Room for Renata

I have spent this week up a ladder. I have been painting and decorating and shifting furniture. I have moved my office from what will now be our dining room into an upstairs bedroom.

I am tired and a bit battered but very happy. I am thinking of asking Farrow & Ball for call their next shade of grey paint (with a touch of aubergine), Sally's Bruise. What do you think?

I now even have somewhere in natural light to draw and paint.

I am in love with my new office.

Every girl needs a space of her own.

My friend Renata asked to see photos of it finished - so here they are. And Renata, you are welcome anytime to call in for tea or wine.

But I would leave it a few days or you may get roped into sorting the dining room out - which at the moment looks like a bomb has gone off in it!

Happy in Harrods

I have a soft spot for Harrods. On leaving university my best friend joined their training scheme and I have many happy memories of meeting her in Knightsbridge after work. Those were the days when spending money on a cocktail and a lipstick seemed so much better than wasting our wages on food!

Today I am meeting my daughter Libby for lunch and as we are both early we find ourselves wandering around the ground floor in search of each other. I loiter by the flowers in the food hall, but they are sadly disappointing - so it is with a much happier heart that I spy Harrod's floral windows.

These flowers may not be real but they cheer me up and make me think Spring is on the way.

Having met up with Libby we discover the 'Only Roses' flower stall on the way to the restaurant.

Well ...Only Roses and orchids!

I can't decide between the citrus shades...

or pastel pinks ...

Now I would like to see a bicycle basket filled with these.

Reveling in Red

With Valentine's Day tomorrow, there will be plenty of red roses on display in shops and offices. I think there is nothing nicer than finding that bouquet arriving at reception is for you.

There are many fabulous ways to enjoy red roses,

but if roses are not your thing there are still plenty of opportunities to revel in romantic red.

There are scarlet tulips ...

and sunny gerbera.

How good would this look with a big red bow?!

And there is always a red coat to enjoy.

February 14th is particularly memorable for me as it was 22 years ago (having been on my feet for 14 hours in my flower shop) that I gave birth, a couple of weeks early, to my eldest daughter Alex. So happy birthday Alex! (and come home soon! ....still in Australia...)

A Year On

He bought me flowers,

I think I will keep him for another year!

He knows the way to this girl's heart.

A Year Filled With Flowers

The year started with a wedding.

Our wedding,

with a bouquet made up from flowers I collected from florist friends around the country, that Billy and I visited on our way north. We get married in Durham, 10 years after we met there.

The florist's year really gets under way with all the rush and romance that is Valentine's Day. Calling into Leentje's tiny, but exquisite shop in Cambridgeshire seemed like a very good place for me to start too.

Soon after cupid delivered his last rose, florists, like Kate in Sturminster Newton packed their shops with plants and posies for Mothers' Day.

In Arcade Flowers in Ringwood local primary school children hung blue hearts on a tree that the girls have planted in their window.

The warm spring rolled into a showery May and into the shops came the summery flowers and herbs; such as the delicate blue Scabious and daisy-like Fever Few.

This was a year for new ventures; Sprout & Flower in Mere in Wiltshire opened its doors selling an enticing mixture of vegetables, flowers and fresh bread,

and Rustic Rose launched its new website - complete with a heavenly day for me helping to photograph bouquets and blooms for it.

It is not only the flower shops that I love but the many flower stalls I visit on my travels, such as this fabulous display outside Bibendum on the Fulham Road.

New faces included Grace,

whose shop Bramble & Wild is a wonderful discovery, perched at the top of Catherine Hill in Frome.

But the year would not be the same without several trips to Ted Martin Flowers in Tisbury, the subject of my first two books about flower shops.

I can always rely on my flower shop friends to fill my life with colour!

From the first spring tulips to the late November chrysanthemum blooms.

It was a year for celebrating, with a party for a my daughter and my birthdays.

(I cannot believe she is twenty one - let alone how old I am!)

There were weddings to help with, including Gemma who did not have a huge budget - but as luck would have it, happened to know a friendly florist.

As a finishing touch I pick sweet peas for her from the pick your own flower fields at Hatch near Tisbury.

It was also a year of flower workshops - one of my favourites is based on the sort of flowers you can find in your garden.

The ladies attending it may be teachers and nurses and retired civil servants but they were born florists.

There were flowers to admire in the many flower festivals around the country - such as the magnificent displays at Salisbury cathedral.

And there were ways to create an atmospheric table display of flowers for yourself, even when you did not have masses of flowers to play with.

My flower filled year would not be complete without mentioning Tom from Tretter's cocktail bar in Prague. I do love a man who puts orchids in my cocktails. And I do love a best friend who takes me to Prague to celebrate my birthday. (Yes, I know, I have been celebrating since the summer!)

As the year drew to a close it is back to one of my favourite flower shops - Ted Martins. Christmas would not be Christmas without stopping by to say hello and to wish them all (and you) a very Happy New Year.