Tuesday, November 30, 2004

A cool game with a digital camera

Hmm. I just found this at ChasingDaisy. It's a Photographic Scavenger Hunt where you take pictures to illustrate each of 26 items on a list. As usual, I didn't read it all...lol...but it might be fun to try.
http://www.sh1ft.org/26things/

Who's game? Wanna start with #21?

A view of the floral department. I used the 'cartoon' feature to make it more interesting to me...lol
Posted by Hello

It's never what you expect...

Some mornings, I leave the house with a thermos full of coffee, and some mornings, not.

The coffee goes along when I expect to have the time to do silk arranging at 'Central' (the back room of another of our stores). This usually happens early in the week, right? And today IS Tuesday. Sheesh...I'm pouring out another thermos of luke-warm coffee tonight.

This is Minnesota, people. Coffee is precious and NOT to be wasted!

I'm not saying I never got there today...lol....yup, once this morning to pick up a set of larger arrangments, and then later today to get glittery snowflakes for store decoration in the produce department. With the Taste of Christmas event planned for Thursday night, we're finishing in-store decorating so everything looks it's spiffiest and most festive.

Trust me. Short of garlanding the egg case or glittering the guacamole, the place is FESTIVE as it is, right now.

So. Are we done? Please??

Monday, November 29, 2004

Fun with GLITTER

Whew! This is the part of the year that I wait for. My work-space is absolutely, positively SPARKLING!! (Not clean, mind you...it just glitters!)

When you work with artificial flowers and pine that's just coated with glitter....well, some of it HAS to rub off...(Yea!)..and fly around..(Oooo!)..and stick where it's not supposed to be....(Giggle!)
Whenever I get back to the main store in the evening, people look and smile because I'm carrying boxes of silk arrangements or wootsy wreaths. AND, because I'm literally plastered with glitter, most obviously on my face...LOL
(I know. I just figure I add to the already festive atmosphere.)

In fact, a co-worker told me last year that she could always tell when I'd been in the restroom (ohmigod...lol) 'cuz there's glitter on the floor.
Hey, it happens.

"It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...everywhere, oh everywhere, I go....."!

LOL...can you find all eight snowmen? This one's for a 'Taste of Christmas' event in another store...NEXT week.
Posted by Hello

This one is for a charity auction and is supposed to be 'odd or unusual'...hopefully, the Santa Gnomes will do it...lol
Posted by Hello

I'm especially proud of this one...it's for over the fire place in the living room of the store's 'first family', and matches the 15 foot tree that'll be across the room.
Posted by Hello

Ok, here's more!

Oh, man...when I got to work this morning, I had a whole list of wreaths and arrangements in silk that had to be done right now! Of course, one wreath is for tomorrow, one for Friday, and one by the 10th. Sheesh. The silk Christmas arrangements need to go to other stores ASAP.
And, hey, I have pictures!
(See above......)

The end of a long weekend

Good morning! The sky's getting a little lighter as dawn approaches here in Minnesota.
Holiday prep ought to be in high gear starting today, as there's an "event" at the store on Thursday night called "Taste of Christmas"...everybody dresses up, there's a live band and festive atmosphere with almost every department passing around samples. Ho-ho-ho! Tell ya more tonight!

Sunday, November 28, 2004


Looking foreward to the first 2-4"....
Posted by Hello

After the big snow storm on Saturday
Posted by Hello

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Being left-handed helps...

...if you want to Become A Florist

See, you're already in touch with your right-brain if you're left-handed. It's the artsy-craftsy side of your brain, the aesthetic, visual, feeling side. The side that responds to colors, and to how music and the wind feels and how sweet stephanotis smells. It's probably even the side that appreciates glitter, but there's no scientific evidence for that yet.

I, of course, am left-handed.

I can hear your anguished voice asking, "Are there NO right-handed florists of any quality, then? Will I forever be not-as-good? Is there any hope at all for me?"

Not to worry. Of the maybe 50 people I've worked with over the years, I'd say 40 were 'left-challenged'. They did...ok...and it's heartening to see someone overcome a handicap, right? They can't help being right-handed.
Hell, some were even good.

Yes, natural ability helps. So does a floral short-course or evening classes, but a sense of humor is the most important.
Ok, ok....
I'd suggest getting a part-time job at a florists first, just to get the feel of it. Work there for a year at least, so you know the routine and the rhythm of the seasons. There ARE major crunch times--think Valentine's Day, proms, gardening, Mother's Day, weddings--all in the spring; then homecomings, weddings, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in the fall.

Being a florist doesn't do much for your pocketbook, but it's wonderful for your soul.

Friday, November 26, 2004

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Ahhh, finally. Predictions of 2-4" of snow tonight here...and I have a digital camera!
(In case you're interested, here's the address of the National Weather Service radar from Minneapolis...
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/radar/loop/DS.p37cr/si.kmpx.shtml
...but right now, it looks like the storm could miss my house...rats! Just when I have the weekend off, too.
Late November in Minnesota....Ha! What are the chances it WON'T snow soon?

Blogging

Ever since I first heard about web logs, I've wondered why anyone would? Specifically, ahem, why would I?

Blogging seems like a relatively permanent way to be 'out there'. Anyone could go back six months and see my knee-jerk reaction to something that happened then. It's like a letter or a...gulp....birthday card, right? Once it's written and sent, you can't take it back, no matter how much you wish you could.

And I know me...my initial opinions and impulses aren't necessarily well-thought-out.
.......................................................................
Does knowing that about myself keep me from expressing those opinions?
No. It doesn't.
I'm of the "Oh, why not?" school.
Hmmm....
Right.
This is asking for trouble.
......................................................................
OK, maybe Ephemeral Florist could be an exercise in circumspection for me....to see if I can think stuff through first, before I commit it to the web?
(I mean, ten more minutes of thinking about something wouldn't kill me, right? lol)

But see, HERE is where blogging's difference/saving grace comes in:

Unlike that perfumed, suggestive birthday card I still can't believe I sent (blush), anything I write HERE can be edited, ammended or even deleted altogether once I've seen the light.
Oh my, what power.

LOL...this is all by way of justifying the changes I made to the post called 'Questions', below.
Yes, I DID think overnight about writing this, then gave it 10 more minutes just now. Hooray.

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Giving Thanks

One really nice thing about working in a grocery store floral is all the other people you make friends with there. People from other departments, faces you see every day...eventually you know their spouses, their kids, their birthdays, and they know you....lol
Jeff works in the meat department, and our storage cooler is nearby, so we smile and say hi many times a day. He reminds me of Tigger...he's tall and wirey and rarely stands still. We tease that he's my other son, the one that J&E don't know about...

He told me yesterday that he'd be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for his family today. When he heard that it was my turn to work the holiday, he said he'd save some turkey for me. We laughed, I said thanks, and I forgot about it.
And then, tonight, as I was closing the flower shop....dear, sweet, thoughtful Jeff came bouncing around the corner with a complete turkey dinner for me. WOW...(instant tears and warm grateful hugs)...oh man...blew me away.
Mmmm, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, succulent turkey....even orange jello with whipped cream.
It was probably the BEST Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had, just because he bothered, you know?
So here I sit, turkey full and thankful for the blessings of friendship.
I hope you had a Thanksgiving that was every bit as wonderful as mine!





Wednesday, November 24, 2004


A little florist humor...
Posted by Hello

Variations on a Theme

Lately, I've been thinking about time.
How fluid it is,
how long it takes,
how quickly it goes.
The subject isn't new, I know.
When I'm anticipating something,
( a trip, a concert, a birthday)
I think Oh, I can't wait...
But eventually
it happens
(or it doesn't),
and suddenly
wow
it's two weeks later.

When I know that something will get better
(from a wound, to a lost love, to a death)
it's that endless stretch of time,
that limbo,
when the pain is fresh.

I think back to my childhood,
the birth of my children,
last Christmas,
last week--
how amazingly distant,
how seemingly recent.
Even 1960 seems like
just yesterday...
but it's part of my now
and changes my future
you know?

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Questions....

Ok, I DO get statistics on this blog, but they're really general.

I'm pretty sure the comments work.

(Update..11-26-04 Silly me...I just enabled comments from 'everyone'...this should make a difference, huh? ....good grief! )

I'd really like to see who clicks this page, so if you would, just say hi and where you're from, ok?

Wow, you wanna write more?? OK!

Question:
Are you a florist?
Do you have a deep and abiding relationship with your florist?
Do you even know any florists?
Have you accepted glitter in your life to personally savor?
Why not??

Hmmm.

You know how, sometimes, stuff happening in the 'rest of your life' can affect your design capabilities...your creativity at work...your response to customers...your joie de vivre....? Yeah. "Whew".

The good thing here is that work is a major distraction. I can't dwell on a bummer situation for long, since there are arrangements to be made and Christmas stuff to display on the floor, customers to talk to, glitter to enjoy and revel in, ya know? Nothing (well, almost nothing...sigh) cheers me up like bright colors and a good dusting of glitter...lol

My pick-machine smokes while I'm pa-rum-pa-pum-pumming with Bing and David....those red, red berries amid the lush green pine, cardinals on a branch across the middle of a wreath, sparkling ornaments and beads...who can stay down for long with all that?

And you know....each time I come back to what's bothering me, it's a bit lighter....a tiny bit more OK.....

What, you thought I stayed with floral because I loved Valentine's Day??
Sheesh!



Saturday, November 20, 2004

The Human Flower Project

I just found this tonight, via growabrain. "The Human Flower Project is an international newsgroup, photo album and discussion of how people live through flowers. We report on art, medicine, society, politics, religion, and commerce."
(And here I thought there were only 'florist trade' sites on the web--have you ever tried to google something like 'Florists associations'? They're mostly on-line wire services...when all I want is a place for florists to be able to talk with each other....)
http://www.humanflowerproject.com/
Think I'll go check 'em out again...join me?

Friday, November 12, 2004

Like a Tom Robbins Novel

Three of our staff attended the design show at Koehler-Dramm in Minneapolis on Wednesday night. S went looking for inspiration and found it in the KD coolers, with an armload of fun new flowers to try. D was checking out the hardgoods and the fresh possibilities in her new capacity as Floral Manager in the store and to meet our salesman in person. I was hoping for a "shot in the arm"--a burst of excitement to pump up my enthusiasm.

Hey, two out of three's not bad.

And I really wasn't that disappointed...lol...we just went to the wrong show.

KD intended to encourage party work and demonstrate ideas and techniques for large scale events. As always, the designers feature products that're available from the host wholesale house. Sometimes, though, you realize that they're also obviously pushing overstocked items....and that was the case Wednesday night. Feathers (peacock, turkey, ostrich, pheasant...pin feathers, feather boas, feather trees...red, green, white, black, silver, gold...draped, paved, glued and glittered...whew!)

Evidently, florists are not an alergic bunch.

Admittedly, we didn't stay and listen to the whole design part of the show. We did what the wholesaler hopes we'll do--we shopped--but we went back twice to see what the design team had produced.
I don't know and can't imagine what sort of event this design was intended for. I snapped the picture when it was already on the tables in back, so there are other designs behind it to confuse the image...but man! It reminded me of a Tom Robbins story (Still Life with Woodpecker, for instance, or Another Roadside Attraction) ...a jumble of ideas incorporated in one book. Here, in one arrangement. It only works sometimes!

Definitely a multi-media arrangement...but intended for WHAT event?
Posted by Hello

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

A "Normal" Day

I've been considering the idea of blogging my day at work....a typical 'day in the life', you know? This morning I thought, well how about today?

By noon, I knew today wasn't at all typical...lol...but it might be interesting to tell about, anyway....

8AM: Two designers, the manager and two part-timers arrive. The PT's go to work on watering and balloons because fresh flowers will be here soon.
We designers check today's orders....not too much there, so I'm sent to do Thanksgiving silk arrangements and more fall stuff.
(I know. I started Christmas last week, but there are still fall arrangements to do. It's called 'multi-tasking'. Or 'confusion'. Take your pick...)

11:30AM: Would I go to another of our stores to help for a couple hours? They're short-handed today and need cooler back-up arrangements. I'm to have lunch first, go there and help, but be back at my store by 3:30. Sure.

3:20PM: Well, not bad. I'm leaving the other store almost on time.

3:45PM: Back at my store, I place the arrangements I've made today on the shelves and check next week's schedule, discuss tomorrow with the manager and leave by 4:30 to vote on my way home.

Today's output: 10 silk cornucopia arrangements @ $25
9 vase arrangements @ $28
6 small vase arrangements @ $15
1 blog entry....priceless.