Bloom

Yesterday I took off for Dublin to experience "bloom"...the "Chelsea Flower Show" of Ireland. It was a grand, glorious, warm, sunny day!! Long awaited. After the terrific winds we've had for the past 3 weeks, my spirit just soared with the sun!! I'd gotten good directions from the web as well as a friend so set off on my first sojourn back to the city since moving here...other than as a passenger with a neighbor one time!! All went well. I made good time into the fringes of the city, but then traffic just clumped to a stop... Clumped...because there were lights on the M whatever it's called. Why was I spending 3 euros to drive on a road that didn't go any faster than a lurching snail? Anyway, I began to see signs to bloom along the way so decided I'd follow them rather than my satnav... I think they wanted to channel folks through a certain area, so who was I to argue. Into the city, through small lanes, and finally into the Park. I found a parking spot got my running shoes on and set out... but.... I had no idea where the venue was... The first people I asked didn't know...Now this is a huge park, I'm told the largest in Europe and certainly every park in London could fit in it. There are herds of deer rambling, a zoo, polo fields, GAA games pitches, the president's home and I'm told the American ambassador even lives in the park. It's amazing. So..... what I'm saying is, I didn't want to just start walking without knowing if I was going in the correct direction. You can't just follow folks because the park is so big that you wouldn't know if they were going to Bloom or the bathroom... it's amazing. I finally asked a fellow gardener-looking lady and she directed me... I walked about 25 minutes along the main road before coming to the entrance. From that point I just ambled through exhibits, design gardens, food venues, veg gardens, flower gardens, craft offerings, music venues, outside dining areas, etc. It was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day. It was very hard to not acquire some lily bulbs since they were 9 for 10 euros and the freshest, most perfect bulbs I've ever seen... but, no dirt for this old girl. I must find a place with dirt to dig in...

Photos: Flowers, flowers, designs, misc. Just a bunch of wonders of the day