A little posy...fit for a Queen?

I just couldn't wait to tell you this! A friend of mine was going to Hillsborough Castle for a Garden Party, to meet the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. She rang asking me was there any possibility I could do her a little posy, to present to the Queen. I had no car, very little time,...(think)... thank goodness for my garden and my mum's beautiful scented yellow roses, a colour we know the Queen is partial to.

 I added some lovely pale pink roses called Capitain John Ingram and a darker pink one called Zephrine Drouhin, sadly I do not know what variety my mum's rose is. I put a little bit of hydrangea in there, campanula for colour, and lavender, sage and jasmine for fragrance.

My friend did not know if she would be able to give them to the Queen or not, because of  security issues etc. Because I have been busy with a wedding I hadn't heard if she had managed to present them or not.
Joy of joys the Queen eventually got the posy and was heard to remark on the beautiful fragrance.

Well, I am cock a hoop, over the moon and so very chuffed, this has made my day!!!!

Romantic Wedding.

So the Wedding Day has finally arrived! This photo was taken at the place the reception is to be held the day before and as you can see it's raining! I was hoping and praying that the clouds would get it all out of their system on Wednesday and give us a lovely sunny day Thursday, but sadly that was not to be. However, although windy and cloudy, it didn't rain.

As promised I will let you see the work I did and the flowers we chose. When Kara first came to see me, she was quite clear that she did not want formal flowers, no roses, no lillies. She liked a simple hand-tied arrangement, that looked as though it had just been picked from the garden. We were on the same wavelength straight away. Kara had been to another wedding I had done for Leigh and Stuart, and she loved the quirkiness of Leigh's wedding, all her personal touches and vintage vignettes. We were actually able to use some of Leigh's lovely quotes, which she had as table numbers, in a different way.
She also knew what colours she wanted, which is a big help when planning what flowers to use. She wanted a mix of purple, blue and pink.

When I go to the wholesaler to pick up my order I always feel a little nervous and also excited about the choice of flowers, but when I go in and can pick my order out from all the others, a sense of relief floods over me. I bring them home, strip the stems and condition the flowers by placing up to their necks in buckets of water. This makes sure that the flowers get a good long drink and therefore last longer. I have to say, when I see them all in the buckets, I wish I could just place buckets around the wedding, and not arrange them at all, because they look so perfect to me as they are.
I have blue hydrangea. purple delphiniums, lavender, lilac stock, pink astilbe, astrantia ,palest pink sweetpea,
lilac freesia, pink peonies, blue nigella, ammi, ferns, rosemary, purple eustoma, blue agapanthus and pink gypsophila. The gardeners and flower lovers among you will know that these flowers together will create an intoxicating scent. It really did, my car smelt like heaven when I was transporting them. The only thing missing to my mind was some old-fashioned roses. I love to use flowers and leaves that smell good enough to eat.
It gave me great joy as the bride was getting out of the car and her driver was getting her bouquet, that he put it to his nose and took a long breath in.

The bride's bouquet.

The bridesmaid's bouquet.

Bride and bridesmaid snapped by me!

Button holes were done a little differently, and I love the simplicity of these little wreaths, made from rosemary or thyme and lavender, and finished with a little bow.

And some larger wreaths for the double doors of Mussenden temple. I had suggested moss wreaths for the doors and had shown Kara various versions, she chose the version that was slightly wild, and I just love how these look, I think they are very 'Wuthering Heights'. I used a copper wreath ring unto which I bound some hay, using reel wire, and then sheet moss, and finally Asparagus Fern, which gives it that lovely ethereal quality.

I think if you don't mind kind reader, that I will stop there for today, and show you the reception another day, it has been a very busy couple of days, I think I need an assistant, and a good sleep!
I do hope you have enjoyed what you have seen so far. Thank you for visiting, and commenting, it really makes my day! With much love, Linda x

Romance is not dead.

Mussenden Temple Northern Ireland.

I am so excited as I am doing the flowers for a wedding next week, to be held in the most romantic building, Mussenden Temple, perched on a clifftop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, with views of Downhill Strand.
Built in the late 1700's by the Bishop of Derry as a summer library.

In 1996 engineers declared that it was in danger of falling into the sea and being lost forever. The National Trust took on the task of reinforcing it with iron rods to prevent further erosion.Due to damp and salty conditions the interior plaster work has all fallen off, leaving it very plain and simple.

The lovely couple who are to be married have spent many happy times here throughout their courtship, and were determined that this was the place to exchange their vows. It can be very blustery and wild, so I will be keeping my fingers crossed that they get a perfect day.

I shall do my very best to take as many photos as I can before the event, and hope that I will get a few of the bride and groom afterwards.

Hoping you all have a great weekend, love Linda x.

Bank holiday day out.

Queen's University Belfast, designed by Charles Lanyon.

We were all off work and school today and decided to get in the car and go somewhere. My favourite place to go are the beaches of Cushendall or Cushendun on the north coast, but the weather was pretty wet and dismal, so it was agreed a visit to the Ulster museum would be more agreeable.
We parked nearby and walked and I couldn't resist a photograph of the university, which is such a handsome building.
Entrance to the museum is free and so it is always pretty packed on high days and holidays. Some complain that it isn't very good, but I always find something to interest me.

Some lovely early delftware and creamware caught my eye today. Although Paul and Lois were more in to the stuffed animals and birds.

We ate our pic-nic in the car, some sandwiches and home made buns, washed down with flask coffee, you couldn't beat it with a big stick! Then we venture into Botanic Gardens for a mooch in the hothouse.

The Palm House, designed by Charles Lanyon and built by Richard Turner of Dublin (who went on to build the great Palm House at Kew.) Built in 1800's it is one of the earliest examples of a curvilinear cast iron greenhouse. (Pretty fancy huh!)

Enormous cactii and ferns. My husband just couldn't get over how small the containers were holding these giants.

I was most astounded to find a lovely Frangipani tree in the greenhouse, we have always admired these on holiday in Madeira.
We all had a great day out and it was free! Sometimes these unplanned days can be the best.

I hope you all had a lovely day too. Love Linda x

Sweet old-fashioned violets.

I have been painting a corner cupboard for the shop, and was inspired by the way it looks to make it

very old-fashioned, by painting the inside with stripes and violets, to look like wallpaper and line the edge of the shelves with antique lace. I think it would look pretty in any room.

Sorry about the plug, I should have got rid of that!

The bottom doors on these cupboards are often very flat and featureless so I added a painted line and a vintage looking tin soap sign.

A little posy of mixed flowers from the garden, very fragrant with the lavender, sage and old fashioned roses.

The cupboard is painted using Autentico chalk paint in Lavender. I have taken to rubbing a little essential oil on the back of cupboards or underneath drawers on old pieces, as they often have a bit of an 'old furniture' smell, which I find offensive. I would love to have had some violet oil, but lavender worked quite nicely.

I am very pleased to have found a purple poppy for my garden, after lusting after it when I saw it on Pinterest, mine is actually more of a plum colour.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday, with love, Linda x

Before and After

My newest addition to the shop is a beautiful mahogany tilt-top breakfast table and chairs. I know some of you will be horrified that I painted them, when they are antique. The thing is, the table had been refinished badly and was a bit unloved, so I caressed it and loved it and painted it!
 For once in my life I actually remembered to photograph it before and after, but the quality of picture is not great...sorry!
The chairs are beech, stained to like like mahogany, and although the velvet seat pads were in very good nick, I decided they needed updating and covered them in a natural linen.

Apologies for my long absence....balance, balance, I need to find you!
Wishing you all a happy week ahead, with love, Linda xx

Four Wheels On My Wagon

And I'm still rolling along!

So sorry for my lack of posts lately, my little booth, and workshops are taking up a lot of my time, but it's all good. I found this little cart for outside the shop to put my plants in, I painted it up and am rather pleased with it.

It may be a little early for some of these plants as it is still a little cold here, but I couldn't resist a splash of colour.

A recent view of my booth.

Spring must be in the air as I have been selling furniture at the moment, a little nest building going on.

This is my new area at the front of the shop.

The furniture painting workshops are proving very popular. These were taken at our last class.

My niece had her baby a little girl called Emili Ann, she is just gorgeous, and we are all a little bit in love.

I just wanted to let you know what I've been up to. Now I am off to see what you have all been up to. I hope you all have a wonderful week, love Linda x.