We love The National Trust. We get great value and enjoyment from our annual membership. In the part of Sussex where we live there are at least three stunning properties within 30 minutes drive from us so we regularly visit Wakehurst Place, Nymans and Sheffield Park.

The life of touring musicians (or 'travelling minstrels') is far from glamorous most of the time. It involves living out of suitcases, driving for hours and hours in traffic queues, eating at motorway service stations and sometimes sleeping in the most uncomfortable beds. That's why it's always a pleasant surprise to arrive somewhere new and find it to be a comfortable and beautiful venue to be based for a couple of days.

I've never been much of a gardener. In fact, I don't know the first thing about gardening. However, I do love gardens, and funnily enough, I actually do love garden centres. One of the reasons, of course, is that many garden centres have great coffee shops with very tempting treats on offer like freshly made scones with jam and clotted cream (as on this occasion). Garden centres in Northern Ireland are particularly competitive in the range (and size) of desserts on offer - it was in one of...