I can sing a rainbow

There is a TV programme tonight all about people giving up sugar. I gave up sugar (and a bunch of other things) once for a year and all I can say is: never again. Now I aim for five fruit and veg a day and fit in nice things like cake around them, no food-shaming and less body-shaming, and that seems to make me much happier than I was during the sugar-free year.

So if you are not a fan of sugar, you might want to stop reading now.

Everyone else: here is my first attempt at rainbow cake. I have wanted to make it ever since I tried the gorgeous one from Cloud 9 in Brighton a few years ago.

I made this for my friend at the weekend. The natural colours (purple and blue) came out more muted than the artificial ones, and I am too impatient to do a proper crumb coating of buttercream, wait for it to dry, and then ice properly - but apart from that, I think it worked. It was a basic 2oz of butter, sugar and self-raising flour to 1 egg, and I used 4 eggs. I added vanilla and orange blossom to the cake and the buttercream.

I'm also sharing photos of a polychromatic bouquet I made as a wedding gift for a couple last year, which I haven't got around to sharing here. It was late summer, and there was a mixture of British and imported flowers as well as stuff I'd grown. It smelled amazing.

I can sing a rainbow, too.

Leave it to compost

I had a wonderful English Literature tutor called Mark Loveridge when I studied at Swansea. It was he who decided I could do the undergraduate degree despite my inadequate A-level results,  he who had the sort of brilliant energy and sense of humour  that I'd only ever seen in films. And it was he who, when I felt like submitting a first draft of an essay, told me to, "Leave it to compost for a few weeks," before tackling it again.

Leave it to compost.

For someone like me, who overthinks, overplans, then gets frustrated and disappointed when things don't go to plan, or when I get tired or bored, this piece of advice was invaluable.

So, as much as I've felt guilty about not blogging over the summer, despite being on holiday from my current uni course and technically having more brain space to write, I think it was necessary to have a break. I've never been great at the regular, frequent side of blogging - as you can probably tell, it's more feast or famine with me. But the point of starting this blog was to enjoy it, and there's nothing enjoyable about feeling guilty!

So there are lots of things I could share here, and I will share some of them and let the others sit there. Maybe they'll compost for another four months and it'll feel good to share them at Christmas when it's wintry and gloomy outside, and we need a reminder of sunnier days.

In July, there was a surprise party for a lady who went out and bought herself pink peonies the day before. Luckily I was told before I went to the market! These flowers are a mixture of market flowers (pale pink phlox, snapdragons, white gentian) and home grown ones (red phlox, panicum/fountain grass, nicotiana, jasmine and sweet peas). I was given most of the containers to fill, and it was fun using unfamiliar vases.

Particularly this autumnal one.

And these beautiful, tall bud vases.

My Australian cousin was visiting briefly last week, and asked to go to the flower market. It was wonderful to have someone to help me choose, and to help me carry! As well as the market flowers, there were also buckets of sedum, roses, physocarpus, panicum and herbs from the garden, and foraged berries. It was also nice to use September flower in September.

Last weekend, I used the flowers for several bits, including this bouquet for a beautiful woman who liked the moody colours and chocolate scent of cosmos. This bouquet included one of my rare, homegrown dark sunflowers - which, unlike many of the sunflowers I've grown, has long enough stems to use in bouquets.

And of course, there were leftovers to enjoy. The chocolate cosmos scent fills the room - it's incredible that such a strong fragrance comes from such a dainty flower.

When these flowers die, you know where they'll end up? That's right - on the compost heap.

It's starting to feel like November

I got a bit of a shock to my system on Monday when I was cutting foliage for the museum, and began to really feel the cold. It didn't help that every time I cut down branches of eucalyptus or magnolia, I got a load of cold rainwater falling on me too!

That night, I went to my first football match in a couple of years (fortunately it was an away game in glorious South East London), and tried to remind myself that it wasn't that cold; my first ever game was at the end of November in Sunderland, before Grand Central ran direct trains, and I remember the bitter cold as we waited for our connection at Newcastle. It didn't help that we lost 4-1 and Roy Keane (allegedly) resigned by text message afterwards! Also, on Monday, there was a lot of jumping up and down, which also keeps out the cold. I was very glad of the win, even if we didn't exactly play well enough to deserve it.

At the Garden Museum, I seemed to have one minor incident after another, with me managing to forget German pins, extra reel wire and extra ivy, and running out of recycled floral foam. In the end I did a foam-free arrangement for the porch with bowls and chicken wire. It's not my favourite way to do flowers, especially if it's a low arrangement, but apparently it's more eco-friendly. Here it is coming together...sorry about the light. I forgot it gets dark soon!

And finally:

And here are the reception flowers. Lovely scented narcissi and alstromeria, mixed with eucalyptus, magnolia, recycled physocarpus sticks, and a berry that I don't know the name of.

Lastly, a few of the cafe table posies.

If you are out enjoying fireworks or a bonfire tonight, stay safe, and have a good Guy Fawkes' night!

Chocolates for Juliet

I did some pink and chocolate brown bouquets a few weeks ago. It's one of my favourite autumn colour combinations (see this post a few years ago), but I added the peachy tones of Juliet David Austin roses this time.

I used dark cotinus foliage, pink snowberries (my autumn favourite!), astilbe, and sedum, cosmos, cleome, panicum and euonymus from the garden.

I love the mixture of textures here. (The first photo was taken in the evening and the second photo was taken in the morning - it makes a big difference to peachy Juliet!)

Speaking of Juliet - here's a leftover rose, opened up.

And more leftovers here.

Autumn isn't just about Chinese lanterns and falling leaves, you know!

Guinness, Cariad and the Wizard of Oz

I did a bouquet for a Welsh lady who loves going on holiday to Dublin. 'Cariad' David Austin roses in an old Guinness fudge tin was my plan, but I only had a few stems of roses. So I picked as many pink and white flowers from the garden as I could, and topped up with dahlias and asters I'd bought from the market. I liked the idea of clashing shades of pink, and lots of frothy flowers and panicum, in a less Barbara Cartland-ish container.

The pale pink dahlia with the yellow centre is called Wizard of Oz - it's a beautiful flower. I don't know the name of the other variety, but it's a fabulous bright salmon colour.

These striking flowers below are pink asters (aka September flower, as it is the birth flower for September). They last well in water and floral foam, and come in other colours, such as white and purple. Both the dahlias and asters are British - you should be able to get them from your local grower for another few weeks.

One of my favourite parts of floristry is the moment after you've finished conditioning all of your flowers, and you look at the buckets of beauty you have to work from.

I made a posy of dahlias and asters.

And I put the leftover cosmos in a bottle - I love the movement of the stems and the pretty, colourful flowerheads.