Author Topic: George's UK Garden Tour  (Read 4453 times)

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NightHawk

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George's UK Garden Tour
« on: May 19, 2008, 10:20:19 AM »
Well, George will be well into his garden tour holiday in the UK by now.  8)  Bon Voyage George!

On Thursday 22 May he will be at the Chelsea Flower Show, so anyone who can pick up the BBC coverage of the event, keep a sharp look out for George.

I emailed him yesterday and told him that one of the presenters of BBC's "Gardeners World" program, Rachel de Thame, will be exhibiting her own garden design there for the first time.

Extra Brownie points for the first person to see him and post on the Forum.  ;D

Laurie.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2008, 10:23:54 AM by Kathy & Laurie »

Offline Lynda A

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2008, 09:49:23 AM »
Hi there, Will keep a look out for George.  Finding it hard to get outside gardening as I want to watch the interactive coverage of Chelsea whenever its on.  Saw the Rachel de Thame garden, and the programme about her getting ready for it.  Not too sure on the design myself ! but what do i know.
Would love to post a picture of the sunken terrace progress but still haven't resized the pics.
Hope the sun keeps shining on Chelsea

NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2008, 11:40:30 AM »
I'm with you there Lynda.  Call me old-fashioned, but I like a garden to look like a garden, and not to be 'spoiled' with hard architectural landscaping like aluminium structures, and other modernistic design items that contemporary designers seem to favour at the moment.

But, everyone to their own taste.  :-X

Would love to post a picture of the sunken terrace progress but still haven't resized the pics.
Until George releases his updated version of his resize module for IG Pro, you can use your Photoshop Elements to resize your photos.

From the top menu bar select: 

image/resize/image size/

Tick the following boxes:  Scale Styles, Constrain Proportions, Resample Image.

Then look above at the current image size.  Just change the size that suits your photo.  I find that for Forum photos a width of no more than 660 pixels is ideal.  Any wider than this and you'll get a scroll bar which doesn't look very nice.

When you come to save the photo, choose 'Save for web'.
If your image is stored on your hard drive and you are "attaching" it to the Forum posting, you will need to alter the 'Quality' setting in 'Elements' save dialog box so that it is 128kb or less.

Laurie.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2008, 12:25:39 PM by Kathy & Laurie »

NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2008, 06:52:33 PM »
George has had a full day at the Royal Horticultural Society's Headquarters at Wisley today, with a tour of the gardens from an official guide.  8)
 
Tomorrow he has a full day at Chelsea Flower Show.  I know we'll all be waiting with baited breath to see some stunning photos from George on his return.

On Friday he will be at R.H.S. Harlow Carr Gardens, Harrogate, where we had a visit recently.

Sadly, our schedule does not allow us to travel through there and meet up with him.  That would have been a great day out if that had been possible.  :(

Saturday is the final leg of his journey with a trip through the Yorkshire Dales.  This is really beautiful countryside, a definite favourite of ours, as it's very close to where we live.

Laurie.

Offline greenfinger

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2008, 09:05:31 AM »
Some news from George yet? He's probably enjoying his freedom  but not always far away from the madding crowd ;D

NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2008, 09:22:32 AM »
He'll be back into the 'Forum throng' soon enough, so I don't blame him for keeping quiet.  Plenty of time to be answering everyone's questions about how his trip went.   ;D

I was looking in on the BBC's coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday, but I didn't spot George.  Maybe if he'd worn a large green leprachaun hat, and a big spongy finger, he would have stood out.  ;)

I think he's been lucky with the weather for his garden tour as well.  It's been dry and sunny across the UK for most of the time this week, so I'm pleased about that.

RHS Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate for George today.  The weather is sunny and dry again here so looks like a beautiful stroll in store for him.  :)

Laurie.
 

Offline greenfinger

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2008, 12:40:44 PM »
Still better if he had used some firework :D
I know it's not a very virtuous sentiment but I envy him for this beautifull trip.
George certainly merits it tough worker as he is during all these years.
It's a good thing you take over the care for this forum in the meantime.
My neighbour gardener tells me Chelsea is on TV every day. It's a pity I can't receive BBC 1 or 2, only BBC World and Prime. I understood these channels don't transmit news about this item?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2008, 12:45:55 PM by greenfinger »

NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2008, 01:23:42 PM »
It's a real pity that you can't pick up BBC 1 or BBC2.  For anyone who is unable to visit the Chelsea Flower Show personally it gives a great insight into the event.

The BBC are broadcasting TV coverage twice a day - an hours segment at lunchtime and again at 7pm in the evening.  We have been watching both programmes throughout the week.

Today is the final daytime broadcast, then tomorrow (the final day of the Flower Show, where they sell off the majority of the plants on display to the public) they are showing highlights from throughout the week.

Additionally, interactive viewers who subscribe to the SKY channels can also see presenters giving extra guides around the show which is not covered during the normal TV broadcasts.

Believe it or not we have never been to any of the Chelsea Flower Shows, so being able to watch it on TV is great.

I echo your sentiments about our hard-working George.  He has definitely earned this holiday break.  ;D

I've tried to keep everyone up-to-date about where George has been visiting each day, which I think tends to make you feel part of his 'adventure'.  I hope the other members have also appreciated this as much as you have AndrĂ©.

Laurie.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2008, 03:45:44 PM by Kathy & Laurie »

NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2008, 04:00:04 PM »
The final leg of George's holiday now.

Returning through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, and on to Stranraer, where he will catch the evening sailing, arriving back at the Europa Buscentre (his home patch starting point) at around 10pm GMT.

Safe return journey George, and we look forward to hearing about your wonderful adventure.

Laurie.

Online ideasguy

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2008, 12:44:45 AM »
I'm home folk, and I'm real chuffed to read this new thread following my "adventure"
Thanks ever so much Laurie. That was a very nice welcome home  :)

I was following the map on our journey today, and noticed that we passed fairly close to your home town on the way  :)
Its a long drive for you to Harlow Carr  :o One thing I noted about England generally - the countryside is very unspoilt.

Weather was incredibly warm. I didnt need my jumper, and my shower proof coat was un-necessary luggage!

More tomorrow, when Ive had a good nights rest. Like Rupert Bear, Ive so much to tell you all about this great trip - hundreds of photos - cant wait to see how they look on the computer.


NightHawk

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2008, 06:24:34 AM »
Welcome home George - it's great to see you back on the Forum again.  ;D

We're so pleased you had good weather, especially as it can be very fickle in the UK.

Can't wait to see your photos and hear all about it.  8)

Our countryside is so beautiful, something Kathy and I never take for granted, and try to get out there as much as possible.

Kathy & Laurie.
« Last Edit: May 25, 2008, 06:34:51 AM by Kathy & Laurie »

Online ideasguy

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2008, 09:38:13 AM »
Rushing this morning again! We are off in an hour or so to a Baptism service (my Nephews daughter). Ive just had a walk around the garden, and greenhouse. My wife has looked after things very well while I was away.
More later!

Offline greenfinger

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2008, 11:15:07 AM »
Aha, Wizz is back!! I can see the red characters of his name burn.
I'm very curious about the pictures, George.

Online ideasguy

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2008, 12:06:05 AM »
I took 2 cameras with me.
If I have a choice, I never take photos when the sun is shining. On this trip, I had no option - the sun was blazing most of the time. I used my new Koday Easyshare C813 (set to auto) when the sun was shining, and when the chance arose, I used my old camera (a Caplio RR10) when the sun passed behind cloud, as it holds my settings when turned off and on, and I have a fair amount of experience using it in those conditions, and get acceptable (to me) results.
I was not expecting great results in the sunshine - but, Ive just finished reviewing the 435 photos taken with the C813 (over 3 RHS gardens and Chelsea), and I'm really pleased with the results.

I was very surprised with the C813 - the same set of ( 2x rechargeable) AA batteries lasted all week! I had 8 with me!
The RR10 needed battery replacement each day, and a full recharge each night. I have two rechargeable batteries for the RR10.

Photos soon!

Offline Lynda A

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2008, 07:58:21 AM »
Hi George, Glad you had a good time, watched as much of Chelsea on the TV as possible, really would like to get there next year.   Looking forward to seeing you photo's.   I am taking it easy as i had a wisdom tooth cut out of my gum yesterday and another removed, so no strimming or heavy work today.  Thankfully my dentist is an angel and sedated me, and now i can't remember a thing, but my husband said that when he collected me i had invited my dentist to my son's bucking bronco party and i had told him that I would stay with him till he dies ( he said he wished his wife said that to him) Glad i can't remember now"-)  One thing that I thought was interesting that among the antibiotics and painkillers he gave me to take over the next few days, was Arnica pills to help with the healing ( my sort of dentist)
Looking forward to the pics, from a slightly swollen faced Lynda.

Online ideasguy

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Re: George's UK Garden Tour
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2008, 09:42:53 AM »
Ouch!
Well, the good news is you didnt run away with the dentist  :)
What WAS that sedative!!  :)

Ive started posting photos of my adventure elsewhere on the forum. Have a look in the Good Gardens to Visit (UK) section.
I'll be adding all the photos there to keep the forum organised.