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Posted by mikeywil (U11765309) on Friday, 25th April 2008
It seems odd that he's not presenting. Nothing against Carol, but we hope that Monty's just having a holiday....?
Hi mikeywil,
Monty said on the end of last week's Gardener's World that he is on holiday and will be back in 6 weeks. Said Carol's in charge!
Sorry!
Thanks! A planned holiday is good news - now, just need to persuade my boss that 6 weeks off is OK!
But, is this not an odd time for a gardener to take six weeks off?
Yeah, is a pretty odd time of year to take such a lengthly break, I thought it was strange myself. But you never know what his reasons or plans are!
He seemed in good form last week anyway, so hopefully all is well and he'll be back before we know it!
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by amazingPETER55 (U11767649) on Saturday, 26th April 2008
Monty has taken time off before during past series, I find it quite irritating when we are into the gardening season he disappears. I believe this never occurred with past main presenters. Last nights programme was really enjoyable and gave the viewer a taste of what gardening is all about. Well done Carol, Joe and Alyce. Watch out Monty you were not missed.
In the new gardeners world mag it has details of what he will be doing over the next few weeks and now all has changed. It would appear that this was not a totally planned holiday. I do hope that he is well, I enjoy Carol's presentation but "hurry back" Monty.
Thanks everyone for the kind remarks and concern.
I was unwell throughout February and March, tried to keep working through it but couldn't seem to shake it off so have taken medical advice to have a rest for a few weeks. Given that I haven't had a holiday of any kind for nearly 3 years of working flat out 7 days a week, my restorative energies were exhausted. But I fully expect to be back fit and raring to go in a few weeks time after a thorough rest.
The timing is not great but am already starting to feel better and clearly the programme is in excellent hands in my absence.
Monty
(For the record, I have never taken time off before from the programme save a couple of weeks when I was abroad, filming 80 gardens. In fact have only missed 2 days work through ill health in my entire life!)
Best wishes Monty, and listen to your doctors.
It's not the same without you, but its much more important that you get well enough to carry on with all your plans.
Also, thanks for taking the time to explain - as you've seen, a lot of us were concerned about you.
Has anyone perhaps suggested that you should slow down a bit because you are not exactly a spring chicken any more?????
You have been doing an awful lot these last couple of years, and we know you've got a lot planned.
Take care
Nooj
Feet up, Monty & have a good rest!
Remember, this life isn't a rehearsal for something else.
I hope the rest from GW and all your other work commitments brings you back to full fitness Monty and also gives you the chance to catch up in your own garden which must still need a lot of attention following last summer's floods.
As Nooj hints, it may be time to start pacing yourself so, for your own sake, please remember that people have holidays for sound mental and physical health reasons and not always just self-indulgence.
Take care and best wishes for a speedy return to full health.
Nothing is more important than your health and well being.
I have to say I thought you were looking a bit strained, although better last week strangely enough.
Have a good summer.
Glad to hear you are feeling better Monty. Sometimes we need to get our priorities right in life - health and family must come first.
Hope you have been outside today - it has been beautiful; I have worked so hard in the garden that my shoulders ache so am off for a nice hot bath now!
Looking forward to seeing you back on our screens soon.
Gardenballet
Hi monty so good to (hear) you are having a well deserved rest,enjoy it and come back fit and well.
I really enjoyed 80 gardens and now have the book.
That's good, we just thought the programme last night was so stilted, it did not flow at all, so as long as you get back to full recovery we know that the programme will get back to full recovery too. Best wishes
, in reply to message 14.
Posted by Namesalltaken (U11776009) on Saturday, 26th April 2008
We thought something must be up. Good to hear you are taking Doctor's orders and resting up...enjoy your break.
The 80 Gardens show was fantastic - you are an excellent Presenter and Friday nights will not be the same until you are back on GW (no offence Carol!)
Monty - I sincerely hope you rest and rest and rest. Hard to do when it sounds like you are a workaholic but getting some balance of rest and work is as important for your health as it is to have balance in the garden for all the interdependent flora and fauna to flourish.
You are not just a great GW presenter but from your 80 gardens series and the druggie project thingy you did clearly a pensive, spiritual soul too, so I hope you can call on some of your redoubtable inner strength to get healing. But remember, it takes as long as it takes to recover good health, can't be rushed. Just as we have to be patient waiting for our plants to grow, healing will happen at its own pace.
I sound nauseatingly hippyish, but I do mean it sincerely!
, in reply to message 14.
Posted by Namesalltaken (U11776009) on Saturday, 26th April 2008
Just to echo all the other comments - have a good rest and come back refreshed. You are a great Presenter and GW will not be the same until then (no offence Carol & Joe!)
Hey, no sweat. Take your own advice and look at the garden, enjoy the peace and remember what all the work is for. Glass of wine, feet up - Paradise!!!
, in reply to message 7.
Posted by whiskeydrinker (U11776192) on Saturday, 26th April 2008
Hi Monty
Thanks for keeping your fans informed.
After running two business's for 20 years, working 15 hours a day 6 days a week, I to ran out of steam. You need to know when to stop for a rest, Well Done!
80 Gardens was a brilliant series, but Monty get them to re-edit it and make the programmes twice as long, (even perhaps only for DVD sales) some of the visits were all over a bit fast.
Enjoy the lovely month of May, get well soon.
, in reply to message 20.
Posted by Kernow Canna (U10937844) on Saturday, 26th April 2008
Thanks for the explanation Monty - hope you feel well again soon
Monty, take your time. You are one of the most thoughtful presenters ever to do GW & I really appreciate your honesty. I think Carol is wonderful & should be at Berryfields more to support you but I do like her presentations anyway. Can we say 'Hi' at GW Live? I hope you'll be there.
Every good wish.
Thanks for replying Monty. You are missed but I hope you feel better soon and enjoy your well earned rest!
Mr D. And there we were thinking that you were swanning off on holiday at the license payers expense lol. Thank you for taking the time to set the record straight Get well soon and take care.
Monty look after yourself. I have said to OH you have been looking poorly. Listen to your Dr & don't rush back if you aren't ready.
Speaking as one who did rush back & have been paying the price for 13yrs. I have ME.
Enjoy your break & perhaps if needed, get to know your wife & family again.
Kindest regards.
Janet.
, in reply to message 20.
Posted by LoveMyAllotment (U11765813) on Sunday, 27th April 2008
Hi Monty,
Sorry to hear you've been unwell and are worn out.
Wishing you well for your recovery.
Take Care Of Yourself,
Carolyn x
Hi Monty
Take time out and have a good long rest.
Looking forward to seeing you at GW live.
All the best for the future
Paddyc
Look after yourself and don't come back until you're totally fit.
Take care,
Mary
Hello Monty.
Thanks for explaining your circumstances, I hope this will stop all the undue speculating about your whereabouts!
Also very importantly, your own health is more important than any TV programme.
Have a good rest and come back refreshed and your old self.(old in the nicest possible way!)
Cheers for now
Tommy
Monty — thanks for letting your fans know (of which I'm one). I was really worried... where would I get my inspiration and know-how in future?
Luckily, I've got most of your books (my bedtime reading at the moment) and some item from them never fails to get me out into the garden the next day.
You are sorely missed, but I'm sure a sabbatical is a very good thing — especially after an exhausting 3 years' of travel and schedules to film 80 Gardens as well as GW. Rest up and rest assured that I'm really looking forward to your taking up the helm again in 6 weeks time.
Hi Monty
Add me to the list of all your well wishers
Take care of yourself and come back refreshed.I have some of your programmes taped so I will watch occasionally and look forward to your return
Catherine
Get well soon. Look forward to seeing you back but not before you're fully recovered.
Spring is bursting out all over at last so enjoy your garden.
Caz
Hope you feel better soon, Monty
, in reply to message 7.
Posted by hypercharleyfarley (U7444019) on Sunday, 27th April 2008
Hello Monty - thanks for letting us know, but so sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. Best wishes for a full & speedy recovery from HCF, T.A. & Ma
p.s. you might not feel that you really needed a message from a talking dog...... however, Ma's a long-time fan. HCF.
p.p.s. I read in My Roots that May's your favourite month - it'll soon be here! Ma.
So relieved your not disappearing from the gardening scene, Monty, Please don't sling your hook" sling a hammock instead and climb into it with a good book.
Looking forward to seeing you
in 6 weeks relaxed and refreshed.
Joan
Sounds like a holiday is well overdue. Hope you're feeling better soon.
Blod
Look, he's just throwing a sickie so he can spend May in his garden
Hope it does the trick & you feel better soon, Monty.
Hello Monty,
You have helped so many of us over the past few years and we thoroughly appreciate all you have done.
I am sure you will feel the benefit of taking this time of the year off quite soon, to breath in some fresh spring air and become one with nature again. Take your time to heal.
With very best wishes
paperwhite
Hi Monty-
I'm sure that i once heard you talk about how your garden was therapy for you when you were poorly in the 80's.
I hope you enjoy your garden over the next few weeks and rediscover the rest in your own garden.
Apple
Dear Monty,
thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply to this thread and let us know that you are OK, but resting up. I was saying to OH that it must be something serious to put you out for 2 months. I am relieved to hear that you are well but taking no chances, and sorry that you felt the need to quantify your personal day's taken due to sickness in such a public forum.
My very, very best wishes for your speedy return to health!
Mich
, in reply to message 7.
Posted by gloriousbluebell (U5476431) on Monday, 28th April 2008
Hi Monty - great to hear from you and nice that you have so many warm wishes. GW has a great team who all seem really at ease with one another, but you're the glue holding it together. I know they'll do a great job in your absence but you are missed, so come back refreshed and raring to go and in the meantime enjoy your own garden.
Monty, I'm another person who didn't take a full rest at a time of life when it was much needed. I have had M.E for four years. One of the things that fuels both M.E. and CFS, and indeed the exhaustion that can accompany depressive illness, is fear. Fear of losing a grip on one's health and perceived path in life, then overdoing it to sort of prove you are still 'in charge', and then making things worse and ending up in a cycle of mini-manias and cyclical slumps. In my case anyway. Bet you're glad I shared that, not!
I can't physically garden but may I just say that watching you and the team every week for the past year or so has helped me reconnect with my surroundings as I've come out of the mother of all depressions.
You take your time. Feel the sun on your face and listen to the wind in the trees.
Hi Monty, thanks or clarification of the reason why you are 'off'
[IMG]/IMG]
This is for your from all of us.
Glad you are still posting in the 'Mail on Sunday'
Carolxxxxx
MLxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
, in reply to message 44.
Posted by Ariadne Knickerbocker (U4534559) on Tuesday, 29th April 2008
Here is a joke to cheer you up Monty
Man at the market: "My wife asked me to buy ORGANIC vegetables. Have these been sprayed with any poisonous chemicals?"
"No," replied the gardener,"you'll have to do that yourself."
To echo everyone else - have a good rest/ break, it soudns like you've really earned it.
But, what do professional gardeners looking to get away from work do to relax...?
Monty, I wish you all the best and a speedy full return to firing on all cylinders. You have clearly been working flat out and being in the public eye must be a great strain at times. I met you briefly at the GW Live seed swap and if all is well I look forward to your presence there again this year.
Another get well wish. Please take all the time you need and though you will know that there are countless numbers awaiting your return for once put yourself and your family first. So important to make a complete recovery rather than return too soon and then realise it was not such a good idea.
May I add my appreciation of your fantastic presentation skills when filming 80 Gardens. It was an outstanding success.
Very best wishes
I wish you a very speedy recovery Monty .
Thank you for taking the time out to let us know how you are, you must think we are a bunch of twitterers!(My Grandma's name for worriers!).
Take Care, take it slow, enjoy the time with your family and in your OWN garden .
Soon the smile will be back on your face and the spring in your step I'm sure
Love
HSL x x x
Yes, positive thoughts being echoed here. As a gardener meself, if I was having to take time off I'd be spending good time with the family and pottering about the garden poking at things enjoying Not having a camera/ production team watching my every move. Get well soon but make sure you are properly fully recovered before 'coming back'! [yes, mum]
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