Summer 101

Life is not back to normal, but the scale of busy-ness has certainly tended back toward normal. And it's hot now. A highlight of our week was getting the AC replaced. We are so thankful!

We began our week joining others at a peaceful rally to listen to members of our community and to pray as we walked through downtown and participated in a lie-in for 8 min and 46 sec. Our week has continued to be filled with questions, feelings of huge inadequacy, sorrow, frustration, anger, bewilderment. It's also been filled with good conversations and listening to podcasts and ordering books and more praying.

Flower therapy was so welcome on Monday. More time to listen and pray and think.

Some of the kids went to my mom's and helped her with outside garden chores. Sorry for them -- it was hot!

I attended my very last portrait oil painting class. I enjoyed the classes so much. They were hard work, but worth it all and I learned so much!

Michael and I met friends at Eagle Creek for a walk and a visit. The wild roses were in bloom along with so many other fun nature finds, including a water snake. Michael and I also watched our baby hawks take some of their first little "flight hops" between branches by their nest.

I finally finished a five painting commission "Scenes from Manhattan" and the paintings were turned into a card set! Yay! Soon to be available in my online shop.

 I also painted some fun sheep cards for a friend! I want to do more with sheep breeds.

My other fun job of the week was turning this pile of flowers into wedding flowers.

The wedding colors were mauve or dusty rose. Apparently it's a hard combination to find in nature. But my wholesaler did a great job finding the right things!

Definitely a romantic bouquet!

And lovely corsages which got silver ribbon:

A friend and I did some social distancing crafting together on a HOT afternoon.

Good thing there was cake and rhubarb elderflower sparkling waters afterward!

Saturday morning found me hauling my goods to the wedding!

The cake looked absolutely perfect!

And so did the bride, a dear family friend. I think our family has done flowers for 3 out of 4 of their weddings over the past 16 years.

After delivering the flowers I drove home to watch the wedding via livestream. Such are the times.

And now I'm doing housework, resting, and rearranging my room to better suit my next business idea!

February Flowers

February has, so far, been a month filled with flowers. 

My sister, Emily, just opened up a floral studio of her own!!! It's called "Blooms" and is located in Fountain Square close to their Wildwood Market. 

(Check out Blooms Facebook page.)

Emily's shop is filled with the most beautiful flowers!

 

 And of course she has other treats for sale too: jams, chocolates, candies, cards, candles, and other little gifts.

You can buy single stems or ready-made bouquets.



There is plenty to choose from!

Just look at these delicious roses!

And the pink of those carnations!

Candles made by Wheeler Mission:

It seems like you could enjoy an eternal spring working in a floral shop!

More bouquets just waiting to go home:

There are cards to choose from:

More lovely bouquets.....Those of you in the area must stop and check out the shop!

Earlier in the month I had the chance to do wedding flowers for a friend!

The color palette of ivory with greens was absolutely perfect.

 

There were small bouquets for the tables:

And one large arrangement for the front of the church:

A cake topper:

Lots of corsages and boutonnieres:

And then came the bouquets:

Set against navy dresses these flowers were so classic and elegant. I highly recommend this color choice!

 The rehearsal dinner room with flowers on the windowsill:

And the happy bride and groom who are off on their new life together serving in a church in Minnesota!

Last weekend a friend needed centerpieces for a function downtown. I decided to steal the wedding palette and do a repeat. (I do the same thing when I find a good meal to serve guests: I make it again and again!)

The plan worked. It's always easier to do something when the decisions have been made and the design worked out earlier.



I think that's it for flowers in my life for the moment. It's almost time to start watching the garden for the first signs of spring. I finally bought and planted snowdrops last year and I'm so afraid they haven't come up that I've stopped looking for them. I better remedy that and go have a look around the garden tomorrow.

Asia: Singapore Wedding

It was such a treat to be invited to a wedding while we were in Singapore! I couldn't wait to experience a wedding in Asia and see how it differed from celebrations here, or how it was the same.



The wedding was held in a very large church, similar to what we would have here in America. A photo montage was played which included engagement photos and "wedding" photos taken before the wedding day.

The wedding ceremony was almost identical to the ones we attend here in the States -- music, prayers, "sermonette," Bible readings, etc. Two main differences were the signing of the marriage license as part of the ceremony and the couple's speech of thanksgiving afterward, expressing gratefulness to their parents and other members of the wedding party.

Here's a glimpse of the bridesmaids and their lovely dresses and flowers:

Wedding photos are definitely just as important, if not more so, in Asia as they are here!

 After the wedding there was a lunch reception held outside the church. We were treated to all kinds of delicious foods: sushi, appetizers, soup, entrées, and desserts.

The most popular dessert was the "burger cream" -- white bread wrapped around a block of vanilla ice-cream. This was a totally new idea for us.

Many of the families who had been at the conference with us all week were also at the wedding -- another chance to interact and deepen relationships.

Here we are with the bride and groom. They've known each other since high school and have waited a long time for this special day! They are both doctors now and looking forward to their life together.

One of the sweet little girls from the church.

The wedding car is even decorated just like we decorate ours:

After lunch it was time for all but the immediate family to say goodbye until the evening. The immediate family went off for a formal tea ceremony while we headed home for a rest and a quick stop at the mall for some groceries. While at the mall I spotted this poster:

 Apparently "burger creams" really are all the rage.

After our rest we headed out again to the evening wedding dinner. It was to be a traditional 9 course Chinese dinner. Yes, this was definitely different than our regular American wedding experiences.

Here is our table all set for the meal -- notice the lazy susan in the middle of the table, making it easy for everyone to share.

Here is the menu letting us know what would be coming our way:

Meanwhile we had a lovely time at our table with the senior pastor (also the bride's uncle), his wife, several other relatives of the bride from church, and a few other international visitors who had been with us at the conference.

The evening was directed by two emcees, just like we would have here in the State. The bride and groom cut cake at one point, and poured champagne into a tower of glasses at another. We were also treated to a dry ice show as the bride and groom made their entrance to the dinner. Best of all, there was a bubble machine that sent bubbles flying all around as the couple poured the champagne.

 And now for the food -- which was delivered to each table on one platter to be shared by all. It was amazing to be able to try all these traditional foods!

1. Sucking Pig and Lobster Cold Dish Combination
This included cuttle fish, pork, fish cakes, lobster salad, jellyfish, and a seafood pasta salad.

2. Shark fin soup -- it tasted a bit like New England Clam Chowder to me.

3. Roasted Crispy Chicken -- head included.

4. Fried scallop with asparagus -- I do love scallops!!!

5. Steamed Red Garoupa -- this fish was delicious! Must have been very fresh.

6. Fried Live Prawn with Cereal

7. Braised Whole Abalone with Spinach -- abalone is a type of snail.

8. Fried Rice in Lotus Leaf.

9. Mango with Pomelo -- oh this was so delicious! A chilled mango soup with little balls of tapioca-like substance and threads of pomelo (citrus).

The bride and groom visited each table and had a photo taken. As you may notice, half way through the evening the bride changed into a different fancy gown -- midnight blue with silver. 

The evening ended with a receiving line as we all exited the ballroom.

By that time we were all ready for bed! What a beautiful and wonderful experience it was and such a lovely bride and groom. We felt very honored to be included in their special day. May God bless their marriage!