Flowery Scrumptiousness

Can you remember back in January, instead of a New Years resolution, I chose a word for this year? The word was/is  F R E S H, and amongst other stuff, one thing I resolved to do during 2009 was to have fresh flowers in the house every single day of the year. A very good resolution to make if you ask me, it is simple to keep and generates such pleasure.

I adore fresh flowers, the simpler the better. I like a humble bunch of something seasonal bought from the market, a small posy of flowers picked from the garden, or a simple pot of bulbs to bring into bloom.

They are not expensive, not extravagant, yet to me they give so much :: I think of them as Food for the Soul. And therefore an Essential rather than a Luxury.

So I thought today I'd share with you the current Floral Scrumptiousness residing throughout the house.  I bought this bunch of delicate creamy narcissi (called Bridal Crown I think) on Friday from the wonderful plant stall on the market (the same Plant Man who provided me with the one hundred primulas last week). I like buying flowers from the market for several reasons ::

1) because it supports a  small local business run by lovely people

2) because the flowers are often more in keeping with the seasons

3) because the whole experience of selecting from buckets, having them wrapped in pretty paper and then jaunting through town with them is so very happy.

The scent of these particular little flowers is stunning, and I'm loving them on my bedside table.

Late on Sunday afternoon, I walked down along the canal and into town for a quiet hour of pottering. My first stop was our local antique/collectors centre, which is my favourite place for a gentle mooch if I'm on my own. I found these little old glass bottles which I absolutely love :: something about the colour of the glass which reminds me of the sea. The tall thin one on the right cost 50pence, the other two (old ink bottles) cost £1 each. I carried them home wrapped in newspaper, so delighted with my purchases, proudly unwrapped them to show J. Well, you can imagine, the response these little bottles got was decidedly luke warm.

But no matter, I set about filling them with water and put them on display on the bathroom windowsill. Please excuse the state of the window frame, but please do feel free to admire my shiny white ceramic tiled surface. Oh, and the blooms of course...don't the teeny crocus flowers look beautiful? They were getting a bit soggy and windswept in the front garden, but look oh-so-beautiful in the bathroom I think.

Amaryllis next...I realised today when I was looking through my photos that I totally forgot to share these with you when they bloomed. Do you remember Red Lion? Well the second one to flower was Vera...and here she is in all her pink flowery beauty.

She flowered through the end of February, and it was not trauma free. Yes, similar to the fate of Red Lion, Vera also went through something of a tragedy. This time it was Little Man who apparently "didn't DO anything", yet Vera's pot came mysteriously crashing down from the high shelf all-by-itself. Strange how that happens. It was messy, with one of the stems snapping clean off in the fall. Luckily these stems do continue to bloom quite happily when put into a vase of water like a cut flower.

So by the time the third amaryllis was due to flower (this one is Minerva), I had learnt my lesson. I did not move the pot to the high shelf, but onto the mantelpiece instead. And as it grew taller and taller and became more and more top heavy, I cut the stem off and put it into a vase to finish flowering. See, the Little People taught me. It was a tough, fraught, messy lesson, but I learnt in the end.

Other bulbs that have been coming into the house lately are muscari (grape hyacinths). I love these very much, especially as I am having an obsession with these lovely clear blue colours at the moment (my hands this morning are covered in blue paint, I'm currently in the process of painting various wooden shelves/pegs/cupboards, but more of that a little later in the week)

I loved setting these on the table for a photograph with a couple of sky blue cushions and two thrifted jumpers folded up in the background. Blue against blue.

I put the muscari into an old jug with a broken handle that I found in our back yard, its delicate blue colour with gold leaf pattern looked so pretty with the blue of the flowers.

See me there, walking around with my flowers, I do this all the time, I like to carry them around. For some obscure reason I love to look at the colours of the flowers against whichever top/jumper i happen to be wearing that day. I just love to do that.

Crackers? Bonkers? Yeah, just a little.....

Comments

[Deb]

Ooh I like Vera very much! Can't think of anyone who doesn't like flowers (well, perhaps my Hubby, I think he's immune to them), they are such a simple, relatively cheap (depending on where you get them) way to brighten a home.

This year I am having raised beds in my back garden (and a greenhouse!!!). I am beyond excited and champing at the bit. Apart from two veggie beds (gourmet veg I think) I am going to have a Credit Crunch Cutting Garden (that's the cheapest way I can think of to get fresh flowers!).

Debx PS. At least your little ones only break flowers - so far mine have included two camera lenses and now a laptop screen (this weekend). ~ sigh ~

[flutterbypatch]

Pooh! Never mind J's luke warm reaction, the glass is lovely Lucy and perfect for single blooms. I collect it also as its easy to find (sometimes dug up in the garden). You must look for an old pop bottle with a local company name impressed on it. Yes the bathroom is definitely the place for them. Love the grape hyacynths, I must look for some when I'm in Kendal this afternoon. Happy hunting, Eli

[Louise]

I love the single blooms in your little jars. Sometimes less is so much more.I never think of splitting a bunch - it would mean I could have flowers in every room - yeah!
I finished work mid January and have been buying flowers every week. So there's been a beautiful proccession of tulips, daffodils and others - so much joy for so little outlay!!

[PinkCat]

I love how inexpensive flowers are in spring - the way all the supermarkets (no flower selling market stalls near me, I sadly report) sell daffs for £1 and a pot of hyacinths for £1.99. Great! At the moment we have them all over our flat. But then summer comes and it all becomes so expensive - they want to sell you a single gerbera for £2.50! RANT OVER! I'll just enjoy what I have at the moment!

Thank you for telling us the 'proper' name for grape hyacinths. I went to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried on Saturday and it was covered with them. Those and other flowers made it quite pretty and peaceful - I even spotted a couple sat down with a flask of tea. x

[simone]

Didn't you do well with your Amaryllis?!!! I have been buying flowers every week. I like the simple types of flowers such as a bunch of daffs. I dislike the bunches of flowers where all sorts of odd bits and pieces are bunched together such as chrysanthemums, gyp, eucalyptus etc. I would much prefer all the same flowers in a bunch! I love the colour of your jumper by the way. The muscari look very nice up against it!!!

[Lesley]

loving your flowers i must have flowers every week and have recently found a new market with a flower stall and it seems so much nicer buying from there rather than a supermarket!!!
lesley x

[Jules]

This week my favourite flowers are ... Mostly Mangled Daffodils.

The path where I walk my dog in the morning is bordered with random clumps of daffs and this week some over abulliant hounds (not mine I hasten to add) have broken off some stems. They looked a bit sad there, lying on the path getting muddy so I had to pick them up, bring them home and put them in a jar. They've only got a few days left before they will go crispy but in the meantime they are being much appreciated for bringing cheery yellow-ness into my office.

[Cat]

Flowers are such a simple way to bring cheer and I so agree with you about buying seasonal flowers from the local market. I bought a bunch of pussy willow branches the other day which were about 3' - nearly wiped out a number of innocent shoppers on the trip around the supermarket. The ink jars are lovely! Cx

[Wendy]

What wonderful FRESH loveliness, thank you for sharing!
Wendy xx

[Penny Lewis]

Lovely flowery post Lucy.I have discovered the joys of Amarylis and had alovely dark one and am now having the pleasure of staring at a beautiful pink one .It's the last thing I ever bought from Woolworths. !!
Glad you had a lovely mothering Sunday.PennyX

[Jenny]

Oh, so beautimous! I love the colors and the jars! The bridal crown narcissi are absolutely gorgeous.

Side question. . . Did you love the 200 Ripple Stitch pattern book you got? I'm just wondering if it's worth the price? Thank you so much.

(I'm looking forward to starting my own ripple blanket!)

[gardenymph]

You're not crackers or bonkers, you're just in love. In love with color. :~) Beautiful photos, Lucy. :~)

[felicity]

Hi Lucy
Such lovely pretty flowers, my hubby is useless with glass jars and jugs too,and flowers, and cushions, and pretty storage tins, I could go on!!! Felicity xx

[oceans5]

Beautiful post! I am going to have to pick up some flowers soon and put them in little individual vases. Thank you for the inspiration. :)

[Lucy]

Love your little jars. I just don't think (most) men 'get' how lovely things like that are. They really remind me of sea glass - that gorgeous aqua colour. Love your flowers too. I've been thinking about you carrying your flowers around (which I love by the way). Perhaps you could crochet yourself a sort of harness that you could wear around the house which holds a number of potted flowers? That way you could walk around enjoying your flowers, but have your hands free too? Just an idea - it could be your next crochet project! Lucy x

[marigio]

Hi Lucy
you're lucky because in Italy a bunch of flowers at the supermarket is from € 5,00 to € 7,00(SCANDALOUS) . I love them too ,but sorry I can't afford .
Marigio.xx

[Nicola/smilernpb]

Your lovely flowers cheered me up after what has been a traumatic couple of days in the smilernpb household (read my blog for more info). Thanks for the cheery photographs, which made me smile. Hugs.

[The Antidote]

What a beautiful post - I am particularly transfixed with your beautiful lines of shiny new white grout x hee hee x
The flower pics are lovely, especially the muscari x

[Emma]

This is very odd, because I've just been at my parents for the weekend, and was looking at my old collection of glass bottles, and wondering what I could do with them. I couldn't think of anything, so they stayed where they were. Then I read your post, and I wish I'd brought them home with me.

Last time I went home, you posted the day after about flower brooches. Very strange.

[susan hall]

Doesn't everyone cart their flowers round from room to room so their prettiness can be enjoyed from breakfast to bedtime? Not crackers at all, perfectly sensible!
Yours are lovely this week and the little bottles? well an entirely necessary sensible purchase. They were crying out for a good home and pretty flowers.
Susan x

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[Kelly]

I love the flowers! I, too, have had fresh flowers in my house nearly daily this new year. A beautiful bouquet of white flowers, of all sorts, is in a milkglass vase on my nightstand right now. John makes sure I have flowers and I am a lucky girl. ~Kelly

unDeniably Domestic

[Julie]

flowers are fabulous. Vera is/was gorgeous. Isn't it funny what chaos can follow when the Little People have absolutely definitely not done anything at all ?!

And I think men in general just don't get pretties. Their loss I say!

[driftwood]

just love the way your jumper matches your flowers xxxx

[Shelley in SC]

I am in LOVE with Vera Amaryllis!! I have never seen one that color. What a beauty!!

[Kar]

The flowers are beautiful Lucy!! I can't wait for all the wonderful colors to starts popping out around the yard. And who would call you Bonkers for wanting all those beautiful colors around you all the time by carrying the flowers around with you? Not I deary!! :)

Have a grand day!!

toodles!! xxxxx