My Daughter's First Centrepiece

Yesterday A came over and she made her first ever Christmas centrepiece.  I think she did a marvellous job!!

Christmas Centrepieces

For inspiration, I've included a few photos.

An unusual colour scheme chosen to complement the magnolia leaves.

A selection of centrepieces

An undressed urn drop-in ready to decorate.

My urn 2016.  I used white pine predominately, red dogwood and white birch for the upright aspect. Embellished with stems of mountain ash with berries, a red lantern with a battery operated tea light, one grapevine ball and two sugar cones.

It can be as simple or detailed as you like.  Make it yours and have fun.  Cheers!

Christmas Time is Here

Muttart Conservatory

Christmas has come and gone with all its bows and trinkets and lights and merriness.  I hope the season has found you warm and full of the spirit of the season.  Working in the floral design/green goods department of the greenhouse has been a great deal of fun and some of that translated to some decorating around the house too.  

at home

We've been a very good kind of busy this year from the 19th on at home with the arrival of my son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  We decided to focus on making memories this Christmas and remove the gift-giving pressures which I think went very well.  Try as we might, not everyone could attend everything.  Some of us attended Candlelight Christmas, went to a live nativity pageant, and everyone went to Star Wars Thursday night.  Going to a movie is a long-running Christmas tradition and this year our eldest chose Star Wars as the must-see movie.  We were all together for Christmas.  Then yesterday four of us went to Muttart Conservatory for the Snowflakes are Falling exhibit in the feature pyramid.  It was a  Christmas wonderland.  The perfect place for family photos. (yet to come)

at work

at work

at work

at home

Tonight we are driving to Leduc for Leduc Country Lights.   

Hoping you had a joyous Christmas, Happy Hanukkah.  Season's Greetings to all.

Garden Answers: How to Make a Pretty Winter Container

Mood Altering Nature

Today I was in a funk.  I get like that sometimes when good things come to an end, like the car rental (really nice Mazda 5s that we've had for some time since our vehicle got hit while parked on the street in front of our house) and the change in work, different position same place but some time off in between. Ho hum.  It was time for some intervention.  

Well, I'd mentioned to a friend that I wanted to get some birch branches for Christmas planters and she knew just the place where there was a bit of birch windfall, so off we went with her dog Eclipse into the woods of the river valley.  Ah, the aroma of the forest was scintillating, while the leaves crunched underfoot on the unmaintained path and the sun shone brightly beyond the trees, casting shadows and highlighting unfallen foliage of mountain ash and poplar. It's been a beautiful autumn day and we even worked up a sweat hiking uphill and rooting around for fallen branches and treasures.  I came away with a nice bundle of birch, red twigged dogwood and some mountain ash berries.  Needless to say the fresh air, the good company, and the beauty of nature turned my mood right around.  Here, let me show you.....

The contrast of the white birch bark and the green lichen caught my eye.  There's moss on tree stumps, decaying wood, peeling birch bark...so many eye-catching objects of beauty in the woods.

The quack of ducks not yet migrated and the caw of an occasional crow were not outdone by the squirrel who scolded Eclipse as it sat perched in the tree above him.  Oh, to have that dog's stamina!!!

What a fine time in the forest.  It makes you forget you live in a big city with the nags of daily life.  Nature is my therapist.  I simply must go more often.  

No Ordinary Orchid - The Twisted Traditional Florist Open House Event

Laura Doucet is the proprietor of a brand new business and new name: No Ordinary Orchid - The Twisted Traditional Florist (previously The Enchanted Florist).  With a background in two highly recognized local floral shops within local greenhouses, Laura recently left a business partnership to strike out on her own.  She, ladies and gentlemen, is the designer who made my daughter-in-law's bridal bouquet and those for the wedding party.  They were raved about!!!

Thursday evening she held her Christmas Open House and I bought the swag pictured below.  I fell in love with its understated beauty and her prices are highly competitive!  Laura has an extensive collection of arrangements for Christmas, including the two birch collar arrangements seen in the collage below.

The orchid stems in pillar vases are astounding!  I love the lime/burgundy orchid far right (above).

These are some of the items Laura had on display for her open house.  If you are in the Edmonton area (including Sherwood Park and St. Albert) and would like to contact Laura for your floral needs, visit her Facebook page.  

#NoOrdinaryOrchid