Gardens around the UK, Dubai, South Africa and Canada with #HDYGG

September took hubby and I to the UK for just over 2 weeks. The main purpose of our trip was child 4 of 5 passing out parade in Catterick.

I travelled for the first few days on my own, arriving in Birmingham and travelling up to Manchester, then over to Bradford where I stayed on a farm, a day out in York with child 3 of 5 and then collecting hubby from the train station in Thirsk.

We then drove down to South Wales where we were based for the rest of our stay with an overnight stay in Lyme Regis with friends.

I haven't seen any other weather other than summer for over 12 months, since moving from South Africa to Dubai in December last year, although winter in Dubai when we arrived it is very similar to a UK summer but without the rain. I visited the UK late April for my niece's wedding and the weather was wonderful and then spent 3 weeks in Canada. I'm off to South Africa next week where it's the end of spring and start of summer.

The gardens I've visited the past 12 months have been wonderful from the Dubai Miracle Gardens in Dubai, Catherine's Garden in Canada, Spring in the Western Cape and of course my Mum's garden twice this year in South Wales.

The towns and cities I've visited were still all in full bloom and looked wonderful.

Birmingham

Allotments in the car park in Saltaire, Bradford

Tewkesbury

Gloucester Cathedral

Bridport, Dorset

Beer, Devon

Thirsk, Yorkshire

York

The Gardens at the B&B in Bradford on the farm

The garden at the B&B in Thirsk

With our daughter on a stroll through Keynsham, Bristol

The Country Lanes of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

Woodland walks and berry picking

These fir trees were planted by my Mum and Dad at our old house in York in 1976

The Crematorium in Newport where my Gran's ashes are

Log piles

Farmers Markets

My mum's garden

My top 7 tips on how to get the cheapest flight

I once entered a travel agents in Swindon as they had flights to Luxor 'from £99'. I asked the travel agent to book me that flight, they asked when I wanted to go, I replied 'when the £99 flight is' it apparently wasn't as simple as that, it depended on the departure point and date and time I wanted to fly. Having repeated several times I wanted the £99 flight and I didn't mind what time/date/location, I left emptied handed and never got the £99 deal.

My next trip to the UK will be for Christmas. I've started looking for flights now. I found a flight for R10,098.00 December 17th to January 4th to Birmingham but with a 24 hour stop over. I change the destination to Manchester, change the date to return a day later and I find a flight for R9520 with only a 2 hour stop over. It takes some time but it's worth it to set aside a day or 2 to get not only the best price, but the best route and stop over.

A direct flight will cost me R14,851 and I have the inconvenience and cost of getting to and from Heathrow.

My top 7 tips for finding a cheap flight

• I can tell you to avoid peak times such as Christmas and school holidays but you're not stupid, you've probably worked that one out by now.

• I can tell you to be flexible with your dates, routes, time etc, etc, etc, but you've probably worked that one out also.

• I can tell you to search for deals with budget airlines first....yeah...now you think I'm patronising you.

• Google 'cheapest flights from (insert departure) to (insert arrival)' then enter a variety of dates, times and routes and probably spend the best part of a day doing this.

• Change your arrival airport if possible....for example it's cheaper to fly into Birmingham or Manchester than it is into the London airports.

• Look for flights where you have a stop over...it is cheaper to fly with a stop over than direct to the UK from South Africa.

• Don't be fooled by the initial price you see....all prices should state whether this includes taxes or not, but please remember that some search/booking sites show you the price for each leg of the journey.