Hello all,

My prolific and versatile agapanthus are in flower again. Above is my first arrangement using the blue agapanthus together with two garlic flowers in a stainless steel vase.

Well, Christmas and all that it entails is over. You, my readers, will know that I was not in the best mood for Christmas this year but it turned out to be very pleasant.  My son, Dennis and his wife, Jeannine hosted the family get-together of about 45 people. There was almost as much food left over as was consumed. My mother always said "If you don't have left overs your food was not enough". Even she would have been happy with the volume and variety of food. Of course, the scales the next morning were cruel in the extreme but I had only my gluttony to blame. New Year's resolution - Keep the weight under control!

Excited grandchildren anxiously waiting to open presents

The immediate family on Christmas eve at Lucy's

The extended family on Christmas day on Dennis and Jeannine's veranda

Before the gang arrived two little girls are enjoying the spraying unicorn and the
wading pool.

I've spoken of the extreme heat we're experiencing this summer and my plight to protect precious plants. I've, also, been cutting materials that, I would otherwise have left on the plants, because the heat would damage them. Below is one of three strelitzias nicolai that Sam cut for me. The other two were given to my sisters. I used kiwi vine sprayed gold and three silver baubles in a ceramic container with a split in it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see my clematis flowering so late in the season and was quick to make an arrangement. It's not so easy to use this vine because it grows downwards but needs the stem to be in water. The two stems I used in the arrangement, below were most accommodating, one of them was growing upwards.

This plant has an interesting method of climbing. Each leaf has a long stalk which curls around whatever it can find. This can be utilised when arranging them as a method of securing. I took a photo of the back of the arrangement  showing how I secured the vine by twisting the leaves together, thus holding everything where I wanted. This is an example of 'Using one kind of material'.

My alstroemerias psittacina are also flowering and are surprisingly resilient. I wanted to feature their lovely long stems but, individually, they are very weak. So, I massed about a dozen of them and retained much of their height for balance. The ceramic vase was a gift from Vicky and the unconventional material is coloured plastic.

Here's yet another arrangement using bent strelitzias reginae. I used New Zealand flax to follow the line of the container as well as the stems of the flowers.

The next arrangement is a simple one but that does not equate to easy. Getting the line to stay this way required some mechanics. I used two split vertical fixtures and nailed them to the kiwi vine at a distance of about 3 centremetres. This was necessary so that they would wedge in tightly when put in the vase. The mechanics are, then, concealed by the rose leaves. And the dear little vase was a Christmas gift from my cousins, Steve and Nieves. Over the years Nieves has bought me some of my most favourite containers. She is not an ikebanist but has a great eye for what I like. Bless her!

Close-up of mechanics

I leave you with another simple arrangement. The focus is on the container, which is made up of a stainless steel, upside down fruit bowl, onto which I placed a small round stainless steel vase. With such a busy container, I had to keep the arrangement simple. I used calla lilies and New Zealand Flax.

Bye for now and have a Great New Year!
Emily