Blogging like a Florist--#4

Tonight I received an e-mail from a new florist, asking about glueing corsages. She's mentioned it on her first day and the staff was interested, but hadn't ever tried it.

Seems like, among florists, either you always glue OR you've never heard of it!

Ok, here's

How to glue a wrist corsage

Start with a wristlet--those light weight elastic and metal contraptions. You'll notice that the metal part looks like a rectangle with tabs to the left and right on the corners. (They're usually used to clamp around the stem of a wired corsage).

Fold those tabs in to get them out of the way.

Take four or five artificial corsage leaves, lay them in a stack in your hand, and twist the stems together tightly, right at the base of the leaves. Clip off the excess wire and spread the leaves into a sunburst, with the twisted wire knot at the center--got it?

With a tube or bottle of Oasis Floral Adhesive (um, glue) drop a glob of it in the center of the metal wristlet piece and center the leaves on the glue. I usually hold it there til it sets...30 seconds, maybe, or as long as it takes to hum two verses of Mary had a little lamb.

Now, make a bow with more loops than normal but NO center loop....it just gets in the way later. Clip the wire to about a quarter inch, add another glob of glue and press the bow onto the center of the leaves. Hum again.

Now, you can begin adding greens and blossoms. The glue is lightly slathered on the cut stem of the flower--be generous, but not so it drips. You'll soon develope a two-handed system where you rarely put the tube down. Finish with snips of babys breath, GLITTER, and spray rhinestones. Trust me, no prom-going kid ever complains about too much glitz on a corsage. EVER.

What good taste, huh?

Variations: Try adding ribbon streamers to one side of the bow for a waterfall effect against his back when they're dancing--Awww! Use a mixture of eighth inch, sheer and satin ribbon. SKIP tulle altogether.

When the corsage is ordered, don't promise "Three pink sweethearts and miniature pink carnations". Instead, suggest "a medley of pinks, with roses". That way, you can add pink waxflower blossoms, pink sweethearts, pink stock blossoms, or pink kalankoe blossoms right off a plant. COOL!

Oh, and when you take it out of the cooler when they pick it up, tell them what a WOW this one is!

You'll be telling the truth!

"Well, yeah, it did look like rain..."

or Why You Should Probably Wait for a NICE Day To Paint Your Front Door


Still, maybe that dribble effect looks artsy? Hmm?

HAPPY birthday!

When I first met R, we discovered that his birthday was a month and a day (and a few years) from mine. It's his birthday today.
They'll be moving out of Minnesota soon despite my whining about it.
(They truly believe winter trips to Florida will be a perk for me...ok, ok, that might be true...)
SO, in honor of our friendship, here are a few random non-blackmail-able photos from the last 3-4 years.
Yes, he looks older than me, but he can't help that...
























Happy Birthday, Rob...Thank you for all the wonderful memories, the terrific food, the new experiences and the joyful friendship you and Deb gave me. I'll miss you more than you know.


Happy Trails...till we meet again.

Vacation yard

I went outside just now and took 8 quick snapshots. I was bitten 5 times by mosquitoes. 3 died for their sins. 2 will create more mosquitoes with my blood.
I know.
The incredible things we Minnesotans will do for our art!


Ok, remember this? Blooming cherry trees back in April...

...and here they are today, at the end of June.
The robins feast all day, and it's a treat to be here to see them.

Hey, I really LIKE the close-up button on my camera...Deal.


Ya gotta click this picture. It's one of the scabiosa buds I posted a while ago. It's beautiful and it's not even open yet.
Yes, yeeesss.
It's an 'artsy fartsy' shot.
So to save myself the embarassment of you thinking that about me, here it is with it's 'home-boys'...clover, quack grass and a baby elm tree.

Yes, I could start weeding...but why?
lol

But you already knew this, right?

Pictures of the bride....

....will be a post in the future, maybe mid-July.

But here's a 'teaser' so you know I'm looking through pictures, and assembling a really "Awww...CUTE!" page for you to anticipate...lol


Trust me: "Waiting builds character"

A shower for Daud today

As showers go, this one was FUN...we made tiles for the happy couples' garden, and man it was hot out there!

We finished them fairly quickly and went inside where it was cool...lol
Here's Daud with her bridesmaids, still smiling after a 'bachelorette weekend' on Mille Lacs lake.

And here we all are...the future relatives and friends...

Whoo-hoo! Just think:

Six months from today it'll be....

CHRISTMAS!

New Birdie

See Lorrie? I like birds like this...lol

(I have here it in the office though, because it disappears in the pine in the living room...lol)

OK, I trimmed the grapes

This is for netnurse, who so graciously asked to SEE the front door before suggesting a color...

Now the ball's back in your court. Ya think maybe RED?

Leisurely Vacation Blogging

First, a parade in my home town last night (for the sibs, that's 6th Ave and 2nd Street North...I know, weird, huh? But it works)
Here's the SR Band leading the parade:


And this is their dancin' in the street number...thank gawd WE only had to march...lol

See the two women on the far right (white shirts?) The color guard/dance line zoomed past them and traded their rifles for flags at least six times while we watched--and I thought 'guiding right' and carrying a drum was exhausting! Those girls ran most of the parade...whew!

THIS one's for Newb---she'll know why...lol
(I know, baby powder would never work on those plumes!)

Ahem

As most of you know, my job situation has been wonky lately. Yesterday, though, I was offered a different job within the company. It's something I'll be great at, and something I now realize I prefer doing!

I'll be working at Central full time, starting (after my vacation) on July 11th.
The idea right now is to "use up" the silk flowers that we already have, and provide our smaller stores with product.
In the meantime, I can continue looking for other work without worrying that my savings will evaporate, ya know?

I'd honestly rather stay with this company--it's a hometown company that my parents admired and that I grew up with. I went to school with their kids and walked past their house on my way home. I understand their value system, because the same one was pounded into me...lol

This new situation feels good, you know?

Fun in the sun

What a great day today was! We talked and laughed and ate and shopped .
I bought another bird (if I 'collect' anything, it's birds...lol), and I found out that even if you loose one of the batteries from a digital camera through the floor of a gazebo at Izatys Lodge on the shore of Mille Lacs Lake...the pictures ARE still there when you get home!


I found out, too, that people will do silly things just to get their pictures on the web...lol

Remember the pictures of Mille Lacs Lake last January--all ice and fish-houses? Here's the same lake now, and the water's warm, really!

Oh man, I'm beat...time for bed. It was a GOOD day, thanks to Bonnie, Phred and Sarah.

Strange and cool in ONE post!

I need to know how a person can loose a box-fan in her own house? It's usually stored in the basement, with a garbage bag covering it.
Yes, I've looked! lol
And then, how can something that's 30" by 30" just show up--cuz you know it will. I'll find it in a closet or tucked behind me here in the office...still, doncha just love mysteries?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other day, I noticed ants in the kitchen, on the floor by the cat's bowl. They're tiny and don't seem to be 'coming' from anywhere. (And no, the ants that come inside with the peonies are big black, easily squished ones. No prob there).
Well! here's something I discovered last summer:

------------>Ants hate strong smells.<----------

A "duh", right? I mean, what is Raid but a strong smell--it even kinda smells like Chanel #5, doesn't it?
SOOOO, I grabbed a bottle of cologne and shot the little suckers. The next morning I saw two of 'em, and re-applied the cologne. lol...didn't see 'em again and the house smells like "Sunflowers" instead of "Raid #5"!

See? Isn't THAT cool??

Hooray! Lorrie likes pictures!

The bush-like thing I was talking about last week. Still don't know what it is, other than pretty...lol


Click the picture...there's something hidden in the ferns.


Click this one too.
A bumble bee kept crawling into the iris blossoms--all the way in, til all I could see was a tiny yellow "moon", and then he's ZIP over to the next one. This is the only picture of about 10 I took where you can actually SEE him! lol


Scabiosa buds...and isn't that an awful name for something so delicate? I'll show 'em again in a week or two, when they flower.


It's tough taking a picture of the back of your own head! (I needed to whine a little about mowing, ok?)

LOL

I'm done mowing! lol

Think it needed it?


BTW, here's my front door...

Any suggestions for a color to paint it?
It's a very faded green screen door with a cream colored inside door right now.
(Just think--once they're painted, the finished doors would no doubt appear HERE!...I can't help it!)

So, you want to see a longer view, huh? This is as good as my yard ever gets...lol...



Me waving "Hi!"
I told you I was statuesque...lol

Angry clouds!

A little rain, and now, fresh cool air....ah-h-h-h-h!

Hello and welcome to FlowerChat members!

I just discovered via sitemeter that there actually IS a florist-to-florist chat site on the web. Wow--it exists after all--how exciting!
http://www.flowerchat.com/

Of course I signed-up, but fear I won't be very welcome there, NOT because they're not welcoming, but because I'm the hated "grocery store florist" that independent shops scorn.

Still, there are issues we all need to talk about and ideas we can share, no matter where we work, right?

So, to any of the Flower Chat Community who reads this:

I'm glad you're checking me out. I worked in a mom & pop shop for years, until it closed because of the expense of it's new location in the Mall--double the space and four times the rent per square foot.

The job I took at the grocery store was simple expedience, PLUS some things I'd never had before, like health and dental insurance, a retirement plan, an actual 40 hour work week (not 50+) and profit sharing, in addition to a dollar MORE an hour starting, and regular raises I didn't need to beg for.

I wish I could say my bottom line was a pure love of flowers, but I can't. I needed to feed myself and my kids, and pay for heat and lights, ya know? We happened to be a very healthy family, so I've never used the insurance plan at the grocery store, but the fact is, it's there if it's needed.

AND, there's always something that needs doing in a fast-paced shop. We never stand around...lol...NEVER!

While you're here, though, scroll down--there ARE lots of clickable pictures...and thanks for hearing my side of the story.

Can you plan your life?

Sometimes, life just drops a miracle in your lap...like getting pregnant, or accidentally finding a kindred spirit online, or being able to buy that house...things that change you for the rest of your life.

Then again, there's stuff you think you've planned...like going to school, or staying with the company, or taking a trip...and something unforseen happens to switch the course of those rivers. STILL, you learn and change.

Something small can be momentous, like reading a certain book just when you need it; something big can be 'just another day' later, like when the trip's been cancelled.

I mean, I rarely see this stuff coming, you know?
(But then, how could I know beforehand that my life would develop this way, hm? Would/could I have chosen a different path?)

Particularly about what's on my mind right now--my 'career'.

I was 17 and happened to walk into a cute store at the new mall, chatted with the owner and left with a job.
32 years and 4 owners later, that job ended.
I'd always scorned grocery store florists, but suddenly, I became one, and...wow...it's a thrill! (In fact, in these six years, I've probably equaled everything I'd done in the past 32, vase for vase, funeral for funeral, wedding for wedding).

Didn't see any of it coming, didn't plan it that way at all.

And now, I think I have a choice, but this could be illusion too: do I continue to be a florist? Is there something better or just different I could be doing? Something related, probably: I could rep for a silk flower company, or work in a craft store. Or, apply at my FavStore, huh?

I'm pretty sure I'd like to leave the day-to-day flower shop world.

I haven't spent a Mother's Day with my family in years, and most other holidays are subject to "is it my turn to work?"
Wedding bouquets are great fun to do, but corsage work makes me nuts, especially at prom time.
I'd miss contact with customers, but it's getting harder to answer affirmatively when they say, "You must LOVE working here!"

Hmm....I think that I'm being forced to make this decision right now, but it's actually been brewing for quite awhile.

My joie de vivre is being drained away at the shop these days, and I have an opportunity to change that now.

We'll soon see how ephemeral I can be, huh?

Something I didn't know

See those keys on your keyboard marked "Home" and "End"?
(I'll wait while you find 'em....lol)
OK, say you want to go to the last entry here. Hit "End"...no scrolling required.
Wanna come back here, to the top?
Hit "Home".

I never tried them because they didn't seem like opposites, and "End" means finished, while "Home" means homepage most of the time...

Wouldn't Top/Bottom have been better?
LOL...ahhh, the luxury of thinking about dumb stuff and the JOY of sharing it with YOU!

Keeping my promise

Click on the picture and you'll almost be able to smell them.


Peonies and ants go together, right? lol Can YOU see more than 2 ? (Hint: the flowers above the date)
When I cut these, I have to shake 'em good before I bring 'em inside.... and schtil, ve haf ants!!.....lol


~~~Bonus picture~~~
I guess lupines develope fast in the sun....
Pretty color, huh?

(Ok, you can go back to your nap now....)