Friday flowers

Tags

commercially grown white rose, cut glass creamer, December, friday flowers, garden magazine, ivy berries, Kenji Toma, mistletoe berries, periodical, Rakes Progress

Unlike Cathy I did not manage to be organised enough to prepare a blog post sharing my in a Vase on Monday on Christmas Day. I hope you all had a lovely day wherever you were.

I did have a little offering of a shop bought white rose, (I saved one for myself, thanks Mo) a few white buds of mistletoe, some greenery and big fat black ivy berries.

Placed in a cut glass creamer it was a token for the Christmas table along with two pots of white cyclamen.

They worked well as there is something annoying about anything taller where you have to duck round to see the person opposite. Or maybe that can be useful.

As I write this post I am having a quiet day catching up on household chores and saving an hour with my cup of tea to read through my neglected issue of Rakes Progress.

Cover photograph by Kenji Toma.

This is an excellent Quarterly which I signed up for at the Chelsea Flower Show. I guess I would describe it as the horticultural equivalent of Cereal Magazine in terms of presentation and quality of photography.

Within this issue, number 6, there are articles on indoor gardens and honesty sheds, the ancient Indian city of perfume and America’s original land artist Agnes Denes, freediving grandmothers and catwalk florists, plus stick weavers, kokedama, kosher cooks and Milton Keynes. Quite a crop to keep the reader going until the snowdrops appear. I encourage you to seek out a copy for a truly original and refreshing look at all things horticulture related.

Christmas Eve

Tags

Christmas eve, christmas tree, decorations, Joy to the World, morso, Pink Martini

A busy day for most of us as preparations reach their peak. 

The tree is in the house. 

The fire is set for action later.

The wind has dropped but it is such a grey day here. May I recommend a cheerful blast of “Joy to the World” an album from Pink Martini 

Christmas.

It’s coming. 

Have a happy time and thanks for reading. Dorris.

52 week photo challenge: socks

Tags

52 Week Photo Challenge, Christmas, knitted mouse, socks

a certain sort of sock

Although the 52 Week Photo Challenge states ‘socks’ I am offering you and readers of Sandras blog https:daffodilwild.wordpress.com a rather grainy shot of a singular silent Christmas sock, silent as in ‘nothing stirred, not even a mouse’.

Given that it seems to be acceptable for the shops to bombard us with their cheesy Christmas adverts, so I hope I can get away with this effort.

The sock has never been worn.

No mice were harmed in the making of this entry.

The knitted mouse was a gift from Sam rather a few years ago. (I could hardly show you my gardening socks now, could I).

Be sure to take a look at Sandras blog as there may be some pairs of crafted, proper socks.

 

Season’s Greetings

Tags

Allium decorations, Allium Purple Sensation, Christmas wreath, female holly, Ilex Altaclerensis Golden king, Letterpress Noel, Silver sprayed alliums

Letterpress Noel

Like most of you I have been rather busy with Christmas and hope that you have all had an enjoyable few days with your nearest and dearest.

One of the lovely things about the Christmas period is the preparation and decoration. I made three wreaths, one for my boss, one for the church and one for home.  All three are completely different thanks to the foliage chosen.  For home I used lengths of ivy wound round and round with clusters of hawthorn berries tied with florist wire into little groups.  Topped off with a red ribbon and white lights it has sat next to my door, gently twinkling.  This was made with a group of friends who were  making their own wreaths.  Amazingly no two were even a bit alike.

For work I used a large moss covered ring, dressed with a layer of evergreen conifer, topped with varigated Euonymous, female holly Golden king, Ilex Altaclerensis and clusters of their berries.

For the church I used the glaucus blue green foliage of an unknown conifer. This was snipped from my neighbours tree, with permission, but I do not know the form.  It has a strong conifer scent, is rather sticky to use and has small tight cones.  Do you recognise it? Do tell me what species it is, if you know.  To this I added clusters of hawthorn berries and a red bow.  To help the wreath twinkle and stand out against the dark door I added some gold tinsle.

I have a vase full of silver sprayed allium heads mixed with a couple of painted white twigs to decorate the sideboard.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There is a Christmas tree with the usual lights and collection of baubles but I think it is the ones which are home made which are the ones held dear.

Best wishes to you and may your New Year 2016 be healthy and happy.