Friday, November 26, 2010

What was the Worst Night Out you ever had?

One of the more prettier dayliles in my garden

In the past, I combed through glossy catalogues and ordered daylilies through the mail. Sadly, I found that when they came into flower the following summer, I was frequently disappointed. Too often, I would find myself thinking, "Humm...I probably would not have bought that color, if I had seen it first."

Last summer, I was determined to find a local source for lilies, where I could choose plants in flower and skip the nagging disappointment of mail order flowers.

The Hayfields Nursery field

When I saw an article in Canadian Gardening magazine about Hayfield Daylilies, located not far from Toronto-that was it! I was determined to go.

Now typically, we plan weekends filled with activities my husband and I will both enjoy, but in the case of the weekend in question, we each had specific things we personally wanted to do.

So we made a pack: (Mistake number one)

I'd go to the Tattoo at Old Fort Henry in Kingston, if he would take me daylily shopping on the way home the following day. (Old Fort Henry, a National historic site, is a 19th century British fort overlooking the harbor in Kingston Ontario).

 It seemed like a good deal at the time, but as time would tell, it turned out to be a high price to pay for a visit to a nursery...

On Saturday morning, we did have a great time at the Farmer's Market in downtown Kingston

My dear husband is in a small pipe and drum band and was excited as a school boy to see the Tattoo.

Me, not so much. A little pipe and drum music goes a long way with me! But, hubby was looking forward to it and like a good wife, I was doing my darnedest to get on board with the plan.

Second Mistake of the evening: Hubby was determined to get there early, so we could get prime seating. He wanted to be able to take lots of pictures and even shoot video of the show.

My thinking- it was enough to sit through- I mean, enjoy once- I wasn't going to need the photos or the video reminder. What's more boring than amateur home movies? Video of uniformed bands marching up and down a field. Trust me on this!

Third Mistake: We skipped dinner and decided, to opt instead, on a late supper after the show (in order to be assured of those afore mentioned good seats).

Sadly, hubby got the show start time wrong and we weren't just early, we were ridiculously early! And as I sat down on the rock hard, wooden stadium seating, all I could think was how glad I was that I had had the foresight to bring a magazine to read.


Finally the show started and I even enjoyed it a little bit.

But then, it started to drizzle and then, it started to rain. Big, fat, drops of ice cold rain, no less!

Sitting hunched under my umbrella, trying desperately not to get drenched, my back started to ache. The parade of bands started to drag and on...


and on...


and on...


They march up the field and then down the field and then to keep it interesting(?) they grouped in the center of the field for a pow wow.

I think you get the picture!

My stomache started to grumble and I tried to think, that soon, hopefully very soon, we'd be having a wonderful dinner in one of those a cute little restaurant that we had seen in downtown Kingston earlier that day.

City Hall in downtown Kingston

When I got tired of looking at the action on the field, in my boredom, I started to watch the scary looking spiders on the metal railing in front of me. I have never seen so many spiders in one place in my life!

Increasingly tired after a full day of travel, I began to dread of the inevitable crush of people leaving at the end of the show and the claustrophobic stone and brick staircase that we would all be packed into, like sardines in an can, as we exited the fort's upper terrace.


And then... just when my thoughts hit a negative bottom, there was a light on the horizon and I am not talking about the moon in the sky over the old fort.


The show seemed to hit a bit of a crushendoo and I perked up, thinking dinner at last... 9 o'clock sure enough, but still, not too late for dinner on a Saturday night. Heck, we could always sleep in the next morning.

But no, it seems life can be cruel.

It turned out it was only a 15 intermission! Sob! Apparently, there was still another hour of marching bands to savor after the break! Sensing my unhappiness, my dear husband offered to leave, but I could see he was enjoying the show. I could not bring myself to be so selfish as to drag him away.

I'll spare you any more of this sad tale and fast forward to the end of the night. The show ended sometime after 10. (Note: that's a full 3 hours of marching band music!) It was then too late for dinner. At any rate, cold, miserable and wet, all I wanted at that point, was a hot shower and my nice fluffy pillow back at the hotel. I'd like to tell you I fell asleep to happy dreams, but I was way too tired to do any dreaming at all.

Marriage certainly has its give and take, doesn't it?

Tell me though, and be honest, was I wrong in the first place, when I agreed to go to the Tattoo with my luke warm enthusiasm firmly in tow? Or make me feel better and tell me about the worst night out that you ever had!

On the brighter side of things, I did get to go shopping for daylilies the next morning.

To all my American blogging friends, I hope you are having a great Thanksgiving.

Have a great weekend everyone!

20 comments:

  1. Great humour to break up my day! This is the story of MY life! Hubby and I have so many varied interests that it's always a case of give 'n take and while I love the taking, I'm not thrilled about the giving part! Have a great weekend. I'll be up your way at the craft and antique show (where hubby will be reluctantly trailing behind).

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  2. LOL! You are such a trooper.That is an awful lot of band music to take in one night. LOL!
    I wish we had a local lily producer to pick out lilies from. Like you I have seen and bought such pretty catalog pictured ones only to have them not live up to their advertisement and pictures. Gets so frustrating when you are trying to get the flowers to match into the beds and it is not the color you wanted and clashes like crazy with the other flowers and your plans.
    Have fun and take a day for yourself. LOL!

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  3. Boy, Jennifer, you went through a lot to get those daylilies. I love them also and usually order from Oakes Daylilies, very large specimens, but not sure if they ship to Canada.

    I know what you mean about those colors, never true to the photos.

    Eileen

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  4. OMG Jennifer .. here I am a Kingstonian ? and have not ever had to go through what you did ;-(
    But you told it in such a funny way .. those day lilies, were they really worth it ? LOL
    Hey .. how did you get them across the border girl ?? LOL
    Joy
    PS Love that moon shot !!

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  5. I couldn't stop giggling when I was reading your post. Sorry! I would have been bored with all the music too. I can stand maybe like 1/2 hour of it. You are a good sport!

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  6. 3 hours of marching bands in the rain??? I would have died!!! My Air Force husband used to love taking me to air shows but after several I called it quits. Walking around looking at planes on a burning hot tarmac in the middle of summer is pure misery. However, he once sat in the cafe of the Louvre for 4 hours so I could wander its halls without him having to say every five minutes, "Are you done yet?". I'm still grateful!!

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  7. PS Jennifer I saw your snowSTORM on the news last night and WOW ! that was BAD girl .. hope you guys were warm and cozy in your home then?
    Joy (no snow in Kingston YET !) : )

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  8. The things we do for the ones we love. You're a darn good wife for sitting through that! Personally I try to find an alternative activity while hubbie does things like chat up hardware store clerks for 2 hours at a time. Our last trip to Halifax I was dropped at a mall for 3 hours so he could visit his favourite exotic wood shop.

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  9. Lisa,
    Yes, it is a big day here in Huttonville- the Christmas craft show is on at the school up the street. We definitely plan to attend and maybe we will see you and your hubby there!

    Lona,
    My husband would not agree with you that I was a trooper. As he remembers it, I did a fair bit of moaning about the weather and my empty stomach!

    Eileen,
    I try to avoid catalogues these days. I hate being disappointed when the plant I have carefully nurtured blooms for the first time.

    Joy,
    You live in the most wonderful city-what's not to love- the fantastic view of the lake, the history at every turn, not to mention the architecture of the older parts of the city are just lovely!
    My husband spent part of his childhood in Kingston and has very fond memories of the city.
    We had been to the Retreat at Old Fort Henry previously and enjoyed it. I think it was the comedy of errors, my empty stomach and the rain that made what should have been a nice night out a miserable one. The Hayfield Daylily Nursery was on the way home and not far from Toronto (no border crossing involved!)
    With regard to the weather, we missed the worst of the storm, but it is snowing now as I type this.

    meemsnyc, I so am glad you enjoyed the post.

    T.S.
    What a sweetheart to give you all that time at the Louvre! I have been to the Louvre a few times and it is wonderful place to take your time.

    Marguerite,
    It is a great strategy to occasionally go your separate ways. My husband is also a great one for striking up endless conversations with store clerks and complete strangers, so I know exactly what you go through!

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  10. A very sad story. I wonder all the things I will get into when I get married. But well, at least you got to do some nice flower shopping the next day

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  11. I am sorry, but I laughed through the whole thing! The photos are good, though.

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  12. I hope that you find some attractive day lilies to compensate for your torture the day before.

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  13. What a day you had! OOf ! Buying bulbs is tricky even with your favorite vendor. I hope next spring you will be happy with your purchase (you did buy some didn't you ?)

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  14. Wow, claustrophobic is an understatement!! The daylily is spectacular though, seems it was worth the effort?

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  15. I love your Daylily shots! It seems like the event would have had purveyors of food along the bleachers. Sounds like a very uncomfortable evening being hungry and then rained upon. You got some great photos though. I love the golden light on the stairwell and those bright colored uniforms. I hope your daylily bulbs turn out to be fabulous . . . then you will look upon the night as worthwhile. It could have been worse . . . good thing your hubby is not into drag racing! ;>)

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  16. Fer, Allan, Patty Rebecca and Carol,
    Thanks for your comments. We had a wonderful Sunday following a terrible Saturday evening. It started with a great breakfast at the hotel, that was more delicious after missing dinner the night before. Then we visited the antique market in downtown Kingston ( looking for antiques is an activity we both enjoy) and then, best of all, I got to go to the nursery. I bought some lovely yellow daylilies with a crinkled edge.

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  17. You are a good wife... hopefully the daylilies will more than make up for the tattoo

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  18. One of the worst times I've had is going to my hubby's alma mater for a football game in the scorching heat. Sitting in the stadium frying watching a game that I really did not care about. Tired of frying in the heat, I went up to the food court to get out of the sun, but the smell of burned grease from the fried food made me sick to my stomach. So I had a choice, fry in the sun sitting in a pool of my own sweat, or be sick from the smell of rancid grease. So I sat back down in the sweltering stadium heat with not even a breeze and just starting praying for everyone I could think of who was probably in a worse condition than I was. Took my mind off my own misery and gave me compassion for theirs. Thankfully the game did end (after 4 plus hours), and my marriage didn't, so there may be more compromises in the future. Seems most of the time we just go do our own thing, and meet up later and we are both happier :-) I could "feel" your misery sitting there in the rain. As they say in the south....Bless your heart!

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  19. I felt bad about posting my "bad day" story without giving my poor hubby some credit for the time that he spent 8 HOURS enduring Butchardt Gardens in Victoria, Canada, with me a few years back. We started touring the gardens at 3 p.m., then a few hours later we had dinner at a restaurant in the gardens, then we went to see the fireworks in the garden, and then we toured the gardens AGAIN at night to see the illuminations, and we did not leave until 11 p.m. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of those 8 hours, but my husband was a real trooper and never complained. It was my birthday present that year, one of the best!!! Always a little give and take in marriage. I think he gave a lot that day! Thanks for visiting my blog, too!!

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  20. Toni, Your husband is a great sport! My husband puts up with my garden visits even though he isn't interested in them at all. He never complains when I want to stop in at a nursery. You are so right when you say there is always a little give and take in a marriage.

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