Not quite a Myla bikini....

Yesterday at work we went out to collect the pedestals from last weekend's wedding from the church. We were delighted to find that one week on most of the flowers were still looking almost as fresh as they did when they left the shop, so I couldn't resist salvaging a few bits and pieces and bringing them home.

The lilac hydrangeas work really well as an accent colour in our new bedroom which I lovingly painted in Farrow and Ball 'Bone' just a couple of weeks ago after Mr H and I spent our entire week's 'holiday' sanding and varnishing floors. This year we decided to forego the lure of the Greek Islands or the South of France. Instead of spending my summer holiday lying on a beach in my bikini (the gorgeous yellow Myla one I spotted whilst out shopping today would have been just perfect), for most of the week I wore knee pads, overalls and ear defenders. But when we had finished and our new bedroom was complete, my lovely husband bought me a Robert Indiana 'LOVE' sculpture (as seen in first picture), which (apart from my Mulberry handbag) has to be just about my most favourite present ever!

Wedding flowers

Today I've been busy putting together table arrangements and a couple of pew ends for this weekend's wedding in amongst the chaos of a busy Friday in the shop.

Cool water roses, Scabious, Freesia, Lisianthus, September flower and Eucalyptus - such gorgeous colours.

Peonies

Mr H sneaked out with his fuzzy sidekick the other night and came back with these.

Behind our house there is a big old derelict property with an overgrown garden where these lovely peonies were blooming away for all they were worth totally unappreciated by any human eye. And whilst I'm not advocating that you go out stealing flowers from your neighbour's gardens, in this instance I was only too happy to provide them with a loving home.

A sofa for Albert

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I have been busy with my new job as well as out enjoying the sunshine.

With wedding planning out of the way, my thoughts have turned to gathering style inspiration for our new home. I think Albert would look rather handsome stretched out on this sofa.

From Flea Market Style via The City Sage

My dream job

So, I was tagged by Flora to answer this quiz she has been doing over on her blog.

What is your dream job?

OK, here's the story since I've never actually written about this on my blog before. Twelve months ago I was working in a large organisation as a Marketing Manager. The salary was nice. It paid the mortgage and sustained my shoe shopping habit but the job ate away at my soul. I hated it and longed to do something more practical and creative. Then back last September I was flipping through some Adult Education brochures and decided to enrol on a Floristry course at my local college.

I'd always loved gardening, flowers and plants and had become more interested in floral design whilst thinking about flowers for my wedding. I was lucky enough to find myself on a course with a great teacher and within a few weeks I knew I was hooked. Meanwhile, working in a dismal windowless office in a job I was no longer committed to continued to sap the life blood out of me. By Christmas I realised that I owed it to myself to get out. I quit my job, rented out my house, moved in with my husband-to-be and began doing work experience for free at a local florist.

Then a couple of months ago, an opening came up at a florist shop in a neighbouring town. I applied and got the job! So here I am.... following my passion and loving every minute of it. If you'd told me just a year ago that I would be working as a florist I'd never have believed it. It's hard work, physically demanding, my finger nails are always filthy and the pay is peanuts, but right now I wouldn't change it for anything. Well, unless I could dance Argentine Tango for a living that is, but I don't think there's much chance of that particular dream coming true.

More of Flora's quiz later.

This week...

This week I have been mostly...

engrossed in this book recommended by my friend Melissa - Buddhism, a history of western philosophy and a personal travel journey all rolled into one good read,

wishing I had written this letter about Madonna's mid life crisis,

wondering why the slugs have eaten most of my tomato plants,

and helping Albert with his flower arranging skills.

The best wedding video ever

Wouldn't you just love to have been a guest at this great couple's wedding. Looks like they had so much fun.

Now, go get your grandma playing some air guitar.

via A Cup of Jo

Droog brooches

I've got a bit of a vintage French style thing going on this week. I love these Alice in Wonderland-esque baroque style brooches by Iris Nieuwenburg for Droog.

Sweet avalanche roses

Here are a couple of images from my final college assessment last week.

The brief: design a front facing triangular arrangement and create a moodboard to show the interior for which it would be suitable.



















The arrangement we had to produce to meet the brief is quite a formal, traditional design. I aimed to give mine a slightly vintagey feel, inspired by elegant Parisian apartments and romantic English country style.

I used my favourite Sweet Avalanche roses, which were the flowers carried by my gorgeous bridesmaids.



image by Fiona Ensor Photography

Irises

They grow in our garden and their colour is the most intense purple I have ever seen.

They have stamens which look like little furry golden caterpillars.

They will last for just another day or two but when they start to fade they don't dry out like most flowers, they melt magically and dissolve into indigo ink.

They are weird, they are wonderful, and I love them.