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

[Janet]

Hey Lucy, I bought some lovely muscari last week, I love them but I can't stop them from falling after a week. I have a question for you, My Mum can crochet, pretty well, but has never followed patterns. She has been making bibs and dishcloths but would love to be able to follow some patterns. Do you have a book you could reccommend to start her off? oh and "I'm still waiting" as Diana Ross would sing xx

[Nicola]

We have a lovely flower stall in the town where I work and like you I love selecting them and them being wrapped in paper for me to take home. It feels so much better than walking out the supermarket with them (although most of the flowers I have bought recently have been supermarket bought).

Pictures as always are lovely Lucy.

Nicola xx

[Jen]

Hi Lucy - I've been reading you for awhile and wanted to say hello! What better time than on this post. It completely made me swoon. I'm a sucker for flowers.

[alisonb2]

I have been out all day and your post really brightened me up! I love the purple crocus, but then again I love all things purple... and lilac... and mauve!!!!LOL. Thank you Lucy.

[Luci Sharp]

Oh I'm so glad your week is back to normal!! Carrying your little flowers round the house, sort of 'Attic Normal' anyway!

Mum's Amaryllis is still a closed flower head, although it was "butchered" and divided into three pots (it's over 20 years old now!) so I spose we have to give it a chance!

Today I have tried your crochet flowers, they look fab! Thank you!

[Stacy]

Beautiful flower photos. Love the narcissi and the vintage-looking mug they are in.

[Emma]

Just lovely Lucy. Having a tricky day and just stopping for a minute to look at these have helped. Thankyou x

[Allison]

Grape hyacinths remind me of my childhood when they would grow all around our house. Thanks for bringing back a wonderful memory!

[Kathy]

Lucy,
I am a new reader and already a passionate fan of your lovely blog. I have two vases filled with daffodils in my home right now - tangible sunshine on a rainy day!
But, please tell me, do you have two ripple blankets? You have posted a great deal about the one (I think it is the more vibrantly colored blanket), but then in photos (the photo with the narcissi, for example) I see a more pastel colored ripple blanket also. Are these two separate blankets or a trick of lighting?

[sumea]

The Muscarilook heavenly, I have always loved them so. But not had any this year :o( my longing for them has been like a pain. which has now been eased a little by your lovely pictures.
I love Narcissi too, not only do they look so delightfully cheerful, but their scent is divine.
Hey - I have 'The wonderful weekend book" by my bedside too! and I had an Amaryllis that could have been Vera's twin. We bloggie girls can be so alike!
Love your sweet little ink pots :o)
You are such a gem
xx
Sumea

[mia]

thank yoy for lovely photos:) as usual..
you have inspiering me to croshet things even outdoors..
hugs:)

[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

[Shelley in SC]

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

[driftwood]

just love the way your jumper matches your flowers xxxx

[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!

[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

[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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[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[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

[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. :)

[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

[gardenymph]

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