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

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.

Love beautiful things?

Me too.

So, I will share with you some pretty// gorgeous// beautiful// stunning// exquisite things.

The Tenth Meadow is the kind of life I dream of living.

Ginnyau has a near perfect aesthetic happening. Her images are blissful. If I could style images half as well as her... oh my!

And whilst we are admiring aesthetics, we must stop by Pearl & Godiva.

Here is Snippet & Ink paying homage to The Mrs Box. And rightly so.

How about the stunning website design at Flannel Flowers?

And here is photographic proof that roses are simply exquisite, no matter what stage of their life they are at.

So much beauty in the world.

K xx

Styling and Photography by Moss & Vine

Bows and pearl pins

You are not a florist unless you have a large stash of ribbons and pearl pins. 

Ribbons are fundamental to floristry.

I have just spent some time organising my own ribbon station. Colour coded, of course.

Cream, pale blue, lavender and twine, these colours are must haves. 

But you never know when a bride is going to ask for neon orange and sky blue. Together.

Some weddings are all about colour!

My current ribbon crush is this ebony + ivory striped ribbon.

It's a classic look.

I am also lusting over the stunningly beautiful plant dyed silk ribbon from 

Silk & Willow.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Spring long weekend x1

We've been doubly blessed in the Australian Capital Territory, we have two long weekends back-to-back. Awesome. The snow has melted on the mountains, more or less, so there was no early morning drive up to Perisher for a day of snowboarding. Instead, I used my time wisely. Kind of. 

I went to Floriade Nightfest with a couple of friends. Floriade is a bit like a flower theme-park. A lolly shop for florists, if you like.

I got a haircut. And had my 'brows done.

I went shopping. A few times. Cabin fever set in about 36 hours into the weekend.

I watched/listened to much of the 2014 Last Night of the Proms.
S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R.

I re-watched Outlander from the beginning in preparation for the mid-season final. 

I bought the (first) Outlander book and am half-way through it.

I went to wander through the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

I've caught up on the laundry.

And I've still got the rest of today to...

read, probably, if i'm being honest.

Also this month:

The annual Bride-to-Be spin off mag Flowers and Wedding Styling was released in September, making me one happy, happy, happy florist. It is a long wait for this beautiful magazine to grace the shelves each year.

I've been obsessing over Lovestar. These vases are genius. So, so effortlessly cool.

My current flower crush is the exceedingly humble chamomile daisy. It must be a Spring thing. These sweet little daisies are the essence of this season.

I've been lusting after beautiful and unusual ribbon.

And thinking about cake styling.

Oh, and of course there was a flower crown for a wedding in there somewhere too. Here is a sneak peek. More to come (hopefully).

K xx

Flowers, styling and photography by Moss & Vine

Spring in full swing

Jonquils, daffodils, narcissus. What's the difference?

Read all about them here.

Whatever name you know them by, they all smell D-I-V-I-N-E.

These ones are jonquils. The daffodil's little sister, if you like. I'm getting high on their scent as they are currently hanging out on my bedside table. In the past when I've had jonquils by the bed, the scent has been so encompassing that it was the first thing my senses recognised as I stirred from sleep in the morning. I had to lift my head and look around to remind myself where the smell was coming from. 

I love them. And they're currently available in abundance. If you are taking jonquils or daffodils home, here are the things that you should know.

When you get your flowers home, recut the stems to allow them to take up fresh water efficiently. Never combine freshly cut daffodils and jonquils with other cut flowers as they emit a sap that is toxic to other flowers when newly cut. It is possible to arrange daffodils and jonquils with other flowers, just put them alone in water for 24 hours before arranging with other cut flowers. Don't re-cut the stems though. 

Daffodils mean: chivalry // high regard // faith // honesty // forgiveness // rebirth and new beginnings // immortality. 

A single daffodil is unlucky, meaning unrequited love or the foretelling of a misfortune. Medieval Europeans believed a single, drooping daffodil was an omen of death. A bunch of daffodils is a positive gesture, meaning forgiveness or appreciation of someones honesty. 

 Prince Charles is paid one daffodil annually in return for the rent of all the islands in the Isles of Scilly.

(Gray, The Secret Language of Flowers)

I'll have my nose in these all evening long.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine