Umpires chair

I love Wimbledon! I look forward to it each year - the players, the crowd, Finals Day. I have been fortunate enough to be able to go twice and it was fabulous. Not this year though so I have been watching on tv and taking sneak peaks on my computer while at work...

Yesterday was a day of some very good tennis. Unfortunately Federer lost but the tennis was amazing. Murray seems a force to be reckoned with this year.

While watching the final set of Federer and Raonic with growing despair I couldn't help but notice the Umpires chair. I hadn't given it much thought, ever.

Photo from panoramio.com

But the colours of the Ralph Lauren designed outfits on the umpire, and those of the ball girls and boys, made my attention start to wander - I think this was probably a self-preservation tactic to try to get my jangled nervous back in some order. The chair is very green. And looks a little uncomfortable. Imagine sitting on that hard seat for a 4-hour show-down between Federer and Cilic such as we saw on Wednesday.

I realise it can't distract from the tennis but a lovely cushion wouldn't hurt, would it? This umpire looks like he brought his own pillow from home...

Did he bring his own pillow? Photo from the dailytelegraph.com 

Surely Ralph Lauren could be persuaded to jazz up the umpires chair with some soft furnishings, just a cushion or two... He could take inspiration from his Black Sands range for instance:

via Ralph Lauren

A stripe or two in purple and green could be the missing element of the Umpires Chair!

Chelsea Flower Show & Interiors

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Chelsea Flower Show. It had been a few years since I had been and I was so excited to be going. It is always interesting to see what trends are happening in the garden world but this year I was struck more than any other year by the crossover between gardens and interiors. Every interiors magazine I have picked up in the last while has featured copper and bronze accents. It is appearing everywhere from fabrics and wallpapers to taps and vases...

Photo from Jane Churchill website - www.janechurchill.com 

Photo from www.tapsuk.com

So it was interesting to see the bronze and copper accents at Chelsea (all photos my own)...

The other thing I noticed was how many 'house' things there were now. These were not only on display but for sale... 

Jim Lawrence, the lighting specialist, now has a store there although I wasn't able to get a good photo. 

I think my most favourite was the poppy display. All of these poppies, over 300,000, were hand knitted and crocheted as a tribute to the armed forces. 

You can read more about it here: http://www.itv.com/news/2016-05-23/hundreds-of-thousands-of-poppies-form-red-carpet-at-chelsea-flower-show-in-poignant-tribute-to-armed-forces/

Some photos of my other favourites...

The Chelsea Flower is amazing but I must admit to thinking that this year there was a little something missing. I can't quite put my finger on it because individually there were some stunning displays but overall, for me, it lacked a little spark. Did anyone else attend? Did you feel the same way?