Coffee, Cake and Catching up

This week saw what seemed to be the start of Spring, and the beginning of my one week's holiday! I planned to jam pack it with everything I'd been meaning to do, but never had the time and also a few fun days out. The sun was shining, the flowers were out and it was actually warm outside...the perfect excuse to get out of the house and catch up with a couple of friends, who I've know since school!  This is something I love to do, but unfortunately is becoming increasingly difficult to arrange, what with everyone's lives taking different directions.

Rather than go to the typical Costa or Starbucks, we decided to go somewhere a little different and chose to visit the beautiful Hestercombe Gardens in Taunton. 

This was a childhood favourite, where my mum and I used to meet up with friends regularly, but up until now, I'd not been in years!

Over the years the cafe has been updated dramatically, from what was essentially a large wooden hut to a more open and modern outside area, which also has some inside seating.  Although I do like what they've done, I have to say I do kind of miss the more rustic charm of the old teashop.

Hestercombe also has a pretty walk you can go on, but on this occasion my friends and I just decided to visit the tea room, where they had a lovely selection of different cakes, cold and hot drinks.

I chose to have a slice of white chocolate and strawberry shortbread and a frothy hot chocolate...a real teatime treat and something I probably shouldn't make too much of a habit of having!!

As the sun was out, we chose to make the most of it and perched ourselves on a nice little table outside.  I loved the way each one had a cute little pot of flowers, adding a real touch of spring!

Finally we finished off by having a quick browse in the gift shop and then a wander in the nearby fields.