My other obsession

Scandinavian glass vases - my other obsession.

Long before I became a florist I had already acquired a huge collection of these.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces, mostly from the 60s. I love 60s and mid-century modern design. My favourites change from time to time as I find new pieces in junk shops or on ebay and sell old ones on. They look great when grouped together and most pieces are still relatively inexpensive, so it's possible to build up a decent collection without spending a fortune.

Seaside kitsch

When it rains on your summer holiday in England there are always kitsch and colourful treasures to be hunted out.

Seaside confectionary shop, Lynmouth, Devon.

(Mr H and I have just been away for a few days camping on Exmoor.)

Blackberry time

I picked some blackberries whilst out walking Albert in the woods this afternoon and did this mock up for the table arrangements at my sister's wedding.

Box of memories

I packed my wedding dress away this afternoon. The ritual of lining the box with tissue paper and carefully folding it away felt like one of the final acts relating to our wedding. The thank you notes have long since been written and sent, the photographs chosen for our wedding album. Now all that's left is to fold away my dress and, remembering how I felt on that day four months ago when I stepped into it, look forward to our marriage and all that is to come.






















































Box of memories photographs by me. Wedding day photographs by Fiona Ensor.

Coral vase

I love the subtle detail and simplicity of this porcelain 'coral' vase by Ted Muehling available from Rose and Radish.

More lovely porcelain here.

The Bay Tree at Chipping Camden

On the way back from Hidcote on Sunday we stopped for tea and cake at Chipping Camden where The Bay Tree surely has to be one of the prettiest florist shops in England. I loved this elegant white Anthurium arrangement in the window.

Don't choose a wife for her bonnet

"Buying a plant for its flowers is like choosing a wife for her bonnet".

Photograph by Dorothea Lange

Gardening wisdom found via A Rockridge Life.

August at Hidcote

I begin to get a creeping sense of dread at this time of year. I know August ought to be one of the nicest months of the year, but I hate the feeling that the summer is starting to slip away. My favourite month is April when Spring really starts to get going, the days begin to lengthen and you have the whole anticipation of summer befor you - it was no coincidence that Mr H and I decided to get married in April.

So before summer ebbs away we headed out into the Cotswolds today where I took these pictures at Hidcote Manor Garden. Although some of the earlier summer flowers had faded they had been replaced by abundant borders of Dahlia, Canna Lily and Agapanthus.

























































From top to bottom: Aliums; Dahlia & Canna Lily; Penstemon & Nicotiana; Astrantia.

Summer basket arrangement

Just a little basket arrangement I made in the shop yesterday. It's a traditional design, and in this case was a gift for an elderly lady.

I used Roses, Achillea, Echinops, Eryngium, Eucalyptus, Chrysanths and Carnations. There are a couple of pieces of Delphinium in there somewhere too.

A Norfolk wedding

One of the questions in a quiz Flora tagged me to answer a few weeks ago was

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

I never got round to answering all the questions, but I can answer this one without any hesitation whatsoever. If I could choose only one thing from my wardrobe it would undoubtedly be the blue five and a half inch Alexander McQueen shoes, bought at a greatly reduced price in a clearance sale for a party for a rather special birthday I celebrated last year.

They are just the right side of whoreish and create the very desirable illusion of legs that go on forever. These babies make me feel totally capable of outstrutting Carrie Bradshaw, and this weekend they got an outing. Since I don't have the type of social life that regularly demands the wearing of this type of ridiculous footwear I was very excited to have the opportunity to wear them to the wedding of our lovely friends Tom and Katharine in Norfolk.

The reception was held in a large tipi which had been erected in Tom's parents' beautiful garden. Katharine had decorated it with vases collected from car boot sales which she had spray painted and filled with hydrangeas.












The shoes drew lots of admiring glances as I tottered along the gravel garden paths in them after my third vodka and apple juice cocktail, but obviously even my Alexander McQueen shoes couldn't steel the show from the beautiful bride Katharine who looked stunning in this gorgeous Alice Temperley dress.


















We danced all night to the excellent music provided by a local skiffle band (who knew AC/DC and 'Hit me baby one more time' could sound so good on a washboard?)

And the next morning a lie in, fluffy bathrobes and Sunday papers in bed at the St Giles House Hotel in Norwich with the best croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice.

So, all things considered, not a bad weekend really.