub in a nearby village famous for its food. A real treat and the name relates to the playing every Sunday on the green in the centre of the village. All stunning as it evolves. I dress for the occasion and it is so lovely. Absolutely everything you would want in an English Pub. On the way we passed the Leather Bottle where Dickens ostensibly wrote Pickwick Papers. All of these places are pretty much in the country.

The Cricketers Arms where we ate. pat is at the bar.

My dessert which is summer pudding an English classic made of delicious raspberries in a bread mould. I  am definitely going o make this at home. Raspberries and strawberries are really in season.