The Friday Photograph - the First One.

“I like to challenge myself. I like to learn - so I like to try new things and try to keep growing.
”

— David Schwimmer

I have a long list of blogs to write. Some are just ideas, some for future use, some are drafted out and others as good as completed just waiting for the right time to post. But scheduling is something I have yet to master and I am acutely aware that this blog page seems a little neglected - a little forgotten - and it needs some attention, some content, some interest. So I have set myself a little challenge. A blog series called 'The Friday Photograph'

This will 'challenge' me on a number of levels and serve several purposes;

1) it ensures more regular and up to date posts. 

This is good for me and you. Hopefully for you it will give a greater insight into the world of Church Park Flowers. In return I hope to see what posts are popular, find out what people like and what people like to know.

2) it will help give me more confidence in my writing

Writing does not come naturally to me, by making myself regular pen something - albeit short - I hope to become more comfortable with the written prose

3) it will chart my planned improvement in photography 

Good images are essential on a website, and more so when illustrating a creative art such as floristry. I am determined to improve my photographic record of behind the scenes and 'front of house' images of Church Park Flowers. By putting them under a series heading it will be easier to map any progress made

So the First One is a picture I took last week of a spring arrangement I made for a couple of wedding fairs.

I really like how this arrangement turned out. The container is a copper footed urn found in a charity shop. Asymmetrical arrangements are on trend right now and I think they work so well with natural and seasonal flowers. The shape mirrors so well how these flowers and foliage would be found in the garden and hedgerows in early spring.

Narcissi, primroses tulips and ranunculus nestle in with foliage, twigs and even feathers to create a tableau of spring.

The photo is taken on my iPhone against the battered door of the workshop. The door may be 'distressed' but I like the rustic look it gives to the image.

So.... The gauntlet is down, I have started the Friday Photograph blog series. Let's see where it takes us. 

What a woman really wants for Valentine's.

“Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.”

— John Lennon

Love it or hate it, Valentine's is nearly upon us. The Christmas cards have been cleared from the shelves and replaced by romantic, funny, rude, huge, in your face cards all declaring 'LOVE'. And it's big business now with the Brits spending around £1 billion pounds every year to show how much they care!

If you are strictly in the 'no way' camp, then the sight of these cards fills you with dread. But maybe that is because the idea of synthetic chocolates, synthetic undies and synthetic flowers turns you off the idea of 'love'. 

But what if there was another way? A declaration that is handmade, artisan, locally grown? Something that still symbolises 'love' but is natural, beautiful, seasonal? 

Men have been 'trained' to buy red roses ever since the 17th century when it first became de rigueur to present flowers to their loved one. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with the goddess of love, Aphrodite / Venus and so the association began, but did you know that the tulip is also a flower with the meaning of love?

The gift of a red or yellow tulip is seen as a declaration of love, the flower's black centre representing a heart burned by passion. And the simplistic, humble daffodil represents purity and new beginnings. Add some scented rosemary for remembrance and suddenly you have a bouquet that spells out a message of Remembering Pure Love. Clinton Cards couldn't write something that good that will also fill the house with scent and the promises of Spring. 

Still not wanting to embrace the Valentine vibe? Well these bouquets are not exclusive to just one day. What greater way to show you care than gifting flowers any day......spontaneously.

Church Park Flowers can create your unique love token with delivery throughout north Devon and north Cornwall including Valentines Day!