Thursday, December 23, 2010

Happy Christmas!

Ok! I'm done. My jobs are finished for now. What a good feeling. I'm going to take a week long break! I had lots of fun today zooming along the island roads delivering winter salad shoots, microgreens and yuletide bouquets to happy folks. It really was so much fun. I became so unexpectedly busy this December when I decided to make festive winter bouquets for Solstice and Christmas celebrations. I had no idea how successful it would be. Thank you to all my island friends and neighbours who trust me and what I do! It means a lot to me to know that my community enjoys what I do. Namaste.

I really enjoyed these bouquets I made.

This year, I discovered I could find a lot of beautiful floral material at the wholesalers on Vancouver Island. This is a photo of what I found on one of my trips to town. Skimmia, waxflower, rococco tulips, red dogwood branches, willow branches, leucodendron, seeded eucalyptus, alpine huck. From my place, I added to my bouquets: cedar boughs, fir branches. salal, rosehips, yerba buena, dried hydrangea, purple beauty berry, grasses, etc, etc. what fun.

Beautiful Rococo Red Parrot tulips. So much fun to work with and very Christmasy festive.

Waxflower. A lovely little floral accent in the wintertime.

Leucadendron. My new favourite. I've never worked with it before. I just love it. Here's some good basic info about it. I thought it interesting to know that it is a member of the same family as Protea .....like the ones I kept photographing when I was on Maui last year....look at these lovely orange ones I saw at a farm there, aren't they beautiful? I can see how they're related. Their stalks and leaves look exactly the same, almost. I think I may have to try making some wreaths like those protea wreaths in the link.....with leucadendron instead of protea....with salal and cedar...to give it that Mayne Island look. Next year : )

Ah well...enough dreaming of warmer climes.....back to my little house in the forest where the wind is blowing at 80-90 km./ hr. , branches are pummelling our roof, rain is pounding and our Christmas tree is twinkling away while our wood stove glows with warmth.
We're cozy and happy, feeling peaceful this Christmas.....and I just love the tin foil star on top of our tree! Happy Christmas y'all!