Opening times coming week

A quick update with regards to our opening hours for the next week!

We'll be:
Closed                     Sunday 30th December 2012
9AM - 2.30PM       Monday 31st December 2012
Closed                     Tuesday 1st January 2013
Closed                     Wednesday 2nd January 2013

And we'll be back to normal on Thursday 3rd January 2013 from 9AM!

to the ends.....

........Christmas came and went in a blur of  spruce, candles, berries, ivy and all things festive.......we sold out of practically everything ................so we need to say ' THANK YOU ' to all our customers for keeping it local and supporting their independent traders.

We were aching and tired....all suffering from the coughing lurgy that's been going round....so as we finally closed the doors we dosed ourselves up on lem-sip and wine....and headed for a hot bath and spicy curry!!! 

Drama unfolded on our return as Martin decided to slice open his arm (it must have been the thought of conditioning flowers again) and as he headed off to casualty, we slowly sold all our flowers again.......

..as I write the rain is bucketing down a quiet high street...awaiting the next onslaught of parties and presents,
we are wrapping things up, making arrangements for lunch parties and contemplating opening another box of chocolates......
To all our friends old and new, may we wish you all the very best for 2013 and we hope that all  your dreams come true.
Happy New Year!!

Martin, Emma and Kay...xxx
P.S Needless to say we failed in our 25 photos for the December photo project..teacher says..'we must try harder' ;)

Our Christmas and New Year Opening Times!

 Christmas & New Year opening times

23^rd December               10AM – 3PM-ish

24^th December                8 AM – 2.30PM

Christmas Day                Closed

Boxing Day                    Closed

27^th December                Closed 

                                            due to no fresh flowers

28^th December                9 AM - 5PM

29^th December                9 AM – 5PM

     30^th December                Closed

     31^st December                9 AM – 2.30PM

Our last delivery date for Christmas will be Saturday 22nd December.

Photo a Day...Day 14

Someone walked into the shop and commented how ugly he was....are hands covered his stubby ears...Ugly? No way, look at that jolly grin!

You never know he might snuffle you out the odd truffle

A photo a day.. day 13: Lunch

On cold days we need a soup to keep us and our hands warm!

Thai green chicken soup from Azuza Hungerford did just that!

Day 12 of the December Photo Project: Frosty delivery

The world was white, but no snow.

The road was lonely, but beautiful.

The car was red, as red as the flowers it was carrying.

Day 11 of the December Photo project: The Victorian Extravaganza window!

This Friday it's the Victorian Extravaganza evening.

Hungerford will be going back in time.

Helter Skelter, steam engines, mulled wine, marching bands and lots more!

And the Best Dressed Window competition!

We've been meaning to put the window in for the last 2 weeks as we want to win the 1st price this year!

Kay designed the window and has put  a lot of work into it and it looks fantastic!

Last year we made it 3rd, so fingers crossed!

Day 10 of the December Photo Project

We are a few days behind. 

Currently the main reason shown in the picture.

Foliage.. and lots of it...

To be made into wreaths, garlands and gorgeous arrangements.

Time consuming, but smelling divine!

Day 9 of the December photo project

A French sash window. 

A day late.

Apologies.

Champagne.

Don't mind if I do!

December photo project day 8.....

its madness here we need santas little  helpers....hands are black with spruce oil.....sore with.wire cuts and we need wine seriously badly....a gentle picture of hand made felt polar bears and snowmen. by candlelight...have a wonderful weekend......xx

Day 7 of the December Photo Project: Mess

The mess that's called Christmas creativity. 

Spruce, moss, ivy, mistletoe, the continuous need of a broom....

Apologies for posting a day too late. Currently experiencing issues uploading of linking in photos to Blogger... Finally seemed to have found a way around it!

Day 6 of the December Photo Project: Wreaths

A lush wreath in reds and golds. Can you spot the little rocking horses???

And one more... To show off... because we can! ;)

Day 5 of the December Photo Project: Sinterklaas (St Nicholas)

Today the Dutch, Belgians and a few other nations celebrate Sinterklaas (St Nicholas).
Pepernoten and speculaas (basically mixed spice biscuits), sweets, lots of presents delivered by Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten in a jute bag (naughty children are being taken back to Spain with Sinterklaas in that very same bag!), singing songs.... It's a lovely family tradition!

We wish everyone who celebrates Sinterklaas a lovely time this Pakjesavond! Hope you've been good!

PS: if you want to read more about the history of St Nicholas and the tradition, have a look at this Wikipedia page!

Day Four of the December Photo Project

My attempt at photographing the Christmas lights in the dark failed....so here is a little pot of poison with divine flowers....xx

DPP day three

a little vignette with a blown down birds nest we found on a walk last week....add twisted hazel...some cones....and silver baubles ........all set in a wooden lantern frame...quirky..we like that..x 

DPP Day 2

Seasonal arrangement in an amber glass vintage vase..happy sunday to you all!

Day One

Day one of the December photo project.
Mercury glass Christmas balls

also other news...... today's biggest bouquet.......

December 1st and its all go with holly, spruce, wreaths and bulbs.....we have had a week of early starts and late nights so are thankful tomorrow is Sunday, the Christmas lights go on in Hungerford then, can't wait to see our High Street all lit up, hope you all have a good  weekend...xx

photos what photos!!

Ok we are officially useless....
Sunday saw the last Martin and The Magpie Course for 2012...seven lovely ladies dropped in on a Sunday morning when they could have been having  a lie in and got seriously stuck into spruce....ivy...berries.....all manor of dried fruit and spices...drank coffee and ate cake and had a laugh...and as per usual we didn't photograph it......for goodness sake.

Thankfully one of our course regulars did and if you pop over to Georgies blog (here) you can see the mess we all made!!!! and some of the divine floral artistry that was on show.....you guys always amaze us with your creativity....thank you!!!

AND

in an effort to get to it on our photography....we are exposing ourselves ( in the best possible taste!) to ridicule by taking part in this project.......in the hope that we can manage to take 25 consecutive photos up to Christmas....

 

Hopefully it will give you an insight into the shop and work we do up to 25/12/12...or it may just be random images of our lunch and half empty wine glasses.....watch this space!!

If you fancy keeping us company and having a go this is the link.

In the shop today we changed the window...slightly Christmassy but we are saving the proper Xmas window for the Extravaganza night competition......don't tell anyone but we don't have a clue yet.....moved everything around AGAIN.......had another massive delivery of spruce and holly........we have been happy ...we have been angsty......the blue eyed boy had lunch with us....we made bouquets.....made a vignette in a lantern? ((see tomorrows post).....had the awning repaired ( it twisted in last weeks storms).......generally recovered from a freezing night out at the Queens Arms Charity Christmas .Fair......one of us mused a lot as to whether seeing two barn owls at 7 am this morning was a good or bad omen.......another wondered whether to shave off the moustache that has been growing throughout (M)November.....just another day then....xx

tropical versus traditional

Martins new pets.......day of the triffids or what??

Lots of assorted loveliness for your Christmas decorating....really, I can't believe I am saying this, surely it was only just September?

However today we were asked for a Christmas tree so it must be.

A few of the colour combinations for today's mass of bouquets.

This weekend sees our one and only wreath making course,  we are tripping over bags of foliage, berries and spruce, and need to tidy the shop up big time, but all will be well because Martin is possibly baking a cake.

Also we are attending The Christmas Market at The Queens Arms Hotel on Thursday 29th November from 7pm-9pm, we would love it if you called in and say hello, we will have lots of goodies for sale and also taking Christmas orders. Click on link for more info.

Shopping spree

Just a small selection of what we bought this morning!

Planters, candles, a hint of Christmas (don't you just love our Victorian couple??) and some more lovely decorative items!

Meanwhile in the shop the preparations for Christmas have begun! The wreath rings are mossed, the cones have been wired, the cinnamon has been bundled.... 

Christmas is coming!

Views and News!

 Just to let you see whats just up the road from the shop......Hungerford Common, the most beautiful place, which looks an absolute picture at the moment with all the autumn colours, this was sunrise on Sunday morning...a heavy frost and slight mist hovering........It is the Shop Dogs favourite walk...truffling through the fallen leaves for lovely sniffs!!!

 And LOOK at we can do now....( its been a long time sorting this out, I mean how difficult can it be??)..we can send our gorgeous flowers anywhere in mainland  UK....next day delivery Tuesday to Friday, give us a ring if you want details or just pop in and we will sort it out for you...Hurrah!!

 a suitcase full of the first Jasmine of the season...delicious...and also the first hyacinth bulbs.....can it really be??

 buy in the pot or let us arrange them in a vintage container for you, this is a 1930's oval planter, white hyacinths and of course moss...we love it....the old whisky jars ( was that a song?) are left over from a wedding we did in the summer and we have just a few left...a bargain at £5 each and don't you think they would make a great stocking filler for the chaps??....add whisky of course!

 ......lastly, we are stockists of St Eval candles all handmade in Cornwall, we have stocked St Eval since the day we opened and they are a firm favorite, beautifully scented, long lasting and a great present.....

.....presents.....stocking fillers...whats going on???     x

Lest We Forget

The start of the week.....

red roses and autumn foliage for an old soldier....

...our Remembrance Day window ................

 we have always dressed the window for it ..ever since Miss Magpie had her first shop in Dorset....and we always will....

.....as usual impossible to photograph with the street reflections......we made a cross with moss and lovely twisted hazel......a posy of flowers at the center.....hung vintage tea-light holders at various heights all with a white rose in them.....fashioned a non-lethal fence of mock barbed wire and hung labels on this  heroes......brave......queen and county...... 11-11......lest we forget.....remember......with of course our old union jack flag......( its had quite a few outings this year!!)

 The label idea was taken from The Enchanted Palace at Kensington Palace Exhibition last year, if you went you will recognise it!!
It is from the Room of Tears.....a candlelit princess's bedroom with hundreds of glass bottles ( filled with tears) and thousands and thousands of labels strung with words written by the public. They had to write the last thing that made them cry onto the label....the total 'en masse' effect was breathtaking and hugely emotional.....
so thank you whoever had that idea as it lead to us remembering it and using it here......
So to all those who have and still keep us safe while putting themselves in danger..thank you.

Happy Birthday To Us!

Today we are two!....where have those two years gone? It seems like yesterday we opened the door for the first time and served our very first customer.

So a BIG thank you to all our lovely customers.....floristry is such a personal business.. 

We see you happy and sad....commemorating all the major events in your lives.....big bouquets or just a little pot of prettiness for the kitchen window....

We love every minute and look forward to the future with gratitude..xxx

Christmas comes early!

 Messing about with a mock up of a Christmas wreath today.....

....just  to let you all know we only have a few spaces left on the afternoon of 25th November ( sorry the morning  is fully booked) 2pm til 4.30pm for our Christmas Floral course.

Learn about wreath making, table decorations or garlands, have a cup of tea and a slice of homemade cake

and a lot of fun!! 

Price is £48 all materials supplied. 

Ring the shop to book.

pretty in pink

Martin attended a 'Go Pink Night' for  cancer charities on Friday....he was demonstrating a 'how to'...
make a Christmas wreath.......obviously as those of you who know  us realise we can't take a decent photo!! but thankfully someone at the evening could..(Thanks Karen..).....

The wreath was auctioned off at the end of the evening !!

Just to say thanks for asking us to come along and help out with this fabulous charity evening. x

On the 24th November ....our own Christmas course is booking up fast......so phone the shop if you'd like a place.
01488 681062.

leaves

...wreath making has started already....glorious leaves and heather wreath.....

we are undecided on the halloween window...
my attempt at making black ravens caused so much hilarity they got stuffed in the bin...we do however have lovely shaped gourds and mini pumpkins..
.for the rest of it you will have to watch this space!!

September wedding weekend part one

Mid September saw us in wedding frenzy......

Number One was at the amazing Cain Manor, part of the Bijou wedding group, a beautiful Elizabethan Manor House was the venue....  

white, peach and pale pink combination...gorgeous ice-cream colours..

 frothy gypsophila added lightness, the bridesmaids bouquets were simply this tied with white ribbons..

 Lauren's bouquet..thank goodness for her brilliant photographer Nicola Rhodes at K & E Photography to get a decent picture of it.....

helping hands for the groom.....

what a beautiful happy day....didn't they all look stunning???
All photographs here are the property of K & E Photography, with many thanks for their use Nicola.