Paper whites

Yesterday was my 28th birthday!

Alex sent me a whole lot of paper white narcissi. 220 stems to be exact, although I didn't count them myself. All of my vases are still in storage, so I was desperately trying to find appropriate vessels to plonk them all in before dotting their heavenly scent in different corners of the house.

These are from one of the flower farms on the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall. I just love that they were hand cut on a farm off the British coast and couriered right to my door.

The Isles of Scilly are well known for their flower farms, at the peak of this industry in the early 20th century, approximately 40 tonnes of flowers were being shipped from the islands to markets in London weekly. The Isles are owned mostly by the Duchy of Cornwall which leases much of the freehold land to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The rent payable? One daffodil per annum. Such a funny and sweet little bit of history.

We've woken up to snow here in Wiltshire today, so right now this is what my day is looking like...

Kate  x

Daffs

We've got cheery spring daffodils in the house this week. These are the paler 'white' daffodil variety, and at $7 for two bunches I think they more than brighten the house up, affordably!

I wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils.

William Wordsworth

I love they're happy disposition so much, and they remind me a lot of my childhood. Daffodils were the only cut flower I remember my Mum having in the house. 

Kate  x

Poppies

Our move to England happens this month. 

With such an important date looming you'd think I would be hastily packing, sifting through paperwork, or occupied by some other equally important task. 

Instead I am spamming instagram with pictures of the poppies I bought last Friday. 

My time management is woeful. 

Kate  x

An arbitrary date

June the 1st is just another day on the calendar, but it has me fidgety about routines and habits.

I haven't finished a novel since March, my social media use aimless scrolling is sky high, and despite getting a nasty mole cut out of me and biopsied, I am still hit and miss when it comes to a sunscreen applying regimen.

Arbitrary though it may be, it's as good a time as any to re-commit to sunscreen, reading time and faffing with flowers more often (so at the very least I have lovely vignettes featuring cut flowers to post on social media).

Whenever I feel like my time is being wasted in ways I will regret, I meditate on this:

"RALPH WALDO EMERSON ONCE ASKED WHAT WE WOULD DO IF THE STARS ONLY CAME OUT ONCE EVERY THOUSAND YEARS. NO ONE WOULD SLEEP THAT NIGHT, OF COURSE. THE WORLD WOULD CREATE NEW RELIGIONS OVERNIGHT. WE WOULD BE ECSTATIC, DELIRIOUS, MADE RAPTUROUS BY THE GLORY OF GOD. 

INSTEAD, THE STARS COME OUT EVERY NIGHT AND WE WATCH TELEVISION."

-Paul Hawkens

I am off to have the stitches from my biopsy removed today, then I will be ticking off some much ignored chores from my to do list before reading a big chunk of The Wind in the Willows. A book I started, oh, last year...

Kate  x

Janu-wary

Wary. That is how January makes me feel sometimes. It is hard not to fall into a post-festive-season slump! Although it is touted as a fresh start and a clean slate, the first month of the year just makes me feel blah (even though, or maybe because, it is my birthday month)! I concentrate more on what hasn't happened (yet) and less on the exciting things to come! And 2016 should be very exciting! To break out of this slump i'm in I brought home some pretty white and pink two-tone carnations. Cheap and cheerful. The combination of milk glass and soft pastel flowers is to-die-for!

There's not much that some $9 carnations, a scented candle and a cup of tea can't fix. But really, I have no good reason to be blah, and remembering how fortunate I am is really all the tonic that I need. It is just another month on the calendar after all.

This too shall pass.

Happy New Year.

Kate  x

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Links to love: September edition

Why are there pink magnolias on bare branches in winter, and white magnolias on glossy green trees in summer? This is the question I asked my Mum recently. HERE is the answer for all you readers who don't have a green-fingered parent close to hand.

My Dad gave me a sweet, mossy birds nest on the weekend. It makes me want to start a COLLECTION. (Only nests that have been blown out of trees, of course).

I am sharing this just for the CUTE FACTOR!

FIONA has given me a supreme case of wanderlust.

Aesthetic perfection HERE, HERE & HERE.

This is the SWEETEST idea, and perfect keepsake.

This was the INSPIRATION for seeking out my own milk glass vase. Success! If you are ever in the Snowy Mountains, stop by Stone Cottage, Berridale where I found the above milk glass vase that I promptly filled with white ranunculus.

I mean, seriously, RANUNCULUS make me stupidly happy.

THE MRS BOX just launched a new collection. Yes, I had to buy another one to join the one I was given for my BIRTHDAY. They are hard to resist.

A simple, fresh, spring MEAL I am itching to make/eat.

THIS new-born shoot incorporating flowers is beautiful.

This would be a DREAM COME TRUE to attend.

Wishing you happy spring days.

Kate  x

Styling and Photographs by M o s s & V i n e

Links to love: August edition

This list is coming to you a day early because I am heading home to the snow for the weekend, and I think I might leave my internet connection behind.

THIS IS YOUR KINGDOM makes me yearn for the English gap year I never took.

This might just be the bouquet to END ALL OTHER BOUQUETS.

I'm undecided on THIS. It's cute but I'm not sure I could live with it forever. 

August has me excited for an influx of DAFFODILS. They liven up any space!

Again, this is from Catherine at A COUNTRY FARMHOUSE (I swear I read other blogs too), a SENTIMENT I actively try to live by. I guess that's why my kitchen drawer looks like THIS.

Also THIS SENTIMENT. I need to remind myself. I'm a bit of a 'collector'. Which is a perfect segue to...

Makes me want to begin COLLECTING STAMPS.

MAJESTIC, SERENE, BREATHTAKING, my ideal HOME.

It's CITRUS season.

I think I really, really want THIS. Is that pathetic? A grown up with a colouring book? It seems it is all the rage at the moment. Zen for adults.

Current instagram crushes? HERE, HERE & HERE.

And I just looove this hand painted bespoke wedding crest by the talented ARABELLAJUNE.

When we get a dog, I will be doing THIS.

WOWZERS! Such a cool project.

THIS  sounds like the perfect tonic after a long day on the slopes.

Help the HONEY BEES.

These guys really know how to do pretty SHOP FRONTS.

I love THIS. Congratulations to her.

My idea of beautiful FOOD PORN. I have ambitions to make THIS for Alex's birthday.

If you're self-learning photography (like I am), THIS page has very easy to understand explanations, illustrated with gorgeous photographs. I recently discovered Zoe's INSTAGRAM FEED. And I'm in love!

This months flower crush is the pretty little VIOLET. I took far too many photos of these ones that I cut from my Nan's garden recently.

And finally, check out THESE amazing photographs.


I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for the first of the muscari in the garden this weekend.

Kate  x



Photographs by M o s s & V i n e

Links to love: July edition

If you're on the mend from end-of-financial-year fever (or celebrations, like Master A  is), there might be some adequate tonic in some of these links for you. Brace yourself, this edition of links to love is loooong.

ICED FLOWERS, apt right now in the dead of winter.

I want ONE OF EVERYTHING.

And I definitely NEED one of these.

This might just be my DREAM HOME.

GARDENS GALORE.

Tips for growing ROSES.

TIMELESS  and beautiful.

CHELSEA IN BLOOM

What the search words 'moss' and 'vine' will return on PINTEREST.

Such inspiration grouped together at the AFAVOURITEVIGNETTEFROM7VIGNETTES hashtag.

Could KARA ROSENLUND please adopt me and teach me all that she knows?

I would plan a holiday just to visit THE WAREHOUSE AT WOODSIDE. If I could style vignettes half as well as this, I'd feel euphoric.

Cuteness OVERLOAD.

YES, just yes. Love wins.

Something I DREAM of doing.

If you like acoustic covers of mainstream music, BOYCE AVENUE is a sublime soundtrack for your cold winter days.

If ever there was an INSTAGRAM hashtag designed for moi? THIS is the tag!

And lastly, my very English family will appreciate THIS.



Kate  x



Just another friendly reminder, my links are CAPITALISED. Lower case links are not designed or embedded by me. You may or may not find them helpful. Thanks for reading Moss & Vine.

The tulip series

When they were tight and fresh, the colour of these tulips looked so promising, I had to buy them. Unfortunately that beautiful pink blush colour faded as the days went on. I have enjoyed their presence in my home none-the-less. Fading flowers also have a certain charm.

Day 1.

Day 3.

Day 5.

Tulips continue to grow even once they've been cut. It can be necessary to keep cutting the stems so they don't outgrow their vase (cut flowers should be re-cut every other day anyway), but just quietly, I love what I call the 'drunken tulip' look that happens when they start to tumble from the vase. 

How stunning can yellow tulips en masse look? VERY stunning.

My favourite variety of tulips? LA BELLE EPOQUE.

See them this spring at TULIP TOP GARDEN IN HIDDEN VALLEY.

Kate  x

Styling and photographs by Moss & Vine

Another reminder, my personal suggested links are CAPITALISED, lowercase links are not designed and embedded by me. You may, or may not find them useful.

Best, Kate  x

Thursday (holiday) flower throwbacks

"A garden isn't meant to be useful, it's for joy."

- Rumer Godden

It looks like a tropical paradise or a film set. It's not. I took this (above) picture in the United States Botanic Garden in Washington DC. Put me in any city, and I will find public gardens.

When I lived in New Zealand for a year, my favourite place was the Winter Garden (below) in Auckland Domain. There is something magical about stepping inside a glass room overflowing with unusual plants and blooming flowers and creeping vines. A whole other climate exists inside. Temperate, tropical, sub-tropical, they're all wondrous places.

Purple delphinium, poppy pods.

Blue, white, and purple delphinium.

Foxgloves.

Kate  x

UNITED STATES BOTANIC GARDEN
AUCKLAND WINTERGARDENS

Just a quick note to regular readers of Moss & Vine. Links embedded in my posts that are suggested by me are now CAPITALISED, other links in lowercase that may appear from time to time are not designed by me. Use them at your discretion, they may be helpful to you, or they may not.

Best, Kate  x 

Can't bake a cake without breaking eggs

The weather outside is miserable. My cake baking hankerings are at fever pitch. But there is one particular recipe I am keen to try, and wouldn't you know it, I'm an ingredient short. I could don my rubber boots, a warm coat, and venture to the shops, but I'm a resident of Sydney, and everybody knows that Sydney-siders can't function in the rain. Why? I'm not sure. It's just an accepted truth. You will never encounter another major city coming to near-standstill just because a few drops of water fall from the sky.

As soon as the heavens begin cooperating with my food cravings, I'll be making this MILK AND CITRUS CAKE. Imen's blog FARMETTE is one of my absolute favourite food and lifestyle blogs. I cannot wait for her cook book to be available in Australia. It is sure to be filled with extraordinarily stunning food styling and photographs of the Irish countryside. In the meantime if you're hungry (pun) for more of this hearty, farm-kitchen style cookery and exquisite images, follow Imen's blog and INSTAGRAM feed.

I am also keen to try THIS just as soon as I can get my hands on some lavender free from nasty pesticides. Again, wishing I could time travel back to my OLD HOME to savour a backyard acreage of flowering rows of lavender.

And this heavenly looking LILAC PAVLOVA recipe will be attempted just as soon as the summer lilacs start to bloom. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!

Kate  x

Cake, styling and photograph by Moss & Vine

Cake originally appeared in THIS blog post.

In praise of simple pleasures

It might be the cold weather, the shorter days, or the inevitable mid-year slump, but we find ourselves indulging our desires more and more at the moment, and damn the calories consequences. Before I share what we are loving (and slathering in double cream) in our nest right now, let me just also note that we imposed a little dry period for the first few weeks of June. I am alcohol-free most of the time anyway, however Alex tumbled from the wagon when he had a beer with a seafood platter lunch. In his defence it was the long weekend, and the sun was shining. And we were next to the water, looking at pretty sail boats and a frolicking seal. But not all of our weaknesses come attached to excess calories. Mine are usually floral related. Or found in vintage and thrift shops.

I am taking full advantage of the early spring flowers that are available right now. I bought a bunch of poppies to give to my Mum on the long weekend. Then I snuck out to the camelia bush in my Nan's backyard to pick this pink beauty. It has resulted in a new appreciation for these wonderful and DIVERSE FLOWERS. If only they in turn appreciated being cut and put into a vase. Camelia is used almost exclusively for its leaves in floristry. The flowers have little commercial value as they die quickly. 

We've been eating SCONES too. Quite a few scones actually. Two batches and counting. The food related indulgences have me most worried, because it's not limited to scones, jam and cream. There is also an increase in the amount of crusty white bread being eaten. Melting moments, FUDGE, chocolate brownies and copious amounts of french onion dip have also made appearances. 

The up-swing of scones is the chance to indulge my current obsession with silver spoons. Jam spoons, teaspoons, mustard spoons. I want them all. My preoccupation with CUTLERY is unshakeable. I'm having a serious love affair with cutlery right now. HERE, HERE & HERE.

It is funny almost sad how excited I can get over a good INSTAGRAM hashtag these days. I think the lack of flower flinging in my day-to-day life recently has left a creative void that needs filling. I am attempting to self-teach better prop styling and photography. Instagram hashtag competitions are a wonderful prompt for this practice. I love the monthly #7VIGNETTES, and @ITS_MY_WEEK run a fantastic weekly competition with a new theme each Monday. But given my adoration of vintage cutlery, I participated in #THESPOONSERIES tag with much enthusiasm. My entries? HERE, HERE and HERE.

Other tags I recommend exploring?

#MYMONTHOFSUNDAYS

#FRIDAYFAFFINGCOMPETITION

#SEEKTHESIMPLICITY

&

#PROPSTYLERS

The gym is calling me back.

Kate  x

Styling and photographs by Moss & Vine

Fudge (pictured) from TILBA TREASURES Ulladulla Aus

Moving images

It's a long weekend! Here are some short videos that I have stumbled across this week. There's one for every mood. Enjoy the weekend.

Serenity: FLORET FLOWER FARM

Fun: THE FLOWER DRUM

Motivation: I WILL WHAT I WANT

Awe: CUSTOMS HOUSE Vivid 2015

Wonder: CHATSWORTH GARDEN AT CHELSEA

Current literary crush: POLDARK

Kate  x

Styling and Photograph by Moss & Vine

Links to love: June edition

This We Fell in Love FEATURED WEDDING is very lovely.

What can I say? THE CUTTING GARDEN.

THIS shop makes me want to up-sticks and move to Bath. Also, THIS does. And, AUSTEN does too, obviously.

Some garden envy happening HERE.

A link for the FUTURE. Where I will buy my old rose varieties for my dream garden.

I can't get enough of these CUTIES.

I'm pining for my very own KUMQUAT tree to cut branches from.

Some NAUTICAL NICENESS.

This is nothing short of exceptionally CUTE.

I know I say it every month, but how WONDERFUL to be a farmer florist.

Fellow flora enthusiasts rejoice, the beginning of winter means the sweetest smelling ERLICHEER is just around the corner.

Keep warm,

Kate  x

Flowers, Styling and Photograph by Moss & Vine 

Science

Get a clean beaker, 

pour in two parts H2O (also known as water for the laymen amongst us)

+

three parts pink bouvardia

=

Native to Mexico, bouvardia means enthusiasm // zest for life. 

Prettiest science experiment I ever conducted.

Kate  x

Flowers, Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Links to love: May edition

May is only eleven days old. But i've fallen in love with so much over those beauty-packed days. Here are some links to some of my new loves.

The Mrs Box has a new collection of HEIRLOOM VELVET RING BOXES. I still absolutely adore my green "Gardener" ring box (pictured above), but my new favourite colour has to be the stunning HUGUENOT. 

I recently discovered and fell in love with the King of aesthetic perfection STEVE SINCLAIR who owns and executes SINCLAIR AND MOORE EVENTS with his wife. Their daily life is an exercise in beauty. Read more about their life and business HERE and get a taste for their attention to detail HERE and HERE. Not only does Steve love interiors and decor, he is a self taught floral designer, designs and styles weddings and events, and makes his wife DRESSES FROM SCRATCH. He even made her WEDDING DRESS. If I could clone him for myself, I probably would.

I stumbled upon the website for POLLON flowers and was instantly taken aback by the innovation of floral designer Nicholas Minton Connell. There's always something new to learn in floristry. I love that it is an industry driven by trends and ever evolving design influences. Check out the wedding gallery on the Pollon website. And the 'PRESS' link is something else. Talk about vision and talent. 

My current flower crush is less of a specific flower and more of a colour palette. Plum, burgundy, deep-purple. I'm in love HERE and HERE and HERE.

My current foliage crush is weirdly left-field: OLIVE TREE FOLIAGE. I don't enjoy eating olives but I sure do admire the silvery-grey quality of olive tree leaves. So versatile.

I was never an admirer of DISBUD CHRYSANTHEMUMS, but having just been slammed working the Mothers Day rush in the wonderful, busy, florist shop of my home-town (COOMA FLOWER SHOP), I have a new appreciation for the huge, soft, fluffiness which characterises this amazing variety of the humble chrysanthemum. 

Currently in love with: 

VELVET RIBBON,

this Justin Alexander WEDDING GOWN,

 this Jesus Peiro WEDDING GOWN,

 these ANEMONES from Bathtub Gardens,

and THIS instagram account.

Also, my uber talented BROTHER now writes frequently for Rolling Stone Australia. HERE is his latest piece. 

Enjoy the sheer exquisiteness hidden behind these links, until next time,

Kate  x

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Bottoms up!

We are officially back in the "big smoke".

Our little (temporary) apartment has little more than a few white goods and a bed at the moment, but we are once again Sydney-siders.

I've been slow to dive back into the rush of city living, I dipped a proverbial toe in the waters first.

But, I'll admit to be being a little excited to experience some new aspects of Sydney living.

Cheers!


Kate  x


Styling and Photograph by Moss & Vine

Pink loads of pink

Mix and match:

paper daisies,

carnations

&

david austin roses

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Lest we forget

11/11/14

K xx

Pause, peonies

Stop what you're doing. It's November. Which means,

Peonies! of course.

If you're an admirer of the head-turning peony, 

then you've got a little over four more weeks to enjoy the layers and layers 

and layers of peony petals.

It's a short season.

Enjoy 'em while you can!

These ones are hanging out on my bedside table. And they smell unreal. 

K xx

Styling and Photography by Moss & Vine