April 2.
I slept very well until 6 am. Had a very nice breakfast with Charlie and Doreen Gurrey the other guests at the B&B. He is one of the featured artists in the Art and Memory exhibition at West Dean College. They are from York. They offered to drive me to the Gardens as they were going there as well. I arrived at 10:00 and it was a little early for Jim Buckland, Head Gardener so I took a walk around the gardens. They are quite impressive with a two acre walled vegetable garden and a 4 acre walled fruit tree garden. There are lots of glass houses and cold frames. At 10:30 Jim and I reconnected and he introduced we to his wife Sarah Wain who takes charge of the volunteers. At the outset they are looking at a month and it will be up to me to impress them if I stay longer. Sarah was very interested why someone would want to come all the way from Nova Scotia to volunteer in a garden. I told her about my interest in gardens and the work we have done at various properties. I also want to learn more techniques that I can use back home. It is also like an adventure, moving to a whole new community and having to get along with people you have never met. They have a full time staff of 10 and a group of volunteers numbering 75 or so who come in for various shifts. They show up at 9:30 but I will be working from 7:30 to 4:00 and I start tomorrow. I will be bringing my own lunch and they have a place right in West Dean that may have a room for me. I will be checking tonight or tomorrow on that. The entire facility is very neat and organized which is a great indication. Also the Managers have a great working relationship with their staff and everyone seems happy with their work. I was given a book on West Dean Gardens, a commemorative issue with lots of good information.
At 11:30 I was off on my own and went through the gardens and arboretum viewing the Art in Memory exhibit, which spotlights 54 artists involved in stone or wood materials used in memorial stones. They were for the large part very interesting and tasteful and should be considered in place of some of the memorials I have seen recently. The fact that they are hand carved certain makes them special in my eyes. I saw a video showing how it is done and it certainly takes a steady hand and a creative mind. I met a few of the artists as I was walking through and one in particular, Ian Cotton spent about half an hour wandering and viewing with me. At 2:00 realizing I had missed lunch, I went to the visitors centre and bought a salad and a beer at a cost of 8.25 pounds. It was quite good and included a nice piece of English Cheddar. At 3:00 I attended the Opening ceremonies for the exhibit, compliments of the two organizers that I had met yesterday. They were very pleased to see me. Jim was astounded that I had gotten this invitation because it was a very exclusive affair. Thankfully, he and Sarah were there as well and we had a good talk. I took a small tour of the open rooms at the James Estate but Sarah has offered to give me the full tour while I am there. Back home with Charlie and Doreen and charged up my computer and will be going to the Earl of March Pub to connect to their WIFI and maybe have a pint. Isn't techno;ogy great. I created a gmail account because I couldn't sign into Aliant. Carol can forward my email from home and all is good. Not a bad pint either!