Ellee Seymour

MCIPR, PRESS CONSULTANT, JOURNALIST, POLITICAL AND PR BLOGGER.

May 25th, 2006

Chelsea, here I come

Before the transformation
The same spot five weeks later

I’m paying my first visit to the Chelsea Flower Show tomorrow. People invariably say: “Rather you than me, it’s like a rugby scrum”, and this is why I have always been put it off.

However, three years after transforming my own garden, with some remote advice from a very talented plantsman, I decided to head south and seek inspiration for new features.

My garden was demolished by my two football mad sons and one day I decided enough was enough, I wanted my garden back, so I set to work.

I remember digging manure and compost into my white, aridpowder-like soil, sadly neglected for the previous 20 years and rock hard, at 6.30pm in my nightie, fleece and wellies. I was so thrilled when I saw the worms begin to turn - I had restored life and enrichment back into the earth.

I particularly like using natural materials, blending different stones of different shapes and colours. My water feature could also do with revamping, I now fancy a cascading waterfall.

I regard my garden now as a tranquil extension to the house, almost like another room, and one that gives me an instant sense of well being and pleasure.

Although I belong to the RHS, I have opted to go to the show with a swell group from Cambridge.

And although I know our gardens need the rain, I’m hoping it will hold off tomorrow.

May 25th, 2006

My kids drink full fat milk and they are not fat

A pinta good stuff

My two sons drink full fat milk and they are not fat. How is banning whole milk in schools going to help fat kids fight the flab?

Surely it is their unhalthy diet at home, their inactive lifestyle, spending hours stuck in front of a TV instead of playing sport and snacking on junk foods that has caused them to become obese.

Will butter be denied next in favour of low-fat watery spreads?

I give my lads organic full fat milk after reading it contained lots of extra nutritional goodness, including Omega 3 to boost brain power. Why can’t schools provide organic milk, it only costs a few pence more? Shouldn’t hospitals be giving this to their patients too?

Milk is a cheap, versatile and essential foodstuff, particularly for young children with growing bones etc. Let’s educate the parents please. The supermarkets to display this info on posters in the store.

P.S. Good food does not necessarily cost a fortune. A bag of chicken nuggets costs the same as a fresh chicken. Which one do children eat more often?

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