Hot Enough For Ya?

What we have here, ladies and gentleman, is a situation.

We have a customer who is helping to plan a gala.  She wants to use her florist: us. The other two committee members want to use their florists.  Fair enough.

The very glamorous clothing designer who is the guest of honor has her own florist.  And he's a BIG guy from New York City.  You heard me right, the Big Apple.

DC doesn't want to pay his prices.  The designer doesn't want dreck on the tables.

So 3 of us have been selected to do a sample and send a picture to our local connection, who will send it on to the fashion designer who will then show it, to her florist and he will decide if any of the designs are acceptable. I asked my co worker betty to whip up a little something something.

Instructions: Red.

Ok, red gem stones, red lights, red amaryllis,  2 varieties of red garden roses, red chili peppers, red hydrangea.  Red enough for you?

Coming up this weekend: Platinum and Purple

Color makes the world go round.  The world go round., the world go round.....

The Healing Power Of A Garden

Tonight I was reading about gardens and thinking about gardens and fretting about my garden.

Because it's in that jungle like/ past it's prime/ hasn't been weeded for weeks/ rained on too much/  the moonflower is eating the boxwoods/ state it hits every September.

As much as I want to run outside with a flashlight and get to work right now, I'll bide my time till Sunday and pray it doesn't rain, though it's in the forecast.

My first post written two years in September dealt with this very topic: garden neglect.

I thought back to the fall of 2004 when I was a month or so into a big breakup.   After Labor Day I stopped gardening.  The cherry tomatoes hung on the plants, to be eaten by birds. Morning glories climbed up the gutter and onto the roof.  And the grass grew and grew.

I stayed focused on the interior of the house, had the kitchen painted pink (?), a burdensome island that took up 2/3s of the tiny room taken out and a new tile floor laid.

And I lost my appetite for food and for gardening.

Then suddenly it was October 31st, a warm sunny Sunday, and I woke up energized. I went outside and put my hands in the dirt for the first time in months.  And I cleaned beds and pulled down vines and mowed the lawn and ate the last of the cherry tomatoes.

And when I was done and the garden looked loved again, I took one of those showers you take after a day spent working outside.  You know the kind, where you feel sore and energized and calm all at the same time.  And you are sure water has never felt better and you have never been cleaner.

Then I got dressed and went out with a friend and ate a huge meal and then took my first salsa lesson.

The power of dirt and dancing.  Made a new woman out of me.

Flowers In The House ( Of Chaos)

Welcome.  Sorry you had to traipse through such tall grass to get inside.  Hope you stopped to pull a weed or two.  It doesn't stop raining/drizzling/thundering here.  Correction: it stopped today.

We have not only had a week of rain but a week of painting/plastering in the living/dining room/kitchen, replastering the ceiling and walls from the last week of rain.  Oh that was a tropical storm.

This has meant our little bedroom has held not only us, the Lab and the crazy cat (who now insists on sleeping on the bed with us), but 4 dining room chairs, a wingback chair, piles of books, plants, mirrors and artwork.

I now refer to myself as: 'Jane - formerly known as OCD'.

But this afternoon the sun peeked through and I sloshed around the garden gathering an armful of autumn bounty.

 

I filled an old crock with limelight hydrangeas, verbena bonariensis, black jack sedum, flowering Thai basil, pink sage, zinnas, and lengths of passion flower vine.

The kitchen got the expected mason jar full of unexpected loveliness.  Autumn blooming anemones, black and blue salvia, sedun autumn joy, chokecherry berries, the last of the shasta daisies and a touch of  chocolate eupatorium.

And on a shelf in the dining room, where we display my favorite green majolica plates and some Furstenberg German china from GG's family, one little cup with a white zinnia from my neighbor Nelda's garden.

 Sometime less is definitely more, no?

So that's my story.  And yours?  Invite us over and do tell.

Breaking News: Bornay has started posting BIG pictures of their incredible work, go immediately, well after you go to all of our houses, go to http://flowersbybornay.tumblr.com/

It's That Time Of The Month

Inspired by Shelley's dahlia post I was about to run outdoors and cut myself a big bouquet of what's blooming in the garden, mine and my neighbor Nelda's cause she's the one with the dahlias......when it started raining.

I attempt to bow to the Universe whenever possible, so I took a hint and let her dahlias be.

Luckily this exercise in futility reminded me that Monday is, could be, should be Flowers In The House.

August was a no go due to earthquakes and hurricanes but mainly vacation.

The only flowers that I have in my house of plasterwork/ painting/ furniture covered with a shroud-again, is a tiny vase of berries.

But I do work in a flower shop so  I can assuage my appetite with a bit of digital fall.

(I'm sorry Miss P., that is a gerbera daisy, but we have customers who can't live without them)

So give a shout out if you'd like to join in the fun on Monday.

And if you're new to us and our global floral chain here's a previous post to check .  Hope you'll invite us in to your home.  Be it autumn or spring in your neck of the woods, say welcome with flowers!

A Very Merry Unbirthday To Us

 
 Sunday we trekked out to the farm for my birthday dinner.  By the time the actual day rolled around I was already fat and sassy. We had celebrated at work with lunch and a raspberry/ chocolate cake on Friday. Saturday night was dinner at the pink house starting with fried chicken and ending with a pumpkin pie.  Sunday breakfast was a meager helping of yogurt and granola and a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday", the Lab thought the song was for her and was wound up beyond belief.

  Luckily, hiking the 5 acres of loveliness, accompanied by a Lab, a Dalmatian, 2 Maine coon cats, a pooping peacock or two and a gaggle of guinea hens walks off a bit of cake and allows you to build up an appetite for beef stew full of farm raised vegetables, salad greens tossed with a rainbow assortment of their cherry tomatoes, and some serious dinner rolls from the Amish market.

We should have done another 5 laps after dinner.

Thank you for the birthday wishes, both in the mail ( v. funny Mr. Rush, now GG keeps chanting the 'instructions") and via email.

Thanks to Geoff and Chuck for the delicious dinner and the honey from your hives, oh and the rose cutting. 

And special thanks to Sarah Margaret, hostess with the mostest.

Was it just a few days ago I was a year younger and several pounds lighter?

My, how time flies.

Guest Post from The Hai ( And The Case Of The Disappearing Photos)

I  just read this email from the Hai ( GG's father) and thought he might  be ready for his own blog.  I know I'm ready for a slice of his cake!

Hi all,

Hope everybody is doing fine, especially the expedition group in Germany........

Did something totally different today: backed my first plum cake/tart , using the 1,2,3 Mürbeteig recipe with slight modifications (8 ounces  sugar, 16 ounces butter, 24 ounces  flour, 2 egg yolks, vanilla extract, lemon juice), knead the dough, rested it for 45 minutes in the fridge, kneaded it again and rolled it out on the kitchen table covered with flour, put it into a sheet cake pan, gave it an extra roll, covered the dough with  one layer of plum slices, and backed it at 400 F for 40 minutes.  Looks and tastes delicious.....

Love to all of you .....

Hai 

PS:  Guten Appetite 

Does he remember my birthday Is Sunday? 

Remember Me and You? I Do. I Think About You Day And Night.

 To Tini and Nirmal ( currently sleeping in Germany):  Hope your trip was uneventful and thank you for returning my books.  The Toss Of A Lemon, The Namesake and A Platter Of Figs, all mine.

When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops by George Carlin? Not likely. 

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To the many bloggers who emailed me that blogger won't let them comment:  Thank you for letting me know I'm still in your orbit.

Shame on blogger.  I may have to send them the George Carlin book.

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And for all of you who cared about the kitchen ceiling : We might have found the source. It was sealed yesterday.  But before we let our comrade Fidel, painter/ plastered extraordinaire back in the kitchen on Monday, we will do the hose test suggested by Connie of Hartwood Roses.

Thank you Connie.

Who needs a contractor when we have fellow bloggers?