Monday I was up early and on the ferry. I picked up a rental car and sped from Southampton to Kent, "The Garden of England."

Highways, I love. One lane roads with two-way traffic and ZERO birm I can do without. I got an automatic, because I knew I would never manage to follow directions, drive on the left, and shift with my left hand at the same time.

All went well. I stopped at Winkworth Arboretum, outside Guildford, and joined the National Trust. Many of the big houses and gardens on "the list" are National Trust Properties. They were VERY kind, got online, and gave me detailed directions to Sissinghurst.

For those of you who have been paying attention, I refer you to earlier notes. I. Am. The. Luckiest. Girl. Alive.

Sissinghurst Castle is famous for a million reasons. It was pulled from a ruin into a magnificent garden and fascinating home by Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicholson (diplomat, author).

My grandmother taught all of us everything we know about making something grow and bloom. She made beauty where there was none. And when I was young, she talked of a White Garden in England. It's at Sissinghurst.

I emailed a B&B, it was full. They emailed another B&B. Suddenly I was staying at Sissinghurst. AT Sissinghurst.

And when I arrived, I couldn't listen fast enough.

Lovely Linda Clifford was welcoming me and talking and I was hearing, but not processing and then my thoughts caught up. I was staying with Captain Beale's granddaughter!

If you haven't read, "Portrait of a Marriage", go. Read it. Then come back and swoon. It's about Vita and Harold; their letters; editing and commentary by their son, Nigel.

I need to take a break. It was a-mazing. Wasn't it, though?