Wednesday, September 28, 2005

An article you should read

Just so's you know, I've had a subscription to the New Yorker Magazine for years...it's the only continually interesting magazine I've ever found. Not that I check many out. Seems to me that most magazines are exactly like most newspapers and most TV--->a modicum of journalism to insure the ads get seen.
OK, end of digression~~

For instance THIS article from the September 26, 2005 issue--trust me--it's a hoot!

My first time EVER

Honestly, tonight was the first time in my whole LIFE that I didn't hate mowing the (expletive deleted) lawn! LOL...it was 52 degrees outside, with a brisk north wind, and I buzzed around and got it done.
No, I didn't enjoy myself, but I wasn't sweating either.

And just think: with any luck at all, YOU won't have to hear about this again till next spring!

BTW, by then, I'll have a new
GRAND DAUGHTER to talk about and show pictures of.....!

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Know what today is?

Just think! Only three
months from today, it'll be a very

I know, I know......

you're as excited as I am.

...but I do wonder what I'll be doing this year in December. My gawd, I've NEVER BEFORE had Christmas done in September!

For both of you

To my readers who know who Gail Ann is, this site might interest you.

I'm just sayin'........

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

A professional whine

I know I'm not alone in this irritation, and I also know why it's done this way, but damn...manufacturer's tags drive me nuts!
I KNOW lots of stores sell silks by the stem and need those tags for pricing, and I KNOW some customers will remove them before checkout hoping the clerk will be confused.
But look where these bright white tags are placed. There are three "mixed pine and berries" stems here, and the tags are glued to the top end of the "branch".
Give me oranges to peel, NOT artificial branches. ARGH.

And don't even get me started on ceramic or metal bowls with stickers.....

Monday, September 19, 2005

Nope, NOT five!

Here's the answer:















We're talkin' FOURTEEN bees! lol

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Bees on pink sedum

Today, as I mowed around what's left of the flower beds, I saw this:







Your assignment, dear reader, (should you choose to accept it), is to count the bees...there are lots.
The answer will probably bee posted here tomorrow......lol

In just two months...

....I've developed a new callus. My index finger and thumb are still "padded" but here's my hand today:

Late lilies


When E and S were married in late July, they gave every guest a lily bulb to plant in our own gardens. As MotB, I came home with a bag full...lol

The instructions said to plant them ASAP, so I did.


Those bulbs were SOOO ready to be planted, and this is the first to bloom. Cool, huh? (Not to worry--even in Minnesota, asiatic lilies are perennials.)

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Bwak, Bwak........BWaaaaaaK!

(I dare ya to say that out loud!...lol)


Ok, chickens, especially roosters, are icons of Fall, right?

Who knew?

I have a box of these 3" prickly pine candle rings to use up. It's like working with the bristles of a wire brush, but they add some green between fall leaves.

September means.......?

If you answered "Christmas" to that, or "glitter", you're probably a fellow florist. If you said, "...cooler weather, so it's time to get the glitter and start Christmas!" OR "Hmm, better have the shop's snowblower serviced soon"...then you're a normal nutso MINNESOTA florist!








Here's part of my stockpile so far. It's a basement room under the liquor store, and while it's in the same building, it's far, FAR away from where I make them.
Yes, florists need exercise. Not to worry, I'm getting mine!










I like this picture. It's a wreath I made for a local charity ball, and it's nice, but the fun part is what it's hanging on. LOL...I understand it belonged to the corporate big guy when he was a teenager. Hey, that pedal was the only place there was!

Ok, back to fall for awhile....




Pumpkins with glitter! Cool, huh?

I know.

Too bad it's mostly covered up with flowers...lol











BTW, these pumpkins are made of dyed cornhusk over styro forms, and they're sold with liners, as though you could do fresh arrangements in them.
Problem is, they water spot and the color runs....not a good thing in the shop or on your dinner table, but GREAT for me! LOL

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Working myself out of a job

For those of you following my adventures in full time silk designing, I estimate I'm about 70% through that mountain of silk flowers.

Since July 11th, I've made over a thousand arrangements for the stores in our chain, many of them for Christmas (so they're still at Central). Most of the Fall designs are already in the stores though, so I'm actually seeing empty shelves in my work area.

It's interesting how MANY ways you can use silver, gold or cream poinsettias, and how startling they look with red berries....lol I've asked our main stores to plan for a display at Christmas in those (non)colors, and I've done the big silver Holly Ball wreath (an annual charity donation) already, too. (My camera batteries were dead on Friday, so I couldn't take any pictures...I'll do that tomorrow, ok? lol)

What I'd really like to do in the future is stay with this company. Ideally, I'd like to keep Central, but on a much smaller and more reasonable scale.
We'll see what happens.
You'll be the first to know!

Are you home from Tuscany yet?

This is for A.Non, who's been cooking in Italy for two weeks, and who says she now knows what I can do with my Olive Oil Legacy from R....

This page is Japanese, but I know you'll enjoy the pictures, A!


and THIS is American, but every bit as....(cough, choke!)....charming.

Welcome home!

Sunday, September 04, 2005

It's always something

I've owned a computer for about 7 years.

I've understood what I was doing with a computer for about 5 years.

I've been blogging for almost 1 year.

In the last two weeks, I've started getting "comment spam"--half-assed, stupid commercial comments , as though you, loyal reader, would say to yourself, "Hm, I never knew I needed penile enhancement pills till I read the comments about weeding!"--DUH!

Justin Time, Blogger has introduced a 'word verification' thingy. When you comment, you'll need to copy some twisted letters to verify that you're human.
If it really aggravates one or both of you, I can turn it off.

If you can tolerate it, though, it'll save me the trouble (and anguish) of deleting ALL the comments after a post, including YOUR most erudite thoughts, you human you!

Does this mean I've "arrived" in the world of blogging?

See?

Son LOVES chasing storms.
It used to be that he'd call me after seeing a "great" storm, and try to describe it's power and fury.
("Lightning must have hit the tracks JUST as we were crossing them, Mom!! WOW!")

Yes, there's charm in making your mothers' heart stop.

These days, though, he keeps his digital camera in the car, ready to capture the drama. The visuals are definitely better now.














Cool, huh?

THIS is September in Minnesota

Yesterday when I woke up, it was 65 degrees, and by noon it was 55. There were clouds moving in, with storm warnings on the radio and dire predictions of hail, high winds and "frequent lightning strikes."

It pretty much did that all afternoon and into the night.
(Whoo-hoo! I was elated, because I live all year for cold weather.)

Today, when I got up, it was 67, and NOW, at 11AM it's 76 and sunny. It's supposed to get up to 87 today--so much for baking bread today, huh?

BUT, one project for this weekend was to get the monster weeds out of the flower beds--honest, some were taller than the peony in the center of the square bed. (blushing here!)


Remember how August was going to be "Glorious Glad" month?
Let's just say it didn't work out and leave it at that.








However, as I was tearing out weeds, I just couldn't rip all of these out...they're too pretty lol








Believe me, this is is about one-tenth of the weeds that WERE there!

Friday, September 02, 2005

Yes, I WAS doing "Christmas"



There was a reason I didn't put "Fall" away before I started "Christmas": every year, something comes up that requires "just a few more fall pieces", and this time, it's a sale in late September.

Luckily, I remembered these dopey little ghost pots, all 72 of them.

It's actually fun doing them as a production line, and they're not NEARLY as dopey as I originally thought once they're done.

(I forgot to get a pic of a finished pot, but, hey, stop in at the store after the 19th--they'll be inside the front door at $9.99 each.

What a deal!