30 minute love affair

all in the blink of an eye
there you were standing there.

number of compact flash card readers broken 2
outlets in the countryside that sell compact flash card readers 0
days it takes Amazon to deliver one 2
national fashion magazines sending cake as apology 1
fancy ladies in one room last night 150
stems of cotton and pussy willow sold lots
shots of espresso this morning 5
customers The Hound has a crush on 1
old school friends in the shop 2
plans to make an SHS reunion involving flower school 1
haircuts planned 1
 also Paloma Faith

Bon weekend

For one last time

I'll take this ride 
Hamilton has bid farewell to McLaren.
It's been emotional.
109 days until the next race.

On Saturday I was introduced to somebody.

"Oh i know all about you, you're the one with the blog, my wife says your life is like a Richard Curtis movie, nice tits by the way"

on Sunday I found myself face down on a wet pavement, crumpled in a heap, bleeding.The Hound had seen a cat, I hadn't seen him see the cat...

If my life was a Richard Curtis movie, a tall dark and dashing stranger would have picked me up, and administered some of that weird lotion that stings that EVERYBODY in the movies has.

Instead I limped home, and made a sort of not very jerk chicken.

Allspice berries - some
Cassia bark - I don't even know what this is, it was 25p in the reduced section
Peppercorn mix thing
Salt
Garlic
Ginger
Galangal
Spring onion
Chilli
Lime zest et jus aussi
maybe some brown sugar would be good

Crush things that can be crushed, chop others, mix with chicken thighs, leave overnight if you are organised or a few hours if not. Place on a baking tray and squish down so that all the skin is on top and will crisp up. Roast at 220 degrees C for 30 mins.

also my life has been overtaken by Christmas.

If in doubt, pop a candle in it.

Goldfingers

I have now taken to spraying flowers. In the process I have sprayed my hands too.

Golden ranunculus for buttonholes and some door wreaths, not really wreaths but it's a slippery slope if i start using the words "door treatments"

A lady just came in to say that she was a florist and didn't want to buy anything, she just wanted to steal all my ideas. I liked her, much more than the florist who has taken to using my images on her on-line portfolio.

and there is water coming through the ceiling.

and the sun is shining.

The door belongs to the deli further up the road it closed down 2 years ago, but at least 3 people asked me for cheese whilst I stood and took these pictures.

This street dates back to the 16th century, everything is wonky.

It's not my photography.....

and most of all

I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you.

Do not click on this link if you are a man. you won't like it.
This was a message on a card today.

Meanwhile back in the shop, Christmas is here, vintage dachshunds have collars of holly berries, bunches of greenery for all the Kirstie Allsop devotees, cards, table centres and pails of cyclamen for visiting Aunt Mabel.

and gold eucalyptus.

and conversations have been can we still recite all the words to Dirty Dancing?, and Pretty Woman? Weight loss, shoes, and could Miss Dior be a new signature perfume?

My morning has been worryingly vacuous.

First take your hula hoop

then have a last hula.

grab some moss and wire

moan about the rain

contemplate relocating to LA

photograph The Hound

add moss to hula hoop with wire

receive a strange birthday card and spend a good hour trying to fathom out who it is both to and from

add foliage to mossed hula hoop

bang nail into wood

ask nice man to finishing banging in the nail. 

hang wreath

curse white van for parking outside so that you can't take a good picture

get soaked 

contemplate moving to LA

I made this on a hula hoop because i happened to have one. The mechanics are as important as the flower choice in floristry. 9 times out of 10 I don't use floral proprietary products, this is why i have a love affair with hardware shops.
It's also the bit we all scrutinise on other florists' work.
"How did they do that?"
"She must have used oasis to get that angle"
"I wonder where those vases are from?"

also in all seriousness if you sent a birthday card to the shop in a yellow envelope. Get in touch. I don't know what to do with the card or it's contents.

Let sleeping dogs lie

The Hound is in full hibernation mode.

Waking only to partake of lunch at The Lord Nelson.

As usual he was the centre of attention, conversations ensued as to his breed,the acknowledgement of how good he is, how they don't need as much exercise as people think etc. etc.

Cityboy1 was here this weekend, and we also dined here. We chatted about his work, and how his current project would have been a bit scuppered had Romney been elected, and also talked about copyright and the internets, fair dealing and fair use, and he made my laptop work at twice the speed.

We also talked about the male perspective, and the differences between what women say, and what men hear. No holds barred, as always.

I remember once many years ago, being hopelessly head over heels with a man who barely acknowledged my existence. Cityboy1 came home from New York with a copy of that book "He's just not that into you"

Subtle.

Do you think we might persuade him to right an agony column for the blog?

In other news, I have sprayed EVERYTHING in the shop gold.