It's the Shops First Birthday! ...but is it all Pooh?

“Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

— Winnie the Pooh

Today is my shops business birthday. A year ago today I opened my doors of the little blue flower shop on Mill Street, Bideford. 

To be honest I feel a little like Eeyore on his birthday. Little bit sad, little bit forgotten. No cake, no candles no “whoop whoop”   A gift of an empty honey pot and a popped balloon would be fab but instead I’m in the shop bleach cleaning buckets. 42 of them so far. It’s a glamorous life!

Of course I would have to have been bleaching buckets even if I was open - it’s not a self punishment thing. But hopefully it would have been in-dispersed with customers and at least been in a shop full of fresh flowers and glorious plants everywhere. Because that was the vision when I opened a year ago. 

“What’s wrong with knowing what you know now and not knowing what you don’t know until later?”

— Winnie the Pooh

Oh the dreams and the plans. The Pinterest board and the books full of ideas. It was all there. But of course the world changed. It was changing as I opened. A glimmer of gloom on the horizon. I think we were all in optimistic denial. And then “BOOM” 8 days after opening we went into nation Lockdown 1.0. 

“Could be worse. Not sure how, but it could be.”

— Eeyore

Except we didn’t know it was Lockdown 1.0 - to be followed later that year with Lockdown 2.0, the sequel and then Lockdown 3.0 the dire unwanted further sequel. 

So a year of having the shop has been more stop and start than the number 73 bus in central London. But those times I’ve been open have been great. I’ve loved it, you’ve loved it - the dream was real. So yes it was heartbreaking every time that got taken away from me, but I’ve tried so hard to hold on to that dream, to keep it going and to dream bigger for when we start to move forward again. 

“If the string breaks, then we try another piece of string.”

— Owl

I’ll concentrate on the positives - it’s so easy to be an Eeyore and be full of gloom. I already spoke in my previous blog about the thanks I have for the people who have continued to support me during the last year. Local deliveries have definitely kept me ticking over in the lockdown months. 

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

— Winnie the Pooh

But the other bonus it has given me is time. Time to stop and think and plan. To fully asses the times I was open and see what worked and what didn’t work. What sold well and what else I could sell. Moving stuff around - changing my merchandising. 

“I always get to where I’m going by walking away from where I have been”

— Winnie the Pooh

Would I have had that opportunity if I’d been trading 6 days a week, week in week out?Would I have just have been working rather than planning? Who knows. But I have enjoyed the time to plan, to dream, to dream bigger. 

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”

— Winnie the Pooh

So as we hopefully enter the last few weeks of lockdown I am continuing to build on my ideas but with the added advantage of a little bit of experience. There is new stock lines ordered. Some new products and plenty more of what there was before. A little shop shuffle and a lot of cleaning! 

Then a deep breath, feel brave and get those doors open again so hopefully this time next year I can be properly celebrating another business birthday. 

“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”

— Christopher Robin

Counting down to Christmas - with an advent candle ring

“An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing”

— Samuel Smiles

When I was a kid you didn’t get chocolate in advent calendars. You just opened the little cardboard doors and had a little picture. That was it. If it was a particularly good advent calendar, we closed the doors and saved it for the following year! 

These days it’s a whole different ball game. Those well known Christmas characters of Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol have their own sugar loaded cheap chocolate offering. You can also get cheese calendars, gin calendars, beauty products calendars and even a dog biscuit one!

But what are these calendars all about? Of course they are a countdown to Christmas. A reason to get excited early (as if my kids need any excuse - and over sugared treats are not the ideal pre breakfast snack!) 

Traditionally they mark the weeks of advent. “Advent” means “coming” in Latin, so Christians mark the four Sundays and weeks before Christmas to prepare for the coming of Jesus. 

Since the 17th century they have used the advent candle ring to mark the passing of these weeks. They would create a circle of evergreen foliage with four candles - each week lighting a candle to celebrate that week. 

And the candles would stand for:

Hope Joy Peace Love. 

Hope, joy, peace and love. Are they not the four words that we repeat like a mantra day after day in this ever so troubled year? Our mindful affirmation as we head towards Christmas. None of us really know what Christmas will look like this year but whatever happens what we really want is hope, joy, peace and love. 

Samuel Smiles, an author, whose quote started this blog off, believed that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws - and that was nearly 200 years ago. But how apt are those very sentiments in these modern times?

So treat yourself to an all fresh, all natural advent candle ring from Church Park Flowers so you can be ready for the first Sunday of advent on the 29 November and light that candle for hope. 

Hope that this Christmas will be filled with joy, peace and love - after all surely this year we deserve it more than ever. 

All natural Christmas Advent Candle ring

Adapting a flower business in a changing environment

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”

— Charles Darwin

I am a florist

I love flowers

I love creating beautiful things with flowers

These statements are the “root” of my business. They are the “seed” it has all started from. I had no real business plan when I started in how exactly my life would pan out. I had no five year goals or written documents. I loved flowers. I wanted to work with flowers. Let’s just take it from there....

But my floral business has taken a number of changes of direction along the way. And not always of my choosing. 

Although I’ve always loved flowers and had a pipe dream of being a florist, it was just a lucky chance that got me in. My main career path was as a Marketing professional for a number of companies in London and France but an amazing opportunity came up when I was living in London fifteen years ago that saw me go from almost zero experience to having my own business on the King Road, Chelsea. It was a steep learning curve but with the uber rich and famous as my customers it wasn’t hard to succeed. I mainly sold loose flowers, a few last minute weddings at the Chelsea Registry Office across the road. Some commissions for Keihls and Heals department store and the Manila Blanik Store.  Add a sprinkling of Russian oligarchs and some top A listers (Bob Geldof, Mark Owen, Tara Palmer Tompkinson, Felicity Kendal to name drop a few) and I had myself a decent florist business. I often worked 7 days a week, three of which started at 3 am to visit the flower market. But I learnt loads - sometimes the hard way - but it was an amazing grounding. 

Then twelve years ago we moved to North Devon and the concept of a luxury florist to the rich and famous wasn’t really going to work! No offence but it is a different environment! 

I went back to the “real world” of Marketing but missed my flowers. 

It was the chance reading of an article in a Sunday paper that got my mind whirring again. I read about flower farms and people sowing and selling British flowers. I loved the idea and read everything I could about it. We had the land, we had the polytunnel, I loved flowers - I just needed to persuade the husband this was a viable business idea (not having a husband previously meant I never had to justify my actions but now it seemed a husband was as bad as a business manager!)

I sowed, I grew, I failed, I grew again. Friends asked me to do their wedding flowers and bit by bit there was another “seedling” of a business. Fast forward three years and I have really “branched” out. 

You’ll need to read my previous blog to see where the florist business was in 2019 and how far it had “grown”

But then 2020 came along and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the current plan is starting to “wilt”. 

My crystal ball was not performing as it should when I decided to open a florist shop in Bideford in March. I’d always worked from a workshop at home but after a very successful pop up Christmas shop in Bideford (see another previous blog!) the time seemed right to go High Street full time!  My little blue flower shop opened its doors on the 7 March....... and then closed them again two weeks later on the 22 March (at least I saw Mother’s Day!)

I had around 40 weddings on the books for this year - with enquiries still coming in and then…..

Lockdown.

So, no shop and of course no weddings for the foreseeable. Was this another attack of the aphids on my flourishing floral business ideas?

Initially I turned my back on it and went back to being a full time mum and “teacher” ( oh and catering manager - who knew two boys could eat so much!) but I found myself reading so many heart lifting stories of businesses that had adapted to today’s environment and changed the way they worked, their product offering, their way of working. From Dyson hoovers to ventilators, Tarquins Gin to hand sanitiser, the local pub doing home meal deliveries - it seemed that the best business owners were standing up, brushing themselves down and thinking “right, what next?” They weren't sitting in their pjs watching Joe Wicks, they weren’t scrolling mindlessly through pointless Facebook posts, they weren’t justifying buying more wine as “essential”. They were looking at new business opportunities.

Overnight it seemed the world went online. There were videos, podcasts and tutorials galore. Could I be part of that?  My tech skills are rather limited, resources low and I don’t have the confidence to appear on camera for all to see. I wrote a blog (yes another one for you to read!) on creating your own Easter centrepiece. Give it a go - it doesn’t just have to be for Easter! I feel static image tutorials may be limited as flower arranging is such a visual and creative pastime. So although I have a few more in draft, I’m not sure it’s the right path for me at the moment. 

The turning point was that my fabulous supplier had too adapted and could courier flowers to me. As a big commercial grower of British flowers they had the stock and the means of transporting it. 

The BFA (British Florists Association) had consulted the Government and confirmed that florists could still operate using online means and practise safe delivery methods. I set up new payment systems so I can take money via secure links in texts and emails and looked at the safest delivery practises.

The result: Hand tied bouquets of beautiful British blooms delivered on Fridays across North Devon. No plastic is used, obviously great for the environment, but delivering them straight from water meant they were safe to handle. 

Ideal for birthdays, anniversary day, miss you days and thank you days. In these tough times we all need a bit of cheering up and it’s a three way thing. The sender feels happy they can send some joy, I’m happy to be back with my beloved flowers and the recipient? Well, the smile on their face says it all. 

I’m also doing more funeral work, not that I didn’t before, but it was hard to fit in around all the weddings. I actually enjoy funeral work. It can be very therapeutic, very creative, and you are doing something that again is made with love and brings joy. I speak with the families and learn about the one they have lost. There is often a story behind the flowers that are used; the husband who had no idea of colour and would wear clashing clothes - reflected in a bright and bold casket spray. The grandmother that loved the primroses in the hedgerows and now has them in her wreath.  And it’s not the sad, topical deaths that we hear the daily statistics about. It’s very much the “tide comes in, tide goes out” funerals which just reminds us that life, and death, goes on regardless and there is something strangely comforting about that.

I am a florist

I love flowers

I love creating beautiful things with flowers. 

Confetti - and the value of “Green”

“Red and yellow and pink and green. Purple and orange and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too! ”

— Arthur Hamilton

When I was a little girl I was a very eager, but very average, pupil at the Brenda Stevens School of Dance. Twice a week I would skip happily along to classes in tap, ballet and modern theatre dance. I, along with millions of other little girls (and boys!) would dream of being a ballerina and twirling in a beautiful pink tutu on stage.  

Now, every four years the dance school would put on a full school recital at a local theatre. There would be months of rehearsals and mounting excitement. I would have been around seven years old when our tap class number was to be the “sing a rainbow” song. There was seven of us in the class and we were arranged in a line in descending height order. Now, not only was I average in dance ability but I was also average in height so I was right in the middle of the line. Our costumes were home made little dresses from satin lining material (oh so flammable!!) Starting from red on the left - I was to be ........ green! 

Suzanne, tall, leggy and blonde, was in striking red (coz she needed to be noticed that little bit more) Then sunshine yellow - all happy and shiny, Pink - every girls dream and envy (I had to stand next to her whilst looking like an offspring of Shrek! - actually Shrek hadn’t been invented then so it was more like kermit!) Vibrant purple - just like the Brazil nut in Quality Street, Orange (maybe not my second choice but at least it’s cheery!) and then cute little Melanie with her curls in a baby blue dress. Being average is not what it’s cracked up to be - it’s obviously stayed on my mind all this time!

Green as a colour in the natural world is everywhere. Trees, grass, leaves and stems. But it’s the other colours in nature that stand out and provoke memories:

Red rose petals - symbolic with love and romance. The cheery and vibrant yellow marigolds. Soft pinks of the elegant larkspur. Heritage sweet peas with hues of mauve and purple. The stand out orange candulas and the ever blue of the most popular cornflower. These are the flowers that make the real floral rainbow and all were growing in profusion this summer in my cutting patch  

The long hot summer put most of the flowering plants into overdrive. Bloom after bloom kept coming but they would also start to go over so quickly in the heat that it was sad to see them come and go without realising their full potential! So why not capture that beauty in an everlasting way by drying the petals to make natural confetti? 

Home grown and hand picked, the petals were dried either in racks in the greenhouse or in a dehydrater to fully dry without losing the natural colour.  

 Each colour way is stored separately so that they can be mixed to create different combinations. Custom mixed to match your wedding themes and colours. But the best thing about this confetti is not it’s colours but the fact it is totally 100% “green” and with no guilty conscience of the pretty littering they will leave behind.

If only my seven year old self knew the true value of “green” 

So don’t let your wedding be average - instead throw a rainbow of colour into the air like you just don’t care and sing that rainbow loud! ***

(***whilst being green and proud!)

Thank you.....

“None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone’s help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you”

— Harvey Mackay

A simple thank you is the best investment to give and the best dividend to receive. How often do you yearn for a straightforward thank you from your boss, your partner, your children? I've spent countless opportunities encouraging my children to say thank you from the moment they make their first baby noises. Ta They still need a prod from time to time but hopefully it will become an automatic response. 

A thank you is not just a sign of good manners but can really make a difference to someone's self esteem and boost confidence. 

In a previous office based life I could spend days swearing at technology and grappling with spreadsheets and data to produce a report that would be checked and double checked before sending off to a boss at an increasingly tightened deadline. Of course I would never receive a financial bonus or promotion for doing it - but a simple thank you and recognition of my efforts would have gone a long way. Likewise when hours have been spent in the kitchen preparing a new recipe for dinner a simple thank you when served makes it all worth while. 

In my current business Thank you's are just as important. I love to receive emails from my 'brides' saying thank you for their flowers. Even after countless weddings I still get terrible butterflies hoping the flowers meet the brides often high expectations. To receive a little thank you just reassures and boosts moral the for the next one. 

And I should say a huge thank you to you - For reading this blog, for following me on social media and liking and sharing my work and images. I say thank you for taking the time to be interested in Church Park Flowers, for giving me the encouragement and for helping me reach new audiences. Without you my business would not be what it is - so genuinely - thank you

But who else should we be thanking? Is there someone that needs recognition this summer. Thank you for feeding the fish, helping with the childcare, watering the tomatoes.... A simple thank you you may go a long way but imagine how much better it could be with a locally grown British flower bouquet. So order yours today (with delivery available in the area) and make sure you say thank you in style 

View fullsize

Thank you...

The Friday Photograph - The Cornish One

“I’ll wait for you under the bluebells. I’ll be there always. ”

— Kim Harrison

Cornish Scillas: the cut flower growers Bluebell. With thicker and stronger stems than traditional bluebells, these beauties stand upright and behave themselves in vases and bouquets rather than flopping around everywhere. 

These vibrant blue blooms were grown at Clowance Wood Nurseries in Praze, Cornwall (Flowers by Clowance) And you too can enjoy these in your home as they are featured this week in Church Park Flowers at Johns of Appledore

The Friday Photograph - the Good Friday

“I hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes you have an opportunity to change that. ”

— Gillian Anderson

So today is Good Friday, the day we gorge on hot cross buns knowing there is only another 48 hours until lent is over and we can go back to chocolate, gin, crisps - and all those other things that make us happy! It represents new beginnings and awakenings.  

Without getting too religious on you I did do a quick Google to find out why it was called 'Good' Friday when it's actual biblical roots are rather sorrowful. One school of thought is that it was actually a typo! Previously called 'Gods Friday' (Godos Fruday) a couple of letters got switched and howzat - Good Friday it was! Following this same school of thought maybe in several thousand years Church Park Flowers will become 'Chalk Perch Furrows' or 'Sprawl Chock Fuhrer'! (Visit wordsmith.org for an hilarious anagram generator)

But today is a very Good Friday for me for one key exciting reason. Church Park Flowers are now available to buy at Johns of Instow and Appledore! Two amazing, award winning delis who face each other across the Torridge estuary are now stocking posies and bouquets of locally grown British flowers. This week's selections are true Easter and Springtime tidings of scented narcissi, tulips, ranunculus and sprigs of contorted willow and birch. And as the seasons change then so will the selection of flowers. 

I'm pursuing the opportunity of a new beginning. Get yourself to a Johns deli, buy some flowers and join me in a Good Friday, Great Saturday, Amazing Sunday, Fab Monday........

Apes Therapy! 

(or Happy Easter!)

What a woman really wants for Valentine's.

“Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.”

— John Lennon

Love it or hate it, Valentine's is nearly upon us. The Christmas cards have been cleared from the shelves and replaced by romantic, funny, rude, huge, in your face cards all declaring 'LOVE'. And it's big business now with the Brits spending around £1 billion pounds every year to show how much they care!

If you are strictly in the 'no way' camp, then the sight of these cards fills you with dread. But maybe that is because the idea of synthetic chocolates, synthetic undies and synthetic flowers turns you off the idea of 'love'. 

But what if there was another way? A declaration that is handmade, artisan, locally grown? Something that still symbolises 'love' but is natural, beautiful, seasonal? 

Men have been 'trained' to buy red roses ever since the 17th century when it first became de rigueur to present flowers to their loved one. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with the goddess of love, Aphrodite / Venus and so the association began, but did you know that the tulip is also a flower with the meaning of love?

The gift of a red or yellow tulip is seen as a declaration of love, the flower's black centre representing a heart burned by passion. And the simplistic, humble daffodil represents purity and new beginnings. Add some scented rosemary for remembrance and suddenly you have a bouquet that spells out a message of Remembering Pure Love. Clinton Cards couldn't write something that good that will also fill the house with scent and the promises of Spring. 

Still not wanting to embrace the Valentine vibe? Well these bouquets are not exclusive to just one day. What greater way to show you care than gifting flowers any day......spontaneously.

Church Park Flowers can create your unique love token with delivery throughout north Devon and north Cornwall including Valentines Day!