"The Earth Laughs in Flowers"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We had a dinner party last week, which is always a treat for me. Lot’s of work, I know, but still a treat. Choosing the menu, the table settings, the music, who sits next to whom, all to best suit the guests that are expected. And the very best part? The flowers! Winter parties unsually entail a visit to the flower market where, in the icy chill of the cooler, I proceed to lose my mind over the vast array of temptations spread around me. The holiday green of fir branches, the velvet aubergine of calla lillies, the quintessential red of Christmas roses! Lord have mercy, it does make my heart beat faster when I visualize these placed all around my home and I ususally leave the market laden down with a rainbow of selections and nursing a numb-struck case of sticker shock. But in the spring, summer and fall I am the luckiest girl in the world. Surrounding our home are fifty-four of the most gorgeous hydrangeas; blues, pinks and whites, the happiest flowers in the world. Last week I almost felt guilty in my riches when I went out, early on the morning of the party, to cut some for my vases. Choosing just the right flowers for the right vases and later, to wander through the house and view all of these blowsy beauties gracing my tables? Well it just made my heart sing.
No wonder Mrs. Dalloway said she would do the flowers herself!
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We had a dinner party last week, which is always a treat for me. Lot’s of work, I know, but still a treat. Choosing the menu, the table settings, the music, who sits next to whom, all to best suit the guests that are expected. And the very best part? The flowers! Winter parties unsually entail a visit to the flower market where, in the icy chill of the cooler, I proceed to lose my mind over the vast array of temptations spread around me. The holiday green of fir branches, the velvet aubergine of calla lillies, the quintessential red of Christmas roses! Lord have mercy, it does make my heart beat faster when I visualize these placed all around my home and I ususally leave the market laden down with a rainbow of selections and nursing a numb-struck case of sticker shock. But in the spring, summer and fall I am the luckiest girl in the world. Surrounding our home are fifty-four of the most gorgeous hydrangeas; blues, pinks and whites, the happiest flowers in the world. Last week I almost felt guilty in my riches when I went out, early on the morning of the party, to cut some for my vases. Choosing just the right flowers for the right vases and later, to wander through the house and view all of these blowsy beauties gracing my tables? Well it just made my heart sing.
No wonder Mrs. Dalloway said she would do the flowers herself!
