Batman and Robin

The fearless roast chicken eating duo.

Miss Pickering and the case of the evil potato plant

This afternoon I pulled up what I thought to be a weed growing out from underneath the patio. It turned out to be attached to these potatoes. Remembering a scene from Brookside, I fear further devilment may be lurking - parsnips, turnips, even swede. The Hound and I are moving.

This week we have been mainly

Receiving very large parcels, and having a gallant customer help collapse the box

Loving vintage window vases

Experimenting with Kenyan roses

Eating marmite

Colour on a dull day

Turquoise is the new taupe, thanks to Jo for doing a marvellous painting job on the table and chairs, and for sacrificing a cardigan in the process.
Also for our new found farming audience - this morning I got stuck behind a Ford 8340.

Flower school opens

Roses, cabbages, larkspur, snowberry, herbs and garden foliage inspired our first group of ladies to become floral goddesses. I was seriously impressed with how well they all took to it. The class was held at the wonderful Tobie Norris, after making two arrangements we feasted on a wonderful lunch and drank wine. Such a splendid way to spend a Monday. Book now

That tart!

Not Lilo Lil, but one of a plum variety. The perfect breakfast en route to market at some ungodly hour this morning.

A record breaking drive

It wasn't quite the result we had hoped for, Mr Kovalainen failing to snatch the top spot, and Mr Hamilton making some rather disastrous tyre choices in qualifying, but oh gosh Mr Vettel - bravo! We do hope you made the right choice for next season....
The Other Miss Pickering and I ventured to Wolverhampton, for her first assessment on the road to becoming a personal trainer extraordinaire. She passed top of her class, and we are all very proud.
The Hound (deciding against a Sunday afternoon on the M6) paid a visit to The Object Of His Affections. Still a little sceptical of his bull in a china shop approach to life, by the end of the day she succame to his charms.

A wedding of sumptuousness

Silver bowls bursting with roses, delphiniums, love -in-a-mist, snapdragons, freesia and herbs, sat beneath candelabra. For an extra touch of romanticness fresh rose petals were scattered along the length of the oval table. A table layout never before seen in the history of the Lambert room. Mandi and Alan were keen to deck the church just as beautifully, and we did. Floral arches, windowsills, pedestals, vases and rather lovely pew ends, sadly not one of the photographs I took is any good. I can't decide which is the most irritating; completely forgetting to take the camera (an all too regular occurrence) or taking it and getting terrible photos.
The Hound has spent all day sulking as we didn't get to the farmers market today, he will doubtless be posting a photo of himself on Lurcher Link under the section home needed.
The soundtrack of the day has been provided by Mr John Mayer and the track "Say"

Men I would like to eat tuna carpaccio with (Part 1 )

Yvan Attal

Sowing the seed or The tale of a true eccentric.

Yesterday The Hound and I made a voyage to the East. To a land devoid of hills, where vendors of bird seed and wondrous vegetables reside. We went to meet a great man who grows flowers in a small field filled with butterflies and bumble bees. By day he tends his flowers, but by night, glass of wine in hand, he dons a white shirt, ties bells to his knees and dances under the light of the moon.

Highs and lows

This weekend was a roller coaster, Saturday was just plain odd, Sunday was a fabulous race followed by meeting my beloved Marc and Keith at The George Hotel. A wonderful afternoon spent sitting outside in the rain drinking gin, discussing the lack of brown coloured roses in the UK market, Christmas trends, and weddings. How I wish we could do this every afternoon.
Sunday then took a nose dive, when the news that Mr Hamilton had been robbed of his victory came through. Then to top it all at 4.30 this morning, I feel down 2 flights of stairs. I now have a bruise the size of a continent on my bottom, I am waiting for my left ankle to turn blue, and a carpet burn on my arm, that merely adds to the one I got on the roasting tin the other day.
I just hope that my ankle isn't as bad as the awful "Shoes of death fall" of 2004. Never one for seeking medical advice, I have applied a neoprene support, and wedged it into knee high leather boots.

Not fair

This post was supposed to be a jubilant one. Tales of rain, skill, determination, and the sweet sweet scent of victory, instead it is one of outrage.
Mr Raikkonen clearly pushed Mr Hamilton into the chicane. Mr Hamilton then yielded his position, how he was then supposed to take advantage of the slipstream with so much illegal weaving by Mr Raikkonen - is anybody's guess. Mr Kovalainen also suffered at the hands of the over zealous FIA. The Hound is wondering why there seems to be one set of rules for red cars, and another for everyone else.

I want one

Yesterday was also a good day as Sally Page came to photograph us arranging flowers for one of her friend's stands. Sally is writing another book about using garden flowers and foliage in arrangements. Sarah Coward cut wonderful things form her garden, dahlias, sedum, pittosporum, copper beech, and flax leaves. With the addition of some hydrangea and roses, we made up two arrangements.

Sarah's work is quite simply wonderful, and you also couldn't meet a more friendly person. Her bronzes of horses, hounds and other animals are all limited editions of only 9. What caught my eye however was The Hound immortalised in solid silver. I appeal to everyone of my friends and members of immediate family - my birthday is just 3 months away, and falls quite close to Christmas!

Not content with admiring the art, I would also like one of these.

We also did some floral things

The trials of Burghley

Burghley Horse Trials has hit Stamford. Traffic chaos will ensue for 4 days, as the Range Rovers and horseboxes arrive, despite the fact in can take an hour to cross town - I love it. Yesterday we headed up to decorate some stands with floral arrangements. We also decorated the Country Living pavilion with bright arrangements to compliment this months issue. The show team are all lovely girls, and Guy is rather dashing.

More good news

This morning a lady rang offering me a free holiday to Cyprus or Crete in a 5 star resort hotel. All I had to do was write a testimonial saying how wonderful it was, and give them permission to use photos of myself, "my husband and up to 2 children" for advertising and marketing purposes. I politely declined her generous offer, I am not a fan of resort hotels, and I wasn't convinced that photos of myself and The Hound reclining by the pool would do anything to enhance their sales.

Good news!

According to several emails, I am the sole beneficiary of $6 million legacy. Apparently all I have to do is contact a Mr Wong in the Netherlands with all my personal and bank account details. Just think of all those shoes.
Other good news is that The Book arrived this morning! Even without the inclusion of The Hound, it makes for a jolly good read. Priced at £25 it should grace every coffee table, would be a welcome gift for birthdays, weddings, and bat mitvahs, or you could place it on your head and practice your deportment.
If you can't make it into the shop, we will happily post you a copy. U.K. P+P is £5. For the rest of the world, telephone us and we will pop to see Mr Sumner at the post office who will find the best and most cost effective way to get it to you.

The Book

Finally The Book will be in the shop this Wednesday - hopefully, warehouse backlogs and transport not withstanding, perhaps we should say Thursday to be on the safe side. It features pictures of the shop, the historic town that is Stamford, and Mr Naylor's fields of golden daffodils. Sadly The Hound is not featured, he is devastated as he was hoping it would be a springboard for a career in television.

Fiori nunziali

Wedding flowers is a title that could become slighlty overused. Using the Italian lends a more romantic tone, and allows me to show off my prowess in European languages, Spanish, German, and Ancient Greek titles coming soon.

Bang and the dirt is gone

The other Miss Pickering and I have scrubbed the shop to within an inch of it's life. Deciding against painting we attacked it with the Le bang de cillit. I know we should use Ecover, but you need to use 10 times as much of it, which I am sure defeats the object.
The Hound, now a qualified interior designer, had us rearrange the assorted dressers and washstands to a layout that seems to make the shop look twice as big. The position of the cream dresser still bothers me, but it might be that it just needs painting taupe.
This weekends Grand Prix in Valencia promised to be full of action, street circuit, a bridge and the pits housed in an old fish market. Sadly it was all a bit of a damp squib. The McLaren failed to reach the pace of the Ferrari, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the season. We can only hope Ferrari's reliability issues continue - not very sportsman like I know, but after that stewards decision.........!

A culinary bride

A wedding at Stapleford Park for the very lovely Rachel and Al. Silver bowls were filled with herbs, roses, veronica, snowberries, and trails of passion flower. The bride made her own cake, which we filled with roses, and snowberries.

Not that sort of girl

There is a large blackboard outside the shop, which we use to advertise various things. At the moment it reads "How to be a floral goddess" Late one night somebody rubbed out the f and l of floral. I would just like it known that we will not be teaching that sort of thing.

How to be a floral goddess or Flower School now open

Buy a new pencil case, and some Clark's shoes! Our flower classes start in September. In true Miss Pickering style they will be a serendipitous affair, suitable for all abilities. We are running four different classes, choose to do one or all four. Coffee on arrival, a cacophony of flowers, followed by lunch and a glass of wine.

How to be a floral goddess
15th September or, 13th October or, 27th October £75
An Introduction to flowers, insider tips and handtied bouquets, vase types, conditioning etc.
You will make 2 bouquets, 1 large and 1 small.

Dinner party flowers
29th September or , 20th October £75
How to make wonderful table centres for soirees and full on banquets! 1 modern and one eclectic arrangement will be made.

The Christmas table
17th November £75
Ideas on how to decorate the table at Christmas, tablecentres, decorations and other lovely things. 2 arrangements will be made.

Christmas wreaths
24th November £80
Making the perfect door wreath for your home. Each person will have the choice of materials to make a traditional, or modern wreath.

Email us at flowers@misspickering.com, or leave a comment and we will dispatch further information and a booking form.

Taupe or not to Taupe? That is the question.

Since visiting New York, I have been mildly obsessed with the colour taupe. It is everywhere in NYC, all very tasteful, and occasionally mixed with a hint of cerise or aqua to keep it edgy. I would really love to paint the walls of the shop in this colour, but worry it would look too dark.
I have polled several people who all say they like the blue, one architect said it reminded him of a fridge which he thought was a good thing in a flower shop. It is for precisely that reason that I want to change the colour, this shop is cold enough in the winter, without the decor suggesting the Arctic. Also, I think a taupe colour might be more flattering to my seriously pale skin tone. Farrow and Ball paint charts are covering the work area, and preventing any of the orders being made. Do people really paint their walls Drab or Dead mouse?

The Book

A sneak peak!

The books will be available to purchase from the shop, or by mail order next week. Although I must warn you that once purchased, you may wish to hand in your notice, buy an old camper van, and spend your days travelling the length and breadth of England, visiting all 12 shops.

The long way home

Over bacon and black pudding the next morning we resumed our discussion over the correct pronunciation of Hypnose roses, howled with laughter at the cautionary tale of attempting a Fire and Ice wedding, bowed down to the Yoda of the florist world Mr Spriggs, and wondered if we had ever met a more elegant and poised man than Theo. The hound is looking forward to one day meeting Clara Spriggs, a daschund with a prize winning coat.
Eventually we had to leave one anothers company, and head back, with book in hand we loaded the sparkly clean van with shoes.

My dear Mr Banks - how we missed you.