The idea for this whole trip started with Number 6 on Jenny's Bucket List - Going to the Chelsea Flower Show in London.
Tanya and her lovely husband Nick, the pretty flowers that they are, bought the tickets and the trip was planned around this one day.
Over the years Jenny had seen the show televised and watched the Queen meander regally through the gardens. It always looked spectacular and as a keen gardener herself didn't hesitate when I asked her what she would like to see on our next trip.
We boarded the train to Sloane Square with ladies in hats and floral attire and followed the crowd, hoping that they were going to the flower show as well - that could have been awkward if they weren't!
I'm finally here!
The next six hours were spent taking in all the beauty of the English flora. The grounds were massive. The first avenue we walked down was mainly floral art and there were some very talented artists showcasing their stuff.
Check out this lady's artwork....
I don't know the names of flowers and I tend to kill all plants that I come in contact with..... but I do love them.
There were also plenty of shops selling their creative garden wares such as this jolly elfin creature and this horse, made entirely of drift wood. That, right there, is a lot of time on one's hands.
The weather forecast was for cloudy with a couple of light showers and one heavy shower at about 4pm - pretty specific.
At about 3.30pm, all of a sudden the sky came over all grey and the soft breeze became a bitterly cold, biting wind, then slowly but surely big, fat, wet drops fell from the sky and the half a million people who were outside pushed in an English orderly fashion into the pavilion. There was thunder and lightning and heavy, heavy rain, so much so that we had our doubts about the sturdiness of the pavilion roof. I can't say it was the most relaxing wander through the flower arrangements when we were literally shoulder to shoulder, front to back and back to front with 64,000 other people in a very small space. After about 20 minutes of pouring, the clouds parted and the blue sky shone through.... and the pavilion emptied.
One thing I learned today is that English people love to queue and some of them also don't mind a bit of a jostle. This is sort of what it felt like trying to either see an exhibition or just walk along the path because other people wanted to see something.
Yes, the flowers were beautiful.
Yes, the gardens were immaculate.
Yes, the company was exhilarating.
However....
My absolute highlight from the entire day was this man's mullet. It's one of the best mullets I've ever seen.
Thank you for joining us, albeit virtually, at the Chelsea Flower Show today.
(Your legs and feet can thank us for doing the leg (and feet) work)
Thank you to Nick Collis for coming up with today's blog title.
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