City Living!

 This week I am down in Portsmouth visiting one of my children. It is a glorious warm September day and I am overlooking the beautiful blue sea and Gun Wharf quays area of Portsmouth. Their next door Neighbour has created this wonderful "garden" of flowers on their balcony.

It is a cacophony of colour.  Using terracotta pots in all shapes and sizes they have created this lovely oasis of calm four floors up.

The couple have also managed to grow some vegetables up the walls, long trailing  courgette  plants, tomatoes and cucumbers all fight for space amongst the geraniums, begonias, camellias and fuscia  plants.

It is lovely to sit and see an array of vivid colours right in the middle of this vibrant city. It is a good reminder that a life without flowers is really no life at all, or maybe that's just the florist in me.

Summertime fun!


Here is a small snapshot of some of the lovely bouquets have done over the summer.

Lavender Shortbread!

Following our last post I thought I would give you a recipe for shortbread using some lavender.


Gather together your ingredients, you will need;

175 g softened butter.
100g caster sugar.
225g plain flour.
2tablespoons chopped lavender heads.

Then in a good size bowl beat together the soft butter and chopped lavender. This will allow the flavor of the lavender to really come out. Then add the sugar, and beat some more. Stir in the flour, bringing the mixture together, using your hands gently knead the mixture until smooth. Flouting your work surface roll out to 5mm/1/4 inch thick. Then using a cookie cutter cut out shapes and place on a greased baking tray. Place in the fridge to firm for 30mins. Meanwhile  heat oven 180/350f/gas mark4 . Bake for 15-20mins until pale golden. Allow to cool on a rack and then enjoy.

  

Making Lavender Sugar!

                                                   
        2lbs of caster sugar
        2teaspoons of lavender flowers.
        Mix together and store in a screw top jar.
      You can use this to give an extra lavender punch instead of just caster sugar in the above recipe.

Cooking with flowers!

Not only are flowers beautiful to look at, but many of them can be used to cook with. Now I am not suggesting  you dash out into the garden with gay abandon grabbing  any flower that takes your fancy  as this could prove quite fatal. But there are a number of flowers that can add different flavor, texture and colour to your dishes.

Lavender for instances,  has long been used to bring its delicate flavour to shortbread and cakes.
Roses are used  in a lot of middle eastern cooking.  Violets are often crystallized and popped onto the top of cupcakes. Nasturtiums can be eaten in salads as they add a peppery taste and calendulas can be treated like saffron and are good in pastas and rice dishes.

So why not go onto the internet and look up some of the many recipes  using edible flowers and wow your family and friends with some scrummy, tasty dishes, and if you're feeling really kind don't forget us here at the Arbour  and bring us a tasty treat to try!

Harvest Festivals.

Celebrating the harvest is a ritual that goes way back to pagan times. People gave thanks to the spirit of the corn for a harvest safely gathered in. At that time people believed the spirit of the god lived in the crop itself and would die when the last stalks were cut unless certain rituals were followed.
 The task for cutting the last stand of corn was often a shared experience so that the burden wouldn't fall to any one person

.

 In many places the last sheath of corn was dressed up in ladies clothing and bedecked with ribbons and flowers and given honour as the corn dolly. This doll was often carried home and hung in the barn to  watch over the threshing of the cprn. She would also be taken to the harvest supper and then brought into the farmhouse over winter. In spring some grains taken from the corn doll would be mixed with the new grains and sown back into the fields.

 Our long summer holidays are a throwback to our agricultural past when bringing  the harvest home was a family affair with everyone roped in. Neighbour would gather with Neighbour and go into the fields to help cut the corn. The horses and wagons would be decked out with ribbons and flowers and this was a very joyful affair.

As time progressed and Christianity came to these fair isles the Church saw the importance of the harvest for the survival of these communities and would ring the Church bells as the last load was brought safely home. The local village priest would then go and bless the crops and the corn dolly was often hung on the church door.


Harvest time began at Lammas,  the name which comes from an Old Anglo Saxon word Llaf-masses a title that means loaf mass. This fell on August 1st, and in some country parishes a loaf was baked with the first batch of newly harvested grain and brought to church to be blessed.

The Harvest festival was  traditionally held on the Sunday nearest to the Harvest Moon. This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox which is usually near September 23rd. Two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October.

Although, today far fewer people are involved in bringing the harvest home, the harvest is still celebrated. Many churches have special services. The parishioners decorate the church with beautiful flower arrangements, often using corn, brambles, and rose hips collected from the hedge rows. Apples, pears, potatoes and many other foods are brought into the Church and laid out at the foot of the altar. After this has been blessed it is distributed to those in need often via food banks and homeless shelters. This is usually followed by a harvest supper where the community can gather to celebrate,rejoice and give thanks for another harvest.

Scented Burn Bags.

Well it's that time of year again when you begin to smell the fragrant scent of bonfires, as gardeners begin to prepare their gardens for that long winter nap. I love it when on an Autumn evening you take the dog out for a walk and you get a whiff of  smoke hanging on the air. With this in mind I am really
please to announce that we have our fragrant burn bags back in stock. These can be thrown on your fire to help start a fire or placed in a chimenea on a cool evening. Filled with pine cones, eucalyptus, lavender and other dried  greenery they will bring a lovely scent to your room as you and your loved ones gather around the soft glow of the hearth.

Babies, Birthdays and Bouquets

One of the lovely things about being a florist is the fact that people come to you for some of the most major events in their lives. They share with you, at one end, the joy of a new baby in the family and at the other end, the sorrow at the loss of a loved one. In between that you have weddings, birthdays anniversaries, I'm sorry and many other reasons. The one I love is the "just because".  "Just because" I love you, "just because"I can etc.
Giving flowers really touches peoples hearts. To recieve an unexpected bouquet of flowers just brightens everyone's day.

It's funny how we associate some flowers and scents with different events. I always love freesias because that was the scent that was predominant when I received flowers after the birth of my children.  It's a fragrance that always makes me smile. Whenever we have them in the shop I always bury my ahead in a bunch and drink in their heady aroma. I am immediately transported back to those days of new babies.

Lavender- the scent of Grandma, how many of us can remember our Grandmas wearing a perfume with lavender as it's  base notes. What are your favorite scents?

So often we are asked to use a favorite flower, especially by brides. They love to fill their bouquets with all the flowers that resonate with them. It's amazing how people vary in their personal preferences. But that is the fun of this job. Every day is different. You can not plan, you have no idea what will walk through the door each day. People share so much of themselves with us that we are given a unique insight into people's lives. This is a great honour, and something to be treasured. When people share their secrets with you, and you help them plan glorious surprises for their loved
ones it fills us with delight!

Summer Farewells.



Summer is departing. The grey days seem to be settling in. The warm sunshine we all seem to have become used to is getting lower and lower in the sky. The garden is beginning to die back. The glorious colours of summer have disappeared and though there is still some colours they are more muted. Deep purple,dark crimson and soft golds seem to reign. Almost as if nature knows all will die back and retreat under the warmed earth. The damp evenings, cooling quickly, shrouding everything under a mist.

But sitting on the telegraph poles chattering earnestly to each other, the swallows seem to be planning their journey. They are another reminder to us that summer is coming to an end.

It seems like such a short time ago that they came sweeping and diving across the garden greeting us with their noisey chatter, reminding us that warmer days were on the way. We have watched as they flew in and out of the brick sheds feeding their young, not caring about us one iota. We've watched as the little ones were pushed out of the nest and fell to the ground where they have hopped around timidly chirping to their parents who were never to far from them. But now they prepare to leave us for the long journey South.

The swallows are glad to go when Autumn puts the cold around our gardens. This chattering on the wires is a song of gladness. If they have any fear about the daunting flight ahead we know none of it. They are truly stoic creatures who answer the call of nature with such gay abandon. A few may fail to reach their destination but the swallow in migration flies at only half speed so that the weaker
amongst them may survive the long journey.
Many have twittered their last song and will never return. Many more will return, to swoop and fly and to sing of the summer that they bring with them. I look forward to their return and I wish them well.

An Autumn Picnic.

I love this time of year. Cool misty mornings with a hint of the warmth that is going to come later in the day. The delicate blue of the sky touched with pinks and golds.
 The joy of working in the shop with my two daughters does mean I don't have to be in work every day, we all take it in turns. I also home educate my youngest two children, so on these glorious Autumnal days we can simply decide to pack a picnic and head off into the beautiful surroundings. I think as I get older the longing for warm bright days becomes more appealing.

 Yes, I do love to snuggle up in warm jumpers, log fires and candlelight, but I find by the end of the winter I am more than ready to shed layers and dress much more simply. So I love it when we have a September like this one. So I have decided that we are going to pack up a picnic and head to our local woods and go for a bit of a forage to see what we can find.
The girls and I love looking for natural elements that we can use in the shop. We are learning to carry some secatures and a basket in the car so that if we come across something on our travels we can collect as we go. For instant last week when Elizabeth and I were decorating a Church for a wedding I kept getting distracted by all the fallen cob nut cases. Poor Elizabeth was climbing on walls and
hanging onto the church archway trying to attach greenery and I kept wandering off filling my basket with all these beautiful gems, she was not best pleased!
Anyway I feel just such a trip coming on, clear out those Monday morning blues, pack the car with
blankets, some yummy things to eat, a nice flask of hot chocolate and off we go!

Christmas Wreath making workshops

This is the year of new things here at The Arbour, not only do we now send flowers around the country, but this year after many requests we have decided to host some workshops.

We thought, as we are fast approaching the Christmas season that's where we would start! ( nothing to
 do with the fact we have all been a bit scared and keep putting it off; it's that out of your comfort zone thing!) Anyhoo in true Arbour style we decided we wanted our evenings to have a bit of sparkle and shine. So we thought we would do evening sessions for six people from 7p.m till 9ish.

We would include a simple supper of soup, bread and some scrummy cheeses. A glass of bubbly and a mince pie or two and a bit of festive music to get us all in the Christmas mood while we show you how to make a wreath. Then after supper you will be let loose with lots of lovely Christmas greenery, and all sorts of natural elements to create something special to hang on your front door.

The Dates so far will be November 27th& December 11th.

The cost of the evening will be £65 this will be done on a first come first served basis, please ring 01522537518 to  book your place on the course.
We will take a £30 deposit(non-refundable)

Weddings in the Country-Friday


Today, was a mad day in the shop. Two weddings, one twenty first and an unusual request. I spent my day driving all over the county dropping off beautiful table arrangements. One of the things I love about this job is getting to see all the venues our brides choose. Well today both venues were a treat, but one was especially lovely, Brills Farm in Norton Disney, halfway between Lincoln and Newark was just a delight on a warm September afternoon.

Sophie, who alongside her husband Charlie and there four children live at Brill's farm. Built in 1720, the beautiful Gerorgian house sits in a commanding hill top position with spectacular 360* views over Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
Sophie's friendly, laid back attitude I am sure immediately makes people feel as if they are part of the family, which is just what she wants her guests  to feel.

Having lived in France when she was younger Sophie's passion for good quality and tasty food started early. She has run  her outside catering company, The Cats Whiskers Catering Company" since 2001. And has travelled all over the U.K. For parties, weddings and corporate events. This is a completely bespoke service and Sophie creates a menu for each couple according to their taste and budget.

In the grounds of the house, spread out on the front lawn was the most beautiful marquee.  Supplied    By David Wilson of "Every Occasion Events marquee company." David and Sophie work together to create a perfect venue of high standard.

The Whites openly admit that they are not a stately home or a grand hotel with formal gardens, but merely a humble family home. But a family home that is situated in the most beautiful surroundings,
and from what I saw any bride would be very lucky to spend her day celebrating with her new husband and all their family and friends at this most beautiful spot.

Summer draws to a close.

I cannot believe we are moving into Autumn, I've said it before and I'll say it again life goes to fast. It does not seem five minutes since the summer holidays began. Long lazy days spread out before us. Dreams of picnics and days beside the sea, seem  to just vanish in a whisper. Now the harvest has been brought in. Next years planting is already in the ground. Crop spiders (so I'm reliable informed) seem to be entering my house in a constant stream. (Every time I turn round there is a gigantic black one sitting on the stairs. I throw them out the window and I am sure the cheeky things just run around to wherever they gain entry and  march right back in again.)

With all that said there is something I love about the Autumn. Tidying the garden and preparing it to settle down for its long winter nap.
 Amidst the pink amber glow of sunset, bonfires crackle and spit, in the dusk. The children drag cut  branches to throw onto the fire sending up a blaze of orange sparks as they throw on the wood.
Warm woolly jumpers and a good excuse to have a mug of steaming hot chocolate (if you ever need an excuse)! And thoughts turning to preserving the ever ripening fruit in the hedgerows and doing something with the glut of vegetables. From the vegetable patch.

But I think one of my very favorite things about Autumn is the wonderful vibrant colours. We have a virginia creeper on the gable end wall of our house and it just seems to blaze in the sunlight at this time of year. The leaves on the trees turning slowly golden before turning that rich warm red., and floating gently down off the tree.

Glossy blackberries clinging in clusters amongst the red rose hips. The golden stubble against the backdrop of clear blue skies. And of course the most incredible harvest moon, hanging so low in the sky, giving everything a luminous look and making you feel as if you can reach up on tippy toes and grab hold of it!

And as the nights draw in the flowers in the shop begin to turn from the lovely pastel colours of  spring and summer into kaleidoscopic colours of orange, reds yellows and deep pinks. It is lovely to fill jugs with a mixture of flowers, berries and some ripe corn, sit them where you will see them often and they cannot fail to uplift your spirits.