27th December 2021

 

Hello all,

The arrangement, above, was made for the nail salon that I attend, called 'Polished' at Westfield Doncaster. I've been going there for more than a decade because I'm very happy with the work my nail technician, Sue, does for me. The arrangement sits on a narrow shelf in front of a mirror, so I made it quite flat and paid attention to the back view as it would be reflected in the mirror.

It would be understandable if you thought I'd exhausted my christmas arrangement ideas but, no, here are a couple more. The first is of the table arrangement for our dinner here on Christmas eve, when only the immediate 15 members of the family attended. For the very first time ever, due to my less than satisfactory health, we ordered pizzas for dinner. Fortunately, everyone loves pizza.

The second is a wall arrangement in which I used what was left of the Cashmere Cypress. I couldn't possibly let it go to waste.

When I was pruning the strelitzia reginae last week I came across some interesting flower stems. I found the flower in this next arrangement already broken and hanging this way. I took great care in handling it for fear of it breaking away completely. Today, a whole week later, it is still holding on. The branch material is of a blue-green conifer, the name of which I was not able to find. The container is made of resin and, I suspect, is designed as a candle holder.

 

It was the bends in the stems of the strelitzias in the next arrangement that prompted me to cut and use them in my self made, ceramic container.

The piece, below, was an experiment. I wanted to give the illusion of the branch going through the very large, fishbowl container. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, so I'll continue trying till I get it right.

Christmas day was spent at the home of my sister, Vicky and her husband, Peter. Their lovely, big home lends itself very well to large scale entertaining and Vicky and Peter are the consummate hosts. There were just under 40 of us but we felt very comfortable, with some of us indoors and some out. The house was lavishly decorated by Vicky and, for a short while, in the company of loved ones, we forgot about covid and the doom and gloom we've been dealing with for SO LONG!

Vicky's dining room decorations

Vicky, our hostess and pavlova queen! Seriously, she has absolutely perfected the pavlova.

And here we all are.

Bye for now,

Emily