Well, after months of freezing cold weather, thank goodness it is finally starting to warm up.

All right, it still might not be quite time to put away the woolly jumpers, but some spring sunshine is better than none and what better way to enjoy it than looking around some of Kent’s great attractions.

I only moved to the county in September, so I’m still exploring the many lovely places on my doorstep. I decided to head over to Canterbury the other day with my partner and we had a wonderful time.

After walking around the city, we decided to take a romantic trip down the river on a punting boat. It only cost us £8 each for a 40-minute journey. We were given blankets if we wanted them and our tour guide told us all about the city’s history.

We finished our day with a visit to the Fudge Kitchen next to the cathedral, where we got to taste some of the best fudge I’ve ever eaten – and saw it being made. It was a great way to welcome spring.

As you may remember, I have embarked upon ice skating lessons at Gillingham’s Silver Blades ice rink. Well, I have good news – I have gone up a class! There are 10 grades, with 10 being champion standard and I am now classed as grade 6. I have really been enjoying it and was so pleased when my instructor said it was time for me to change classes.

I am now learning with some amazing skaters who are much better than me but being around them really pushes me to do better.

I am hoping to head along to see Sleeping Beauty On Ice at Dartford’s Orchard Theatre when it opens on Wednesday, May 1.

It stars Olga Sharutenko, one of the professionals on ITV show Dancing on Ice and I can’t wait to see such an amazing skater perform.

Next week kmfm is joining up with children’s hospice Demelza House for 10 tea parties in 10 days.

The fun starts at 3.30pm on Monday, April 22, at the King Charles Hotel in Gillingham and then we will be visiting Ashford’s Eastwell Manor, Dunkerley’s in Deal, the Coniston Hotel in Sittingbourne, the Ashford International Hotel, the Village Hotel in Maidstone and Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium.

In addition to enjoying tea and treats, there will be live entertainment and the chance to win top prizes.

We really hope lots of people will come along to support us.

Visit www.kmfm.co.uk to find out more.

Good afternoon everyone, wow what a beautiful day! Unfortunately as most of you will understand I am only viewing this beautiful day from a stuffy office window. Although I made the most of my one hour lunch break by finding another spot to eat my sandwiches in peace and read more of my book. The spot I want to share with you today is St Radigunds Garden.

Sitting there on the well maintained grass area surrounded by period properties and the sun beaming down on my face it was lovely, again only a few minutes walk from town and directly opposite one of the oldest pubs in Canterbury- The Parrot. Only a small little spot but ideal for ones lunch break when desperately needing to escape the office politics! Reading the information plaque the garden was once an excavation area, right infront of me was some original Roman walls- How exciting.. I day dreamed about appearing on time team, wellies on and knee deep in mud!

Go and have a little ponder- It is worth a look!

Canterbury has many beauty spots and I am very keen on stumbling across as many of these as possible whilst living there! Towards the end of last year my mum bought me a wicker picnic basket. This basket has a particular spot in my heart as I only get to see my mum every three months but when I go exploring I feel like my mum is right beside me..

I am going to start sharing the places I visit to hopefully give you some ideas and new places to visit throughout the summer months! Todays share is Abbots Gardens in Canterbury (see map) Luckily for myself it is a stones throw from my house but a truly beautiful and serene spot! Sitting on the grass listening to the sound of the rushing water for me was a little bit special. The gardens are only a few minutes walk from the town centre but yet ever so peaceful, so why is it so beautiful? From the exact spot I was sat at you could see Canterbury Cathedral which is spectacular by any means, the Marlowe Theatre; most talked about new structure in Canterbury and my personal favourite the boat tours going up and down the river, truly beautiful!

I only sat there for an hour today whilst enjoying an ice lolly on my lunch break but I can assure you I will return there regularly- If you see me do say hello!

Trading results are not usually a case for emotion, but I am always saddened by bad news from HMV and Waterstone’s.

So many happy hours have been spent browsing – and occasionally spending money - in these shops, especially in towns without a decent bookshop.

Many music retailers have already shut up shop in recent years, clobbered by the internet and the trend to downloading. I have not the slightest interest in downloading. I know it’s cheaper but there is absolutely no substitute for the feeling you get from handling and examining a real object.

That applies as much to CDs as the previously cherished vinyl LPs. I was a bit surprised by HMV’s 13.6 per cent sales decline after standing in long queues before Christmas and the New Year. But I guess the bad weather stopped people from going out and buying presents and perhaps they ordered online instead.

You can also order online from HMV but I have noticed prices are often higher than Amazon. HMV also faces supermarket competition, but Tesco and their offer a pathetic range, and then only the latest best-sellers. There is nothing like the fantastic range and back catalogue in most HMV and Waterstone’s stores.

Sixty branches are to close across the country, and that probably dooms one of the two branches of Waterstone’s in Maidstone and Canterbury. It makes commercial sense but is not good news for many of the staff. Richard Curr, head of dealing at Prime Markets, has urged shareholders to sell, saying the Christmas statement shows the group is “well and truly on the rack, engaged in a desperate scramble to cut costs and close stores to avoid breaching banking covenants.”

That gloomy statement casts a dark shadow over the long-term future of HMV – but I am hoping for the best. Where would those happy browsing hours of serendipity be spent instead? The closures ought to be good news for local music retailers, but sadly there aren’t many left.

Almost all classical outlets have gone. The few surviving independents are mainly in small towns without an HMV or Waterstone’s. I hope HMV’s troubles will do them some good, but I fear that changing trends could spell the slow lingering death of my favourite type of shop.

It seems Kent has been brought to a stand still. I have never seen snow this bad in the county, nor in my home town of Canterbury.

The roads were pretty direr this morning, literally covered in snow – did not understand what happened to KCC promise of “never again” regarding the snow issues last year. Sadly, due to the poor weather, I cannot spend too much time blogging today (fear not, I WILL comment on the politics surrounding the snow)

Alas, must -yet again-clear the paths...

I moved away from Kent at age 18, in a time when trains from Canterbury East to London were large comfortable and fast: the journey time taking one hour and twenty minutes. Now twenty-four years on, I am back, and they are small, uncomfortable, slow and take twenty minutes longer (I do not include the high speed service in this) and almost empty apart from schoolchildren and people who need to do the journey who have limited funds.

The high speed train though from Canterbury West is a whole other story and is probably one of the best services in the country. I find the staff friendly and the journey in to London St Pancras goes in a flash.

But of course this was not the reason I returned to Kent after the heady days of working in the City and appearing on the first Big Brother. I moved back as I genuinely feel that Kent is the most underrated county in England and very poorly sold by the tourist board. We have fabulous blue flag beaches, beautiful villages, and perhaps the most hours of sun of any county. We are closer to France than London but I am not sure if that is good or bad! I also must not forget to mention great pubs, restaurants and markets such as the Red Lion at Stodmarsh, Reads in Faversham and Canterbury’s Goods Shed.

However moving back does also highlight the strange idiosyncrasies of the council and the region. I live in a small village, which is in a conservation area. If I put up a satellite dish someone from the council comes around with a clipboard and tells me to take it down. If I fail to pay my council tax by three days I get a red letter. If I complain about holes in the road nothing is done for weeks.  If someone in the village cuts an old tree down (on purpose) - what do the council do? Nothing! If planning permission signs are not put up where they are meant to be or not advised properly - what do the council do? Nothing!

We have an issue in our very old village as the local planning department are considering an application to build new houses in the middle of it. I would say about 95% of the village has written to the council to complain, as the primary school is already full and could not take any new families and I have heard that even the environment agency are not sure about the proposed development. Here lies the problem, the council claim they need to build new houses, but if you look around the Medway towns and Thanet and Canterbury there are thousands of new and old homes unsold and empty.

Please, let’s not destroy a village to make up numbers. As mortgages are harder to get, the economic climate is still bleak and for the sake of a few brown envelopes flying around, lets not ugly-fy our villages - for that is one thing in life we should leave alone. I fear otherwise it will be too late and our villages will merge into towns and the rural way of life will be lost forever…

Having been released from the pen, the nine sheep make a break for freedom as

Sir Theodore Henry Brinckman, 2nd Baronet is a name many might not know or even heard of. This gentlement fought in the Crimean War and was a well respected solider; highly admired by the establishment. From 1868 to 1874, he was MP for Canterbury - the last non Conservative to represent the city. The Canterbury seat of Parliament is probably one of the most safest seats for Tories, we've returned a Conservative for well over 200 years. Labour came close in 1997, but no one has ever come close since. However, with the prospects of changing the voting system to Alternative Vote (AV) we might see the city returning to its liberal roots. Majority of the Conservative heartland might become relics of the past with Labour and the Liberal Democrats making gains in once notorious Tory seats.

Thanet and Dover will be high on the Labour targets - Sittingbourne, Sheppey, Faversham and Medway are a battle ground among all the main political parties. AV would mean the whole of the south east, especially Kent, could become major swing seats for whoever was seeking to form a government. We could hold the keys to Parliament, thus making us, politically, one of the most significant counties in the United Kingdom.

According to an opinion poll today 39% of the public support switching to AV (29% against), after Ed Miliband gave his willingness to back a "Yes" vote. If the people speak, and speak in favour, history could be made thoughout Kent in 2015.

There is one lugubrious sight that never changes within Canterbury and this is the long, tedious and ugly traffic jams during rush hour. It's inexcusable and a nightmare. Along Sturry Road, many homes and businesses are covered in dirt from pollution – surprised we've never seen a public health crisis to be honest. But the most frustrating fact is this: majority of the traffic, that comes through Canterbury, has no business in Canterbury. Drivers, in some cases, have no choice but to go through the city.

A conversation is needed among us residents, local and central government. Canterbury needs a bypass. Seriously, the decades of talking need to bare witness to a serious idea on how to deal with traffic problem and the city. Environmentalists -I am aware- will be in uproar and I understand, but the local road network cannot be expected to ignore the changes in population growth and its interdependent relationship towards infrastructure. Many taxi drivers (that I've spoken to) do believe a bypass is long overdue. Alas, there is one problem though. Money.

Britain is undergoing austerity measures to tackle the worst peace time budget deficit. Central government cannot afford it or the Department of Transport might struggle to justify such a large scale project. However, I disagree. If the government is promising “justified spending” then a bypass around Canterbury is public money well spent. Air pollution will decline, from a significant reduction of traffic jams, and properties will be much cleaner too. Secondly, businesses be will tempted to invest in the city due to improved logistical links and the project could lead to regeneration of deprived areas of Canterbury.

It shouldn't be me, your humble political blogger, leading the debate. Councillors need to be discussing this issue and calling on Westminster for action. We cannot go on like this.

During this period of new politics in Westminster, with a coalition government and new ministers, we've become caught up by the grand vista of cooperation. However, the consequences of how this will transcend onto local level has never really been addressed. The Liberal Democrats, the vox populi of localism, are venturing into the unknown and are unsure how once targeted councils will be effected.

Kent is a perfect example. The battle in our county is between Tories and Liberals and in certain areas, like Canterbury, the council is a Liberal Democrats target. A question worth asking, is how the voters will take to the coalition government because the austerity measures will have an effect on us all. And there is no point of any councillor abandoning or denying their association to the Westminster parties. Local elections have always been viewed as a referendum on the government.

However, the Liberal Democrats, contrary to media reports, have been performing very well in recent council by-elections – gaining some huge swings from the Conservatives. By being in government, the exposer and power, might help them edge and gain control of a council like Canterbury. But if both parties become unpopular, who is the alternative Kent will turn to? Labour is non-existent in the south east. Whether an upsurge in Labour will occur or a emergence of Green and UKIP councillors, it is clear Kent could experience some instability for a brief period. Parts of the county are in desperate need for investment and “friendly” local government policy, but if we receive our very own coalition, then our towns and cities could suffer.