I had the pleasure of visiting this lovely little place to-day, but I did not know that it was one of the oldest garden centres in London. This is a tranquil oasis and the plants are in very good condition. It felt like a nice place to be and the staff were very helpful. I did not get to try the organic cafe, but it looked good. Its nice to see people creating a very good garden centre that make you feel good to just wander around. I was helping to buy some plants for my sons new home, and although he is not a gardener I think he could appreciate the plants and I hope the ones we bought will flower profusely in his garden and bring him a lot of pleasure. I have a feeling I shall be visiting this area again.

What on earth are the architects trying to do? For as many years as I care to remember the above building in a prime location on Lime Street  in Liverpool,has been disliked  by everyone.You step out of Lime Street Station an look up at this dingy empty office block. The frontage to Lime Street Station should be sorted out and quick. Just when everyone was waiting for the monstrosity to be blown to oblivion, a group of architects have come forward with the idea of saving it and cladding the outside and refurbishing the inside.  I am all in favour of saving money, but they would have to come up with something pretty spectacular and some very eyecatching cladding to fix this one.All that would cost money too. I am more for the idea of blowing it up and letting us see the Victorian Facade of Lime Street Station. I can remember looking out of a top floor window in Lewis's department store and being amazed at the structure of the glass and iron roof.The shops seen here in the picture are also an eyesore and scruffy, this is the first glimpse rail travellers will see of our city, so lets sort it out. What we do not need it yet another glass menagerie office block. or student accommodation. What would be nice is a seating area or plaza so you can wait for the train or buses in a nice environment, but I do not suppose for one minute we will get that.

I have changed the theme and name of my blog, I found myself writing a lot about my home town of Liverpool and a little less about gardening. I think it was a combination of two things one it has been winter for ever!!! and two it is the Capital of Culture year 2008 for my birthplace Liverpool.So many exciting things are happening in Liverpool that you cannot help wanting to tell the world about your home town. I still love my gardening and all things to do with plants and gardening, so I shall return in full bloom as the early spring colours and promises of lazy sunny days lie ahead. My hopes for the city are that the regeneration will not only bring fortune to the place,but make Liverpool once again the great city it was when the port was busy and trade was brisk. I am sure there will be many more stories to tell and I look forward to doing so in my blog.

 

Last night I was out in Liverpool, which seems to be something of a rarity for me lately. I went to see Ken Dodd in his Laughter Show at the small concert hall in St Georges Hall. The first thing that strikes you when entering this beautiful hall is how well it had been restored to its former glory. Then you drink in the fact that Charles Dickens stood on this stage and gave readings to the people of Liverpool. In those days you paid one penny to go to "the penny readings" this was to encourage people from all backgrounds to be able to listen to great stories often told by great writers.However, I digress from my original subject of playing with Gods.

First up is this little place:

yes be impressed, as this little number is the latest skyscraper to break the already famous Liverpool Water Front scene, even if it is a little back from the waterfront. West Tower houses very expensive apartments and on the thirty fourth floor a restaurant and bar. I had the pleasure of having a pre concert drink in the bar. The view is spectacular and all the more so because I was looking down like some God on the city I love. Drinks were not bad either. I have to point out that you probably need to take out a second mortgage to eat and drink here, but you only live once. I had one criticism the "bucket type chairs" very uncomfortable, unless of course you are the type of lizard that likes to lounge, then you will be well at home slinky down in one of these.

Speaking of Gods back to Mr Ken Dodd, here is a man eighty years young, who spent four hours entertaining his audience,believe me when I say when you go to see him you know you are "his" audience, one of the funniest comedians I have ever seen, and this is not the first time I have had the pleasure of seeing him. His show was a celebration of laughter and the laughter makers, so no better place to stage it than in a city were every other person is a comedian. He paid tribute the likes of Arthur Askey. Ted Ray and Tommy Handley, some of his heroes, but I can tell you he was right up there with the best of them. He also had the grace to include some of the more recent comedians who have hailed form Liverpool, and having seen most of them I can tell you they cannot hold a candle to this guy. His memory may not be what it was, but he is as sharp as any of the knives in the box. All the proceeds of this show went to charity, and of course there was the usual mention of his lapse of memory when it comes to money/ tax returns etc. He even had a go at lawyers and journalist in a very clever way to let them know  he had the measure of most men.

I have been one of the enormous group of people wondering why he has never been knighted.When you put him alongside the people who are now "Sirs" it is unfathomable. Maybe that little indiscretion with his tax return is the answer, but for most people getting one over on the taxman has made him an icon!! Lets hope they do not wait too long to honour one of Liverpool's finest. As he said last night " They sent me a self assessment form, me who invented the self assessment" priceless!!!!

I read a story in the  a paper claiming that if the graffitti artist Banksy ever tried to lay claim to some of his work then he could be arrested and charged with wilful damage to property and that is why if you are lucky enough to have one of his images painted on your building then it is yours. Well  I  do not know how true this is or if Banksy had ever tried to claim one of his works, but it got me thinking " damage to property" well yes I guess if you do not like his work or do not want it on your property then you have a right to get rid of it, or be annoyed. However, I was trying to compare that with the well known painter Leonardo Da Vinci, I wonder if he was alive to-day and painted a mural on one of your walls would the same be thought about him. What is Urban art? and how do people feel about it. I for instance cringe whenever I am on the train going into Euston Station and see the mess of graffitti on the walls, but I feel that someone scrawling the latest gang name or their own name is not quite the same as the clever statements made by this artist. You could say I am moving the goal posts, but I think he is very talented and wonder how he dreams up some of his art!! Anyway I have not heard too many stories of people painting over his graffitti. plenty of people are cashing in on it though. If I had an art gallery I would be begging him to come and scrawl on my walls, but I guess the secrecy behind the man is the key to popularity of his work.

Like a phoenix rising from the sky only in Liverpool would they take the time to add an egg to the most famous sight in the city. As part of the Great Liver Easter Egg hunt which takes part in Liverpool this weekend, the ninety seven year old Liver Birds decided to have an addition to mark the occasion and so they produced a silver egg.The hunt is part of the Liverpool Capital of Culture year and it sees people out and about all over the city looking for clues to finding the Silver Egg.The event is sponsored by The Royal Liver Group and David M Robinson city jewellers. The prize is a £1000 egg made by David M Robinson jewellers. I think it is a  great way of getting families out and into the city and does not cost anything. Another bit of fun sculpture and well known site in Liverpool is the Super Lamb Banana

to say nothing of our well loved and admired Bronze Men

That's them above, no not the guy in white sitting on the sand that is the sculptor Antony Gormley who created  100 of these bronze  men who were placed on a local beach in Crosby and had many admiring visitors. Liverpool has always been a place for art and creativity and fun, so these few items are just a taste of what you can see in and around our wonderful city.

It seems that there is no holding back my home town of Liverpool, not content with the Capital of Culture we are now off to the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show,what a pity I have decided not to go this year on the grounds that I think the entrance fee is too high and believe me I love going to the show. I get to see my son and his lovely girlfriend who live in London and my eldest son who is also a keen gardener, usually comes with me. Ever since I started going to Chelsea five years ago I have loved it,but I am staging my own protest because I believe they are pricing the ordinary people out of this event. When you think I have to travel to London on the train before I even think about the ticket cost. I am not interested in the celebrities that go to the show, I am not interested in "being seen" at the show, I just want to go as an everyday gardener and dream about making a garden as wonderful as some of the ones on show. Anyway back to my home town and the Botanical collection that is to go on show. Well done to all concerned. The collection is one of the oldest and largest botanical collections in the country and will be exhibited in the Grand Pavilion.William Roscoe founded the botanical collection and he sent people around the world to collect exotic plants. His own garden was based in Myrtle Street not far from the city centre, and an area I grew up in, but sadly I did not know anything about his garden. I do remember the Botanical Gardens in Wavertree where some of his collection was moved to when it outgrew his garden. I was born in Wavertree so this is of particular interest to me.

Several years ago I came across  a mosaic in unusual circumstances. I was visiting a nursery near to my home on the Wirral and as I drove into the parking space I noticed a large anchor. Next thing I noticed on getting out of the car was a piece of sandstone in a rockery that bore a coat of arms with the Liver Birds on it. I was quite excited as I had not even reached the nursery at this point. In the car parking area I met an elderly gentleman and asked him first about the anchor, he said it was off an old clipper and he had salvaged it from the River Mersey. I found out from him that he had a salvage operation. I asked him about the piece of sandstone with the Liver Birds and he told me that he had salvage it from a large house in Blundellsands it was part of a portico. He was a very interesting man,he told me that he had another salvage place/nursery in Mold and I went to visit that also.However, in the back of the nursery he had all sorts of reclaimed material. I walked about and noticed old lamp posts and waste bins and old "granite sets" but the most amazing thing of all was a large window like frame with mosaics in the pattern of an eye. The man told me that it had belonged to John Lennon and was part of his swimming pool in his house down south. I think that it had been loaned to the Liverpool Garden Festival Site to form part of a pool in the wonderful exhibition gardens. He told me that after the Garden Festival Site closed he had been brought in to clear material for salvage and had found this lying neglected. He took it to his place on the  Wirral and it was his intention to bring "The Magic
Eye" back to its former glory as it need quite a bit of repairs done to the mosaics. I thought it was a beautiful piece of art and hoped he would get it restored. I am so pleased to read that he had it restored and it was initially at Liverpool  Airport  and then later at the Beatles Museum.

The eye's current owner, Wirral-based demolition consultant Wladek Reszczynski, says he turned down an offer of more than £500,000 for the mosaic two years ago.

That's the guy I spoke to although I do not think it is him in the photo, but I am pleased he did get it restored. I never bought anything from the nursery as I was too taken aback by the mosaic. Sometime later I heard that the salvage part had all gone and I went to see the place again, my son came with me and enquired about the piece of sandstone with the Liver Bird Crest which was still there, I think he was trying to buy it for me at the time.Don't know what happened to that interesting man, but I bet he has some tales to tell.

If you have a big event of the year then Liverpool is the place to hold it, or so it seems. The BBC have decided to hold the Sports Personality of the Year at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, added to the MTV awards things are really hotting up in this town.Anyway at least the lads of Liverpool FC won't have to travel far!! Manchester got the gambling, which I think is a shame as I think Blackpool deserved to get the biggest casino, but the North West is the happening place at the moment.Can't think why they did not stage the Oscars here, I am sure we would have put on a better show than the event that took place in LA. I can just picture the ladies of Liverpool giving the Hollywood stars a run for their money in the fashion stakes. The biggest event in Liverpool this year will not be taking place in the Echo Arena,but in the trendy Hotels and Bars and Restaurants. I bet the old credit cards will be up to the max when the girls hit town and Cricket for their outfits for the coming months. All this and Aintree. From here  on in it is going to be a poseurs paradise. It will be interesting to watch, but then Liverpool City is never dull.

I wanted to write a little piece about Ken Dodd, love him or loathe him he is up there with the greatest comedians of all time. I have seen him many times live and in tremendous form. I had the pleasure of meeting him back stage at The B.A.T social club in Oriel Park Liverpool, courtesy of my husband who helped organise the social events for the tobacco workers.He is a gentleman and by far the funniest person I have ever seen. Of course living in Liverpool there is a comedian around every corner and I have seen most of local talent before they became big and famous. However, when you have seen Doddy in action you realise all the rest cannot hold a candle to him for so many reasons. One he never uses bad language in his shows, he can go on all night and indeed does, as you never leave his shows until he is ready, you always come away with your body aching with the pain of laughing so much, but you do not often remember any of the jokes he has told as he is so quick. He can sing, even if they are not the tunes you want to hear. He gives his heart and soul to each performance and outside of his work he gives a lot to charity, ( and did a good number on the taxman for which everyone in the country holds him in eternal awe), but like a true gent paid his dues in the end.

So what is the point of my ramblings you may ask? well I, along with quite a few more people cannot believe that he has not been knighted. In fact in my opinion he should have been knighted a long time ago. He is still performing at an age when most "celebrities" have  thrown in the towel. Give him that Knighthood now I am sure he would have plenty of jokes prepared for the acceptance speech.

If God needed a financier to run his world then Warren Buffett is the man. It would appear that this guy not only has the midas touch, but uses his money to make the world a better place. With the American Financial Market on a downward spiral and Wall Street on the brink of crashing and banks in a panic, this guy steps up and saves the world economy, with a pledge to bankroll the whole mess and take on some of the 800 billion dollar debt.With one word from him the Dow Jones soared and restored confidence in the financial world.Now that's what I call power. So I have to ask the question with a guy like this living in America why do they need to even consider anyone else for President. Warren Buffett is one of the third riches men in the world, and yet money is not his God, in fact, we know that because he has pledged to give all his money away before he dies, and not to his family. He has given the golden handshake to Bill Gates, another extremely clever, astute guy, to use the Buffett millions for philanthropic causes.Mr Gates himself has a pretty impressive track record and he and his wife Melinda have created their own Foundation to help the people who are less fortunate that most of us.

So here are two of the smartest people on the planet, and look who is up to run one of the most powerful countries in the world Hillary Clinton! I have my doubts if either Warren Buffet or Bill Gates  would want to rule America, but should they ever consider it then that could really change the world. ( watch this space)

I am always amazed and moved by stories of people who for try to change the world we live in, for no other reason than they want to.These people give their time or money or sometimes both, to helping others. Special people, who see things form a different prospective to most of us. I am becoming more aware of the injustice in the world, of the poverty,of the lack of simple basic rights. Here in this country we take so much for granted, then ever once in a while someone comes along and make you stop and think! Think about how much we have, how much we waste, not only food,money etc,but the gift of living in a country were we are free. Living in a country were Education is given to all, the power to better ourselves if we wish to choose it. I never thought as a child that education was anything other than the pain of having to get up each day and go to school, what a bore. Below is a man who knew what education meant and did something about it. If you want to read more about helping people then you should visit www.thehungersite.com

In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health. While recovering he observed the village's 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school.

From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism and terrorism by building schools —- especially for girls —- throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

I am not one for taking any notice of the media hype and non hype with celebrities. One minute they love them next the knives are out. So  I do not know what is going on with Ringo and some of the comments he is supposed to have uttered. One thing I do know is that when people seem to turn their back on Liverpool they soon find out what loyalty is. I am a bit fed up with the professional "scousers" some of our former comedians and singers, or should I say singer. Liverpool loves its own, but woe betide anyone who crossed them, well Ringo seems to have been accused of doing just that. but Sir Paul McCartney  is not without his critics. I for one whilst thinking he still has it as a perform, wish he was a little less big headed as he seems to come across in interviews these days. So if you want to come  back home to Liverpool, at least try and sound as if you want to be here!!!

This is part of a famous mural painted by the acclaimed urban graffiti artist Banksy. The 3oft mural of a rat was drawn on the side of a pub "The White Horse" in Berry Street in the heart of Liverpool's China Town. The area has become a dilapidated over the years and the decision was made to board up the bottom half of the building because it has fallen in to disrepair and could not be preserved. However, there are some people myself included who think that this work of art should be preserved at all costs even if that means touching up the bottom half and maybe having some form of glass cover over the whole thing to protect it. I am not an expert in restoration, but this Rat has become an icon to many people in Liverpool and fans of Banksy. So think again regeneration people and lets keep something worth looking at, as opposed to some of the so called "art" that finds its way into more exclusive surroundings in our city.

I caught the tale end of the local news program Look North West last night on TV, just in time to see Gordon Brown in the house of Commons congratulating Liverpool on their Capital of Culture year and saying some good things, like we have more people visit Liverpool Museums and Art Galleries that any other town in the country, do not know if that is correct,but thanks for the info anyway. I wonder if Gordon is going to visit Liverpool whilst any of the events are on. I know we have had some other politicians in the past who have shown and interest in our city. Michael Heseltine did a great job of promoting and helping Liverpool, and I believe Michael Howard is a great Liverpool Football fan.we have also had the odd unwelcome political person. The more people outside of Liverpool promote our city the more the rest of the country will see us in a different light. We do not wear clogs and roam round in tracksuits, we do have own amount of villains,but hey tell me a large city that does not. Come and see for yourselves before passing judgement and I can guarantee you will be surprised by what's on offer.

As a follow up to my previous item about the Liverpool Echo Arena I went to the preview night this evening and some of my observations are:

The building is very impress from first sight. I am no architect, but it has nice lines:

The public car park whilst well lit is a bit confusing in its description of the floors and levels,not helped by an elevator announcing you were on floor two when you were actually on floor three

I liked the fact that there are plenty of toilets, something always needed and most often never found at some other venues

The seating inside seems well designed with plenty of wide aisles and good viewing.

The sound system was very good and I could imagine when Bon Jovi, U2 etc put it through it paces it will be quite something.

Not sure I liked all the concrete inside as it felt very cold sitting watching and listening to Peter Price who did a sterling job of comparing.

The food on offer such as it was can only be described as a rip off £4.50 for a Scouse Pastie (that's a new name for a Cornish Pastie in a box) was a sin

Its early days, but one thing is for sure Liverpool needed this venue and lets hope it gets plenty of use

To-night I am going to the opening of the Liverpool Echo Arena. I am quite excited about this as I have long thought that Liverpool needed a venue where it could host large events. I do get tired of missing out on shows because they are in London or Manchester. Whilst Manchester is not that far, away and the best bit about going to London would be the added advantage of seeing my son who lives there, I am looking forward to just hopping on the train for a fifteen minute journey to Liverpool. I think as the stadium hosts conventions and events the word will spread and we will see some class acts. Already the MTV awards are to be held at the Echo Arena in November, so the future looks bright for this wonderful building.

Happy New Year to everyone. I have not made any resolutions,because life is too short to keep letting yourself down. I hope to improve my blog in this New Year.

I have taken the liberty of nicking this from my sons blog "Steve Clayton geek in disguise" he showed me these 3D graphics and they are pretty cool: As you can see he is just a little bit better at blogging than me, only a bit though!!!

Liverpool Goes 3D

Just in time for the Capital Of Culture 2008 to kick off, Microsoft's Virtual Earth team have released 3D imagery of my home town. I spent yesterday wowing the family by flying over features like the Royal Liver Buildings and St George's Hall. I even showed my Mum her favourite spot in Sefton Park - The Palm House.

Plenty of mahsup potential here for lots of businesses who will be getting more visibility from the 2008 festivities.

The image above shows the so called Three Graces and in the distance St John's Tower, the Catholic Cathedral (aka Paddy's Wigwam) and the glorious Anglican Cathedral. The images are pretty up to date too as you can see the construction work at the pier head and just to the left one of the new Beetham Towers.