Labels

Chelsea here I come!

The Japanese Moss Garden at the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show by UGArdener
My birthday was two weeks ago. My wife, seeing my ill-fitting, 1990s sport coats with just-a-bit-too-big shoulder pads bought me a new sport coat. Oh, and tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show, in London, in May. Did I marry well, or what? She's excited to go too (it's not just me!) because we went to the International Garden Festival of Chaumont sur Loire in France, in 2006, and we both enjoyed it tremendously.


From: Camus Live Art on Flick
We were actually in London a few years ago during the Chelsea Flower Show. The apartment we were staying in was walking distance to the show. I inquired about tickets. Stupid me. Tickets are only sold in advance, and had been sold out for months. And for an astronomical price, more than we paid for the apartment for a week, I could have one ticket to the next year's show. After that, I never expected to ever get there.

That week there was, every night of the week, a one-hour documentary TV show on the Flower show, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh. Imagine that happening here in the U.S.!

Well, my wife and I will be there Friday, May 27, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. She'll make the travel arrangements. It's my job to find someone to take on a purple-haired, surly-morninged tween and get her on the bus to seventh grade, make sure home work gets done, and throw food at her a couple times a day, while we're away for four-five days. Any takers?

Photo on top: The Japanese Moss Garden at the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show by UGArdener / © Some rights reserved.
Labels:

Comments

  1. DelphineDecember 30, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    Waoooo, cool !! i'm so happy for you !

    ReplyDelete
  2. EwaDecember 30, 2010 at 2:58 PM

    Hmm.. I will be there too :) it looks like :) I don't have ticket yet, but serious plans...

    ReplyDelete
  3. danger gardenDecember 30, 2010 at 4:14 PM

    So it goes without saying that you'll be taking us all along right?

    ReplyDelete
  4. NotSoAngryRedHeadDecember 30, 2010 at 4:44 PM

    What an awesome vacation! Lucky you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jim/ArtofGardeningDecember 30, 2010 at 4:50 PM

    Delphine,
    And I am happy for me too.

    Ewa,
    Perchance we'll meet?

    danger garden,
    I'll be taking you all along in a proxy sort of way with my camera and blog posts. Actual physical taking along will not be happening.

    NotSoAngry,
    Any trip to Europe is considered lucky. And with no kid along for this trip, and a hotel room to ourselves, I may even GET lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousDecember 30, 2010 at 5:25 PM

    What a nice wife you have. You are one lucky guy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLDDecember 31, 2010 at 12:06 PM

    OMG! You did indeed marry well. Am already dreaming of the posts you will share with all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim/ArtofGardeningDecember 31, 2010 at 12:25 PM

    GWGT,
    I count my blessings every day. Sometimes twice.

    Linda,
    Stop dreaming, come with us. Your old man is retired now -- you'll need to get out of the house either with or without him come May.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LayaneeDecember 31, 2010 at 12:59 PM

    Ohhh, lucky guy and she is the best. I think Garden Walk Buffalo is as close as we get to any kind of Chelsea Flower Show here in the states. We will all expect daily reports right from the Show. Maybe you can go the same day as the queen. It is less crowded that day. Happy belated birthday. I knew you were a Capricorn.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dee @ Red Dirt RamblingsDecember 31, 2010 at 3:10 PM

    Jim, that's wonderful. I know you'll have a wonderful time and tell us all about it when you return. As for the tween, I have two teens and a tween (and one grown), so I think I'll pass.~~Dee

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jim/ArtofGardeningDecember 31, 2010 at 3:37 PM

    Layanee,
    I may have to quote you now on Garden Walk Marketing materials! (With your permission, of course!). I cannot go the same day as the queen. From what I understand, the first day is for royalty and members of good standing in the Royal Horticulture Society. Both of which I am not. The closest I'll get to royalty with be the King and Queen of Hosta - Mike & Kathy Shadrack will be there too! You were wrong -- I am a Sagittarius -- by hours though!

    Dee,
    I'll be sure to take lots of photos. And damn... I was hoping you'd take the tween. You obviously know how to handle them in captivity.

    ReplyDelete
  12. VPJanuary 1, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    You've chosen your life partner most wisely :)

    I'll be there too and hopefully helping out with planting up one of the gardens the week before the festivities begin :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. MonikaJanuary 2, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    I found your blog, wonderful photos. I came back.Sorry, my english is not good.
    Best wishes for 2011
    from Germany - black forrest
    Monika

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jim/ArtofGardeningJanuary 3, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    VP,
    My advise when it comes to life partners is to choose above your station.

    Monika,
    No worries. Your English is WAY better than my German. Thanks for visiting.

    ReplyDelete
  15. VPJanuary 8, 2011 at 3:08 AM

    Jim - I've put up a preview of this year's Chelsea with links to lots of info if you're interested - people have added more in the comments too :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dig, Grow, Compost, BlogJanuary 11, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    Uh, well, no on the tween thing but you really do have a fantastic wife, don't you? I'm so excited for you (and a tad jealous, of course). Give the queen my regards.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jim/ArtofGardeningJanuary 12, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    Jean,
    And there's nothing I can do to convince you take on the tween? Yeah, I married well. And I will give the queen your best. You know her?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts