gilding the lily.

It's been a strange few days. I found $10 in the street. I got a free leg of lamb.

I also had a hot and heavy two days with a canon 5DMarkII, as evidenced above when I turned it loose on one of our recent sample meetings. (Sample meetings...discuss amongst yourselves.)

Those are the best things.

Tonight I had a pained conversation with my boyfriend about "planning."
Discussed the farm's new bathroom.
Agreed to forgo the shower to save money.
Excited about bathing!

?

We also talked about a wedding that I feel obligated to do, because it's a lot of money. Eric says I should stick to my principles... that I need to make rules and then stick to them. I would like to remind him that we also have a farm without a shower. And that an outdoor shower is fun, but not in January.

(poppies, sweet pea, jasmine, lucedendron and ranunculus from this morning's delivery)

There is a film crew downstairs working on a film in our storefront, so we're all huddled upstairs in the office being as quiet as we can, sans heat. (The blower is too loud).

The show is about a woman who sets up a flower shop but the cops think it's a money laundering scheme. Exciting! I keep waiting for them to call me down for my cameo but they have not yet. I'm ready when you are!

Also, what if I told you Ryan Gosling is in it and is standing right below us...



No he's not.

Did I have you there for one second?

exclamation points

(Jess R. this went out for your friend today...)

Blowing through day after day making, breaking, faking it...

Eric and I went to the NOFA-NY (Northeast Organic Farmers Accsociation) conference last weekend. Rest assured it was replete with permaculture preachers, male knitters, and women breast-feeding 4 year olds. Also TREND ALERT: tea in mason jars...

I joke!

We learned a lot. We had more arguments about soil structure and farm planning. I don't like all this "Year One, Year Two, Year Three" talk. At World's End everything happens in Year One or else. I've got a stack of books by my bedside that took more than an acre of hardwoods to publish and a box full of beekeeping equipment taking up space in my studio. I've got sheep fever. I've gone bananas for buckwheat. The free world demands buckwheat! The Japanese can't import enough of it for their soba noodles and it's gluten free and it grows on wet clay (our fields) and it's a great cover crop to revive fallow land and it's good for bees. And I'm ready to plant elderberries and start a niche elderberry wine and liqueur business! And I want to do it all with draft animals! And solar power!! LOOK NO HANDS!!!
__

In the world of flowers, things have been moving and shaking also. I went to an industry event! There were more calypso dresses there than in all of miami beach! I went right for the passed hor d'overs and chatted it up with cater waiters, occasionally forcing myself to smile just like we practiced at home. At dinner I sat near a famous wedding planner who did Joan Rivers impressions all night, except I don't think she realized it. So there you have it, I'm networking now.
__

In the world of Little Flower School, things are also happening - new classes posted on the site this morning; 1. a weekend wedding symposium that I'm excited about because it requires me to make excel sheets and handouts (good ones, promise) and slide shows!; 2. a second California class in May; 3. an advanced class in which we'll study the Dutch Masters; and 4. a sweet bearded iris class inspired by a J. L. Prevost watercolor. I hope to see some of you at school!

life, lemons

Oh brother.
You know what I need to admit to myself? I rather dislike writing proposals. I'm not very good at it. I much better at making stuff than I am crunching numbers and slapping together moodboards. If only we could say to clients - we'll just make it on the day of the wedding and it will be beautiful!

And there would be no money exchanged because it's utopia. And in utopia you get all the Rachel Comey boots you want, in the big sizes that are usually sold out, and you get to ride around on a dog sled like a Siberian queen. Those dogs take you right to the flower market where you get more stuff to make more arrangements.

I'm off to Saratoga Springs tonight for a farming conference...who would have ever thought.

[This is an arrangement from our crazy day today - the soft white flowers reminiscent of daisies are Flannel Flowers. I rather like them. Thumbergii Spyrea has started to come into our market as well, marking the start of the more serious early spring flowers...]

For D

Carnations from the archives!
Procrastinating!!

I'm really freak-ing cranky this morning so I have to keep this short so I don't sink into a bratty rant

I made an arrangement for practice yesterday, here it is:



There are a few quick things I'll share about this little study:

1. Pink and yellow, not a famous color combination around here, but I was "inspired" (a word i find revolting this morning, jesus help me) by an unusually pretty bunch of poppies that one Miss. L. Lubell dangled in front of me yesterday in the studio. Here they are.

I had some lemons left from a memorial service (an event that I'll write about comically in my novel one day) and a smattering of frilly pink things. And a very sorry bunch of poppies that never really opened stashed in the hallway. (Associated, your poppies are 3rd rate junk or worse.)

Et voila.



2. Shallow silver bowl with a flower frog in the bottom. Even with heavy fruit this is possible without flower foam. There is really no excuse for flower foam. I can think of only a few instances where you need it, and a low footed bowl is not one of them. So bone up and quit that shit already.

paris, flowers from this morning, briefly.