summer reminiscing

I hope all of my friends in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving (and that my lovely international friend had a fantastic Thursday!)  My holiday was about as perfect as I could wish for-- lots of time relaxing with family, many, many delicious meals, and it was all topped off with a tree-trimming party at my apartment.  As I'm writing this, I'm curled up on my couch under a blanket, enjoying my Christmas tree as I wait for my tub to fill for a hot, foamy bubble bath.  But today I'd like to go back in time a bit (insert TARDIS sound here) and share some photos from the end of the summer.

My mom and I went blueberry picking at her local blueberry farm!  We had read on their website that it was a pretty sparse year for berries, but we weren't discouraged-- and sure enough, we came away with enough blueberries for a pie!  Actually, I want to share a kind of odd experience from that day, because I just couldn't believe it was happening.  My mom and I were picking blueberries, minding our own business, and this couple comes along and starts picking blueberries right next to us.  Like... right next to us.  This blueberry farm has three huge fields full of blueberry bushes, so my mom and I looked at each other like "Ohhhh-kay, this is a little weird."  So then the woman in the couple starts picking from the same bush as my mom!  First she went on the opposite side, then she came around and was literally shoulder to shoulder with my mom.  Why?  Just--- why?!  It was the blueberry picking equivalent of going to a sample sale-- if somebody else has it, it must be good!  We had a wonderful time, though, and finished our excursion with homemade ice cream from the farm's ice cream shop.  

 

My mom has a beautiful flower garden in front of her porch, and I love sitting on the porch with my knitting and watching all of the birds and woodland creatures that come to visit.  My favorite visitors are the group of hummingbirds that hang around.  There are three females and two males, and they're so used to my mom that they fly to eye level a few feet away from her to say hello.  I've always thought of hummingbirds as just whirring wings and a long skinny beak, but they have a lot of personality!  There is no battle more ferocious than two hummingbirds fighting over a flower.  Conversely, there's nothing cuter than a plump little hummingbird preening on a fence post!  Eeeeeep!  So adorable!

mossy fallen tree limb in the woods

yarrow-- one of my favorite wildflowers

I hope you are warm and cozy on this gray Saturday!  

♥

flower crowns

 

Hi friends!  Today I would like to share a project that I did as part of my floral design class.  I created two flower crowns with fresh flowers!  I absolutely loved making these, and two of my lovely coworkers were kind enough to model for me.

 

Orange isn't usually a color that I'm drawn to, but these incredible orange roses just enchanted me.  I kept this crown simple to let the roses remain the focal point, only adding some greenery and a touch of baby's breath

 

 

Color was also the inspiration for my second flower crown.  Since the orange crown is so bright, I wanted my second crown to be a bit more wild and moody.  I fell in love with these deep plum purple carnations, and accented them with purple waxflowers and sprig's of baby's breath.  

 

 

I so enjoyed making these crowns.  Floral design is incredibly inspiring to me, and I can lose track of hours while I'm working on a floral project.  Creating with flowers is both soothing and exciting to me, and I can't wait to share more of my floral designs with you!

special thanks to Rachel and Alex for being such beautiful models!

♥