Adventure Day for the Simple Stylers

I'm "sort-of" on holiday so I planned a brief adventure trip with one of my girlfriends for a long overdue catch up and killed a couple of birds with one stone.

Now you don't have to go far and you don't have to be long, just plan a cluster of activities.

Cindy and I travelled only 20 mins to Exeter in the picturesque Tamar Valley chatting all the way about gluten and grains all the way taking in the beautiful Tasmanian scenery.

Our first stop

Inspiration Seeds

This place is like seed porn for me. David is so exciting to talk to and he and Steve Solomon have invested years of knowledge into seed saving and selecting for a cool climate like Tasmania. 

Their bean selection alone is huge and exciting. On our last stop here I purchased some Cherokee "Trail Of Tears", a beautiful pink mauve bean in "green" pod stage and I am longing for summer to plant it out. 

Clockwise from top left;

Le Monde piamonte (French bush bean)

Yin Yang (black and white) and Pea Bean (red and white)

Haricot Crevette

All these heirloom beans and more are available at Inspiration Seeds and also via their mail order.

You can drool here.

Next stop

Lime Cafe

A small place, clean and quiet, with an all day breakfast menu and I'm told the hot pork sandwiches and rolls are especially good but I'm always too early and have to be content with smelling it cooking. Link to their facebook page.

After a coffee and a restorative bite

Calico Crossroads

Before crossing the threshold, I warned Cindy that I would only consider her a true friend if she ensured that I did not walk out with any fabric purchases, the only exception was vintage print cowboy but unfortunately there was none. Poor Cindy did not escape scott free and I'm very keen to see how her new Block Of The Month works out heh heh (sorry Cindy)

Pauline has a beautiful range and lots of inspirational ideas and patterns and has a talent for colour and depth co-ordination. We easily spent the best part of an hour perusing.

(Site here)

And that's how a simple suburban girl can spend half a day on a quality adventure not far from home and without breaking the bank.