I Quite Want To Go To Chelsea

23 years ago I was working at the day centre in Islington when the gardener who ran a class for people with learning difficulties at the centre said he had a spare ticket for Chelsea Flower Show. The only trouble was it was for that day, and I was at work till 4. So I cycled down, made it to the show for 4.30, whizzed round for an hour then saw the dismantling of the show-gardens and the auction off of plants. I got a lovely hardy jasmine for a fiver. I transported it back to Tottenham in my pannier through the west end. I imagine it is still growing strong in Station Crescent.

Fast-forward to today, and Danielle and I are at Chelsea Flower Show once again. This time she is there as a corporate guest of a bank, and I am her "plus one". So its champagne at a restaurant on Kings Road, then taxi to the show etc. We enjoyed it a lot, but I can probably leave it for another twenty odd years.

Two very different experiences, both ways are fine by me.