Friday
23rd August
There is
a gentle breeze over the island today that is telling us that it is
autumn. The coolness and the slight
dampness makes me think of autumn morning mists which I love. I love how the mist sits just above the
grass. We were blessed last night with
the most impressive orange full moon topped off with a lit up cruise ship sailing
across the bay. I would show you a
picture but my camera is not capable of such things.
Tomorrow
is my final flower course for the summer season and then we shall be into
flowers for Christmas and wreath making.
I can't say too much about the course because I know some of the people
coming read my blog. Suffice to say that
it is an advanced course dealing with design led flower arrangements for
special occasions. It is quite testing
but always incredibly rewarding. I am
continuing to harvest for the winter flowers and wreaths but the constant rain
showers are not helping my task. You
should never harvest when the plants are wet otherwise they will rot during the
drying process. If your mint is
flowering harvest that and hang it upside down in small bunches as these will
be a lovely addition to your wreaths this year.
Scabious is a lovely flower and holds its shape and colour when drying
so do harvest them if you have them.
Scabious
is my favourite wedding flowers as it is so robust. Pete and I are working up our plans for the
off season and hoping to more than treble flower production for next year. I always said I would get back into weddings
when I could supply the vast majority of the flowers myself. When I lived in Derbyshire we did some lovely
weddings and used a combination of our own farm flowers and blooms from the
Sheffield flower market.
I worked
very closely with brides and grooms to design the flower plan and we used to
make mood boards which was great fun. I
also ran bespoke flower schools for brides and their friends/family so that
they could learn the necessary skills to do some of their own flowers. This way I really got to know the bride well
and that was always so useful in planning her day. I used to giggle because on their first
consultation they would say a colour for their flowers as that was usually as
far as their thinking had gone. By the
end of the consultation this colour had been absorbed into a design concept and
that usually featured in all areas of the day.
The concept might be 'elegant' or 'rustic' for example, but it really
extended their thinking. We also did
wedding favours so we could tie those into the day. I always think that it is the small touches
that make the day personal and so special.
So, I
look forward to getting back into wedding flowers but I am also considering
offering a flower service to local hotels and B&Bs during the tourist
season and perhaps again around Christmas.
We shall have to see how many flowers I have got first and that might
have to be for the following year.
I am onto
the final stage of design for my Christmas wreaths this year and this is always
an exciting time. It is especially
exciting this year as we will be coppicing some of our own willow for
bases. We shall still have to buy some
in but it is a start and that is important.
We will definitely have enough willow to make simple willow decorations
and that is something we can all do.
So it is
a change in the season and a time to gather everything in that we need. I am still harvesting and drying seeds and
will post details of any excess seeds in due course in case any of you can use
them. We had a lovely walk with lots of
dogs today to collect driftwood for the course tomorrow. Let us see what the girls make of their
challenge tomorrow!
Can I just say a huge thank you to Clare. Clare is a student on my meditation through writing course and she made us a beautiful beaded butterfly for our end of campaign raffle. We are really touched Clare, thank you so much. I also want to announce that the lovely Di is joining the writing team on One soul many hearts and she is also taking on some editorial duties. So our wings are spreading.....
Until
tomorrow. Xx
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