The Chelsea Flower Show

I have a friend, K who lives on the south coast she recently wrote to me regarding the Chelsea Flower Show, I thought it might be a nice idea to have a guest slot so, for a change, here is someone else's ramblings.

I've watched "Gardener's World" since the days of Geoff Hamilton, at which time the Chelsea Flower Show merited just one programme. Now we have an hour of Chelsea every night of the week but it seems to me there is little regard for the what the show is about - ie. flowers. We've seen "rival" designers discussing the pros and cons of a garden made mostly of decking; actors expounding on how they've loved gardening since they were knee-high to a grasshopper; a poet reciting her work to some bored visitors; a manic presenter running around to congratulate the medal winners and sundry other incidental "fillers" that have little interest to most people who enjoy gardens.

How much time have the BBC cameras spent in the floral pavillions? Precious little. Why were the interesting interviews with David Austin [the creator of the English rose] and Jekka McVicar [herb grower] so much shorter than the one with the Norwegian designer whose garden seems to be tipped as "best in show"? Has he produced a fabulous garden which anyone would love to have? In my opinion, no. It's just another arrangement of concrete, water, hedging and a couple of cream sofas. It looks like something you'd see in the reception of a posh company head office, or terrace restaurant of a hotel.

I know the BBC have the facility to "press the red button" for 12 hour coverage of Chelsea, but I don't want the telly on all day. I just want an interesting programme covering the gardens and flowers. Prune the celebs and the hard landscaping, and let's have an hours worth of gardens and flowers. It would at least help to make up for "Gardener's World" which is now like a gardening slot for kiddies. And in my opinion, James May's plasticine garden was great!

Think I agree with you there K.

Do they REALLY expect us to trust them?

It appears, apparently, that the actual cost of the Newquay Airport Fiasco, the Council cock up and the details of the cost of claims made by individuals and airlines will not be made available until AFTER the Council elections in June. You may remember that Cornwall Council didn't get a licence in time and the airport was closed for some time, with the Council leaving themselves wide open to compensation claims for cancelled flights and lost revenue. All I can say is how the hell do they expect us to trust them when they are blatantly allowing this cover up. The electorate are being duped into voting for a dishonest council and for councillors who may have been responsible for the problems. This isn't democracy by any stretch of the imagination. Cornwall Council should be ashamed of itself, it makes even Westminster look honest.

Those Ill Gotten Gains..........Again

Mps expenses are in the news again so I am not going to reiterate the morality of claiming "within the rules" and the other pityful bleatings of our elected representatives, but I will say this. If you want the bankers to repay their ill gotten gains then you better do something about the vast number of "mistakes" that seem to have appeared in the somewhat odd and irregular claims put forward in Westminster. Are our Mps really that careless? If they are should they be in Parliment at all?

Westminster should make sure its own house is in order before starting to criticise others. Personally I would sack the lot and start again. Public money is just that, PUBLIC, not to be plundered for private gain by anyone.

As for a 2nd home allowance, Mp's should be given a purpose built accommodation block where they can stay and work whilst in London, Second homes simply add to the problem. Just think what could have been done with the money that has been wasted on so called "expenses" over the last few years.

This episode has damaged Parliment permanently, what little respect was once held for MPs has now evaporated to an all time low and it will take an awful lot to get the tarnish off their reputation.

If you are asking Sir Fred Goodwin to repay his pension then I think you could start with repaying your little "extras".

Looking After The Kids

A breeding pair of Robins have been nesting in the ivy in a quiet corner of the garden, they have been flying too and fro every few minutes for the last few days, carrying food for the chicks or clearing out the nest. In human terms it would be exhausting. Here's just a brief video of their activity, just imagine doing that for 12+ hours a day - if you listen really hard you can hear the chicks tweeting when the parents enter the nest, they are very fast though, blink and you will miss it!