Here's the largest piece @ $115...ahhh, it IS nice to know there ARE other colors besides red...! 

Attention! Amaryllis update!

Both amaryllis had second flower stalks, but "straight man" here had five blossoms on each! I know: WOW!

Been thinking about this guy lately....he has a friend nearby that I need to meet...lol (Oooo! Florists can be cryptic, too!! Amazing!!!) 

Moon in the morning...

(I have to work on the day after Christmas...running a few minutes late...hmmm, very little traffic...and LOOK at that moon!)

Christmas Day, 2004

Ahhh...it's Christmas day in Minnesota...and it snowed last night!

I'm invited to feast and celebrate with my beloved 'second family' today...so I have bread in the oven for them, there's lovely Christmas music on MPR, and the snow continues to fall a little....what a wonderful world

-LOL...and it's funny--what little snow landed in my yard today seems to be attracted to my back step--this is looking down at it...

Buying books

I read a theory lately about why time seems to fly as you get older:

When you're five years old, a year is one fifth of your whole life so far. Remember how important being five-and-a-half was?

When you're 10, life speeds up a bit, and suddenly the endless summer vacation you looked foreward to.......is over ALREADY. Wha...?

I remember being 12 and waiting for next Monday. Oh, man! Three unbelievably endless days til then. Isn't it here YET??
(Extrapolate, extrapolate....)
Eventually...a bunch of years go by....and it seems like there's never ENOUGH time. Besides, who cares if I'm 55-and-a-half?
A week now is aproximately one 2,860th of my life...lol....and ohmigawd, it speeds by like a freight train...!

SO, you say..."What's your point?"

LOL...I bought some new books tonight, so I'll have something to keep the "Christmas is over" wolves at bay.

(Lately, I've only read a page or two before my eyes slam shut. It'll be different next week, I know, and I NEED something to look foreward to:)

Oh, I can't wait! I have new BOOKS!

Now, THIS is cool! LOL

Try making a snowflake here:
http://www.popularfront.com/seasonsgreetings/

No scissors needed; just draw lines with your mouse, and post the flake in the winter sky.....awwwwww, cute!

A parka day

Good morning!
It's 15 below zero this morning here in beautiful downtown Minnesota. Ah, but WE can take it...it's the test we Minnesotans look foreward to. (We're actually looking for some serious snow, but this will have to do for now).

My first challenge today will be getting in the shower.
I know.
You can imagine.
But don't worry, it's warm in here.
If it wasn't, the shower would be crushed ice, right? LOL!

Baby, it's COLD outside!

When I left the house this morning, it was nicely below zero outside...with a 16 below windchill and a HIGH expected today of zero.
As I stepped into the garage, I saw a puddle of anti-freeze on the floor under my '95 Ranger (she's white, and her name's Blanche).
This is NOT good no matter what part of the country you're in. LOL but the cold doesn't help...it just seems to make vehicle troubles worse, you know? lol
I'll spare you the details, but when the garage guy called me at work, he said, "I have some bad news...and some more bad news..." $485.00 worth of bad news! gulp.
So now, Blanche has a new radiator and a heater control valve that no longer leaks...AND plenty of anti-freeze to make it all nice and warm tomorrow...so, see? Life IS good here on the tundra! LOL Nope, sorry...a world without lol isn't worth typing about.....besides, it's excruciating to do! LOL!

YES, glitter on roses! Deal with it. 

Part of the fun of a floral holiday is the BIG arrangements I get to make. An all-white arrangement makes you really look at the flowers, to compare the subtle shades. White orchids, lilies, iris, star-of-bethlehem,snap dragons and roses here with cedar, pine and crystal ornaments hanging down. Sometimes I awe myself.  

The last blossom from the first blooming of the amaryllis. Ah, but there'll be more soon.... 

Too cute not to do a close-up, right?  

Tiny orchid plant on the left...and JC in the holiday spirit!  

My kitchen windowsill, a frosty window and the next incarnation of those amaryllis plants (and no lol, Newb!) 

The "problem" with LOL's

See? My total number of comments doubled last night (from 2 to 4!)...wow, huh?
Yes, they were from one of my my sisters, but still....we older and wiser sibs can't just give in...even IF sis is probably right.

So...here's the bargain: I'll try to curb my lol's unless I know it'll really irritate her......lol

(And Newbie, just think what it would look like if blogspot provided smilies!)

Have a wonderful day!

Christmas Week

It's December 20th, and I'm finally/still making silk arrangements for the store. Sheesh, it's frustratin'. In two days, they'll be marked half price--how does THAT make sense?

I got back to the store tonight with today's crop
(pictured below, of course! lol)
and found our new hire ON the job--hooray!! Finally....after four months of just getting by...whew.
Many thanks to the floral gods...but (expletive deleted) what took you so LONG??

LOL...here's what I accomplished today...17 'quickies'...(also did some display pieces for the store's Bakery that didn't fit on the cart, so you'll just have to imagine them, ok? lol) 

A close-up. Hey, the glitter shows on MY screen!

Here's something I forget about until I'm doing candle arrangements again at Christmas: the two candles on the right are right out of the wrapper--and they're shiny in spots from the cellophane. The two on the left have been rubbed with a terry cloth towel to produce that nice satiny finish. Such a simple solution, huh? It works, too, on 'last years' candles (those scuffy ones, ya know...) lol 

Fair is fair, right?

And now, to counter that last post, here's my desktop picture for the Christmas season.....lol........but mine has a caption:

"Just roll me over Darlin cuz I'm layin on yer present"

http://www.strangeavenue.com/postcards/images/1890119736.jpg

Ho Ho HO!

Christmas carols

Here's a site with a whole page of carols playing, one after another...midi's all, but you can click the ones you want, too...

http://www.hymnsite.com/

It's funny how what you became familiar with as a kid still pleases years later...lol My sister is sending us each this CD for Christmas
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4210723
Sweet sing-along music!
Thanks, Newb!

Two dozen red roses...

...in an ARM BOUQUET. Whew!

But that's what they ordered, for an awards ceremony. I'm hoping the recipient is 'statuesque', but you KNOW it'll go to a tiny person with no arm-strength to speak of...lol

This afternoon, back at the shop, I taped together eight sets of three roses....arranged them around some artificial frosted branches...and it worked pretty well!
(I used to make an arm bouquet starting with the top rose and working down, but now I start from the middle of the bouquet and add roses above and behind the first ones. Does that make sense to you? lol
The 'above and behind' stems support the flowers and greens in the middle of the bouquet, and the last few are tucked in 'down in front', just above the bow).
Ok, ok....here's the picture:

You'd have to hold it to count the roses, but there ARE 24 roses in there! 

Christmas lights.....again......lol

Have you noticed how many people are outlining their houses with lights lately? It's ok if the roof-line is interesting, but man....lol

(In the summer, this yard is full of gnomes and goofy plywood cut-outs....I suppose that explains this, huh?)

Now, I like this house, maybe 'cuz it looks so much like a kid's drawing of a house, huh?
"Nice drawing, honey...but how come it doesn't have a roof?"...lol

Saturday morning

Here we are, the Saturday before Christmas...I'll be at Central all day.
(Much better for my soul than being in the shop today, honest! lol)

This week especially, I'll be enjoying the holiday mayhem, ahem. I have ONE day off (tomorrow) before Christmas.

"Check back often to see if she maintains that goofy cheer, ok?"

("I give her til about Thursday...crash and burn for sure!")

lol....lol...lol....hearts.....hearts....lol

Silver Fir

A high-speed and crazy day at the shop today! Whew.

Beyond getting the orders-for-delivery made up, doing the wedding, waiting on customers and answering the phone, this time of year's when old friends show up in the store. (They're home for Christmas, right?) You just CAN'T catch up on the last 30 years in 5 minutes! lol

When I came back from lunch, the first thing I noticed about the floral department was the heady sweet fragrance of pine....oh, man, when you get the chance....go to a flower shop and ask for a small piece of 'silver fir'.

(I know, I know....but none of my three loyal readers actually ARE florists).

Strip off an inch or so of needles, and sniff the stem where they were...it's exquisite! A citrusy pine scent that's very close to heaven....( sniffing my fingers here...lol)

The tree's named "silver fir" because of its light colored bark. Here it is on my desk...what a wonderful aroma!  

Ahhhhh......flannel

It's getting colder here on the tundra.

Every morning, I go outside in my pajamas to get the paper (pre-dawn, ok? lol) Sometimes it's raining...sometimes it's hot....or there's snow....it's a sample of my day, ya know? This morning it's very clear and cold. Nice to get back inside to let the flannel warm up again against my skin....

*****************************

Something I noticed last night while on the web: Every blog I read regularly is written by someone who has cats....wonder what that says about us?

"No prob! 30 arrangements? DONE!"

Yes, I really DO have two pick machines! (One for the left end of the counter, one for the right...lol)...doesn't everybody?

Elves, singing? Sorta...

Ssheeessh.....this IS a fun toy: http://www.zefrank.com/xmas/
Get those elves to really harmonize!

(Or, if you just wanna hear how it sounds....see the box marked "most popular carols"? Try "Joy of Man"...lol)

Oranges and peppermint

A wintertime fun-thing we did when we were kids:
Take an orange and roll it on the table, pressing on it to break up the membranes inside, and then cut a small hole in the skin with a fingernail. Bite off both ends of a candy cane to make a straight stick, and push the stick into the orange. When you suck on the peppermint stick it becomes a flavored straw....Mmmmm!

Sounds horrible--tastes WONDERFUL! lol

Go ahead, try it! It's CHRISTMAS!

Duct Tape

GOOD morning!

(Ahhhh, a day off in the middle of the week is wonderful--)

Last week, I mentioned using duct tape in the bottom of a container, and maybe I wasn't very clear about it.
(See, with my Minnesota German heritage, I have this need to make things tight and secure: why use only one nail when 4 or 5 will make sure it NEVER comes apart?! lol...)

The idea is especially useful if the container is glass or has a very smooth polished surface, and you're trying to anchor a block of foam. (Don't use nails!)

AND, there's even clear duct tape available now!

So...tape in the bottom of the vase or bowl....press it down to remove air bubbles, then pan-glue the foam to that. (Seems counter-intuitive...I mean, isn't the tape kinda slick itself? But, no, this works.)

In the post last week I added a slab of granite because the baskets were light weight, so the finished arrangement would feel too light without it; usually, that's not a problem with glass or a ceramic bowl.

My Republican friend says that adding false weight for percieved value is their idea...lol...but I figure doing something that works for a change is thoroughly Democratic.

Concert pictures (Hmm, you expected notes, maybe?)

Two things:

1---The band played a rendition of 'Stille Nacht" from Manheim Steamroller...WOW...gotta get that CD...sweet muted sleigh bells, right at the end...ahhhhh....

2---Tonight on the way home, I was rubber-necking, trying to see all the great home lighting displays on this cold, clear night.
There was one that really stood out: You know those three-dimensional deer that look like a strange white cage during the day? These folks had the thing inside the picture window, looking out. And it blinked front to back. Looked like it was running THROUGH the window....oh MAN! Cool!!

Here's R, waiting to do the "SNAP!" in Sleigh Ride...lol...what a fun concert! OK, I'm ready for Christmas now....

See the two guys standing in front of the flags? R's the one with the red suspenders... 

Hey...let's use those statues!

And the problem is: how to securely anchor a statue on foam...hmmm.

This is where my handy-dandy drill comes in! Two holes drilled in the bottom of the statues (they're hollow) and hyacinth stakes inserted and glued, with more hot-glue to set them in place.
(Oh, BTW...see the coffee cup and thermos? MOST important equipment of ALL!) LOL...

Today's fun: remember the 'looming deadline' I mentioned last week? These carollers are part of the 30 arrangements I need to make for that event. I've used a 10" secret weapon...lol...and a cut apart crystal branch and filler---> DONE! (Oh, my, I do love this!) lol 

ANOTHER concert!

"Sheesh, that woman goes to alota concerts!"

Well, yes she does...she has musician friends who prefer a full house to play to. :^)

Tonight, it's the Municipal Band's Christmas Concert at the senior center (which usually involves a few 'sing along' carols, btw...love it!) The band is REALLY good, too, and they have as much fun as the audience does.

Ahhhh, "It's the most wonderful time of the year....."

Oh, by the way...

...if you're a florist and you're not familiar with gluing corsages together, e-mail me, ok? (My address is over there, on the right, under my picture---> )

I mentioned it last week and then didn't have time to take any pictures to show you.
So....I Googled "wrist corsage", and found one that looks like something we make:

We use alot of spray roses in the corsages we make, and they're almost always smaller than this. "Petite and sweet"...(and glittery!) 

What a day!

Whew! Today was 'one of those days'...lol

Every year, I'm surprised by how busy it gets before Christmas, and every year it happens a little earlier (?)
Today, I designed my lil heart out--people kept ordering all morning. LOL That's NOT a complaint, it just made the day more high-speed. At one point, I had an all white casket spray, a mixed vase, and two holiday centerpieces going all at once..."ease on down, ease on down the row(d)....." Green 'em all, snaps in each one, then roses, mini carnations, filler, glitz....whew!

Then, after lunch, over to Central--silk centerpieces and arrangements for Taste of Christmas at another of our stores....but hey, the day went really fast! And that's GOOD, because I wanted to show you these: