Bay Trees, Books, Roast Beef, and Hypnose

Over a candlelit breakfast, it became apparent that we didn't actually know what time the lunch was, although a rumour had started that there was a champagne reception at 12 noon. With trepidation, we headed to The Baytree Hotel, very lovely and not at all Fawlty like. The trepidation was two fold; seeing the shop and myself in print, but mainly because i had decided to wear my newly purchased sale shoes (Very high and a size too big) and there are a lot of uneven pavements and cobbles in Burford.

We were greeted by the very lovely Sally Page and Billy Kelly, and handed The Book. It is so beautiful, Sally captured the spirit of the shop, and I feel very proud to be featured in it. This morning I have showed it to everyone and anyone that will give me the time of day, making several people late for work - apologises.

Lunch was delicious, and a chance to catch up with the other shops in the book, it is strange to think we have only met a few times, but people like Marcelle and Simon have become great friends, as has Leen, the worlds most photogenic florist, and Alex who has the prettiest florist van in all the land.

After an evening of roses, weddings, gin and much laughter we headed to bed, should you find yourself at The Baytree, and in the Sycamore room, i would advise removing high heels before attempting the stairs.

Fawlty Towers

This weekend was just fabulous. Wedding done, The Mother Hen and I headed to the town of Burford in the Cotswolds. One of those beautiful chocolate box towns, where the high street is packed with purveyors of antiques, cream teas and walking socks. The purpose of our weekend was to attend the preview of The Book. Saturday saw us checking into Fawlty Towers, and possibly the worlds darkest room. It was an evening when only steak, chips and onion rings will do. Deciding on an early night, I had just slipped into my nightie, when a knock at the door revealed itself to be my beloved Marc and Keith. A new outfit, high heels, and a dash of lipstick later, much Gin was consumed.

Getting old

Today a young chap came in to buy flowers for his girlfriend who had done rather well in her A-levels. He was a little stumped as to what she would like, and so trying to help I enquired what sort of a girl she was. He replied "She's a ska reggae kind of girl"
I don't profess to have my finger on the pulse of youth culture, but I do Facebook and have been known to watch Gossip girl (xoxo), having to enquire what "ska reggae" was, I fear has forever placed me in the group of adults that younger ones roll their eyes at.
Later a new policeman walked past the shop - he was 13.

A wedding on a Wednesday

Not the most popular day of the week for a wedding, but a wonderful occasion none the less. An intimate celebration at Hambleton Hall, with a theme of the palest Wedgewood blue and ivory. Big bowls of blousy roses and hydrangea, were teamed with the silvery of eucalyptus. A delicate posy of white freesia, was carried down the aisle, and matched the buttonholes.

The Hound has spent much of the day trying to finish Saturday's Telegraph GK crossword without the aid of the google, and listening to Zero 7.

Mobile telephones and afternoon tea

Yesterday I left my mobile telephone at the shop. I am rather lost without it, it is my watch, my address book and my contact with life outside Rutland. By 10.30p.m. I had to resist the urge to drive the 22 mile round trip to collect it. I have had a mobile phone for as long as I can remember, the first whilst at University, was the size of a whimsey red, and only worked inside the M25. At 2p.m. today I caved, and reclaimed it. 9 missed calls and 3 messages. Over afternoon tea chez Mother Hen, I decided I might like some peacocks.
I always buy books from second hand shops, it turns the book buying process into a literary treasure hunt. Sometimes you have to wait months to find a book, other times you find it straight away - The Oxfam bookshop on Portobello Road is fabulous for those who are impatient. I have been looking for "Love in the time of cholera" for a very long time, today I found it, albeit in French. Tonight an early night with "L'amour aux temps du cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, and a cup of Earl Grey. Perfume of the day has been Maitresse by Agent Provocateur.

08-08-08

All the 8's, lucky for some! and us. We made the flowers for "Possibly the most relaxed bride in the world" A Bouquet of roses with honeysuckle trails, myrtle and eucalyptus. The honeysuckle was cut from my own garden, checking on it everyday, sheltering it from the hard showers with some tarpaulin, and ensuring it opened to perfection was no mean feat. Cut on the morning of the wedding it looked and smelt divine.

Home grown delights

Today has been such a grey day, but was most definitely brightened by a gift from one of our regular customers, Allison. The brightest dahlias, and some very fancy courgettes The Hound will doubtless hit the Larousse gastronomique, and come up with a deserving recipe.
I love the combination of deep burgundy, red and hot pink, a mix of roses in these colours with a hint of deep lilac makes a very beautiful wedding bouquet.

Most unexpected

The Hungarian Grand Prix once again threw the cat amongst the pigeons. A McLaren front row on the grid looked like a jolly good start, until Mr Massa smashed through it with an impressive and daring drive. A puncture for Mr Hamilton left him finishing in P5, and so it was left to the understated Mr Kovalainen to take the premier spot. Driver of the day has to be Mr Glock, who drove like the wind in his Toyota. Whilst Ferrari failed to get 2 cars round the circuit, their race pace was impressive, and perhaps that shark fin engine cover was useful after all. We await Valencia with bated breath.

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink....let alone water the veg patch

Last night, the house was completely devoid of water, none in the taps, and only a smidgen in the last of a bottle of Evian. First thoughts were, of a plumbing trauma, then a rumour that all the water had been used to put out a fire at the Co-op (in fact it was due to a burst main) Europe's largest man made reservoir is just 1.5 miles down the road, but for some strange reason does not service us - I have never been able to work this out.
The Hound was very concerned about his latest crop of mizuna, he has taken to sowing successively every few days and eating them as shoots. Apparemment this is what all the great chefs are doing, and he is keen to keep up with the latest culinary trends.
Unable to make a pot of coffee or tea, we sat in the garden drinking Gin, hoping that the garden will survive a period of drought.

A vintage tea party, or how to do something interesting with an old teapot and some roses

Take one old teapot, preferably a pretty china one, covered in yellow roses, but if you can only find one covered in peonies or hyacinths this will suffice.

Cut a piece of floral foam so that it fits snugly and protrudes a little from the top, should you wish to take your teapot on a journey (perhaps a vintage steam train) you might want to use a frog and floral tack for a belt and braces approach.

Prop up the lid by spearing the floral foam with some sort of stick, a cocktail one would be good, or just the end of a rose stem.

Then simply fill with roses, use different sized heads for a more natural look. We have used Hypnose, Cream sensation, and some snipped from an indoor plant.

Repeat as required, not forgetting to leave at least one teapot for actual tea making purposes.

Should you run out of teapots, you could turn your attention to storage jars

A weekend in the magical land of W11

Where the houses are painted in shades of spring flowers

The bakery sells cakes of chocolate and cherry

The shops plant up wicker baskets with box and trailing ivy

and the cars are festooned with flowers

Rosa rannuncular

The perfect way of showing off an unusual rose. Line a mini goldfish bowl with leaves, tie 9 roses together, et voila! Ideal for a coffee table, or make up 5 to run along a dining table.

The technology of information

Today has been a day of battling with I.T. matters. My email has been having a teenage strop, and I have been trying to work out how to extend the website to accommodate some interesting new things we have coming up. The Hound and I normally rely on a very dear friend to deal with all our technical matters, said friend, however is moving abroad, so we have decided to try some "Upgrades!" ourselves, after all it is all 1's and 0's so how hard can it be?
The Grand Prix winnings were enough to invest in a web cam and microphone for Skyping, I have struggled to make it work. The Hound however (like anyone under the age of 5) has taken to it like a duck to water, and is chatting to Paulette, a pretty poodle who lives in an apartment on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Details of the new flower school, will be available at the end of the month, stay tuned for course details!

The magnificent man in his flying machine

Mr Hamilton has been up to his old tricks again - winning at Hockenheim. A magnificent display of his skill, determination, and what must now be the best car this season. The Hound is sitting on the sofa looking perplexed, trying to calculate how much he has won. A £10 bet with odds of 11/8 ? - sadly not enough for a Morris Traveller!

The Hound is taking a correspondence course...

In interior design, he first project is the sitting room.

A cardigan wearing sort of girl

I have never been trendy, probably due to my penchant for a nice cardy. I often accessorise said cardy with a nice brooch, and I have now quite a collection of quirky things on pins. This weekend I added to my collection, and am particularly keen on the Eiffel tower brooches. We have often added them as a finishing touch to a bridal bouquet.

O the sweet sweet peas of summer

Highly fragrant and locally grown - truly divine. Just a few stems will fill a room with their scent. Fill pressed glass vases or use the good old Bonne Maman jars. For fancy occasions tie a piece of ribbon or raffia around the rim.

Romantic notions

Today I was reminded of some words from Tennyson.
"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever."

Bits and bobs

Pretty buttonholes

Flowers travelling far and wide

Why do I get inundated with emails offering me Viagra?......I have no use for it, thank you very much

Heaven scent

The shop is filled with much herbage today, and people have walked out with bouquets of flowers mixed with rosemary, mint and oregano.The scent is heavenly.

How the devil are you?

Another joy of having a shop is the customers. It is market day on Friday, and The Hound and I get in early to take a stroll and purchase vegetables and pigs ears. We always bump into regular customers, a chance to catch up news of holidays, exam results, and naturally some general admiration of The Boy Wonder. It also occurred to me today that we have a number of regular customers, whom I have never met. People who live all over the UK and use us to send flowers to family and friends in far flung places. Two such customers rang today to place orders, and it was equally lovely to chat to them, I have a mental image of what they look like, and am curious to see if it is correct.

Such a snob

I am a self confessed flower snob. One of the joys of having my own shop is that I can inflict my snobbery on the good people of Stamford. Xanths, carnations, alstromeria and the dreaded gerbera are banished, I find these flowers most offensive, used for longevity rather than beauty or scent. I have even been known to sneer at them at market. This week a particular order required some gerberas, I only needed a few, but you have to buy 30, and so 26 of them have sat in the shop. I have looked at them long and hard and tried like them, but I simply can't. I would rather have a single sweetpea that lasts just a few days, than a truck load of gerbera that last 2 weeks.

Single white female

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I have yet to be convinced!

Rain, rain kindly desist

The newly planted lavender and box are now thoroughly watered and The Hound, fed up to the back teeth, is surfing the net for last minute deals to Dubai.
It is my opinion that on rainy days the calorific value of all food is halved, and so this afternoon we tucked into a Battenburg, washed down with cups of earl grey tea. Battenburg always reminds me of my late grandmother, who became known as "blue grandma" - (she wore a blue dress one day and the name stuck).My other grandmother is known as "bungalow grandma", although she now lives in a house so we use it less. This method of identifying people has proven to be useful in the shop, particularly for our male customers. We now have "yellow flower man", "white and green man", "the poshest man in the world", "the teacher" and my personal favourite "Cashmere man" I have quite a crush on this impeccably dressed man, so called because I imagine everything he owns is made of cashmere, his shoes are always shiny and he smells nice too.

By jove, the boy did it!

From the GO, GO, GO! Mr Hamilton was out to win, He did it rather spectacularly with a faultless drive and a great strategy for the weather. Meanwhile back at Ferrari, who are obviously suffering with the credit crunch felt the best way to save money was not to change Mr Raikkkonen's tyres, and Mr Massa seemed to be auditioning for a post racing career shot at Strictly Come Dancing. The Hound and I, quite overcome with excitement have had to have a little lie down.