01.10.22 Happiness Blooms

Fresh flowers AND tomatoes in January

I don't like winter, never have...

it's cold,
it's dreary,

and January is the month that my Mom died, 20 years ago.

I usually pretty grumpy about now.

But after the warmest December on record...my favorite local grower has flowers, and there are tomatoes at the farmer's market...so here's hoping we don't have another winter like last year.

Anyhow, since I promised in my Thanksgiving post to write about flowers (and it's my goal to return to posting something once a month even though I'm not back in the jewelry studio)...here you go!

The very first Petals Ink bouquet - June 2018

I discovered my favorite local grower - Petals, Ink  - at the Mueller Farmers Market several years ago. My first purchase from them was a small bouquet in a hobnail milk glass vase.  My daughter was moving into her first aparment in California, and wanted a vase to take with her...she really liked this one. 

At the time (in 2018 - the before times), trips to the farmers market were a fun outing, but not part of my regular routine. 

I wasn't doing a lot of cooking - we were too busy enjoying our empty nest - I was at the jewelry studio my husband was riding his bike almost everyday.

In March 2020, all that changed.

With grocery shortages, and curbside options few and far between, the Sunday farmers market became my primary source for meat and fresh produce - and it has definitely been a silver lining in the dark clouds of the past two years.

The bluebonnet bouquet - March, 2020

It wasn't too far into that first pandemic spring that I saw the Petals, Ink booth had returned to the market, and in addition to lots of fresh food, I started picking up flowers every week.  I also started following them on Instagram. In March, just as things were warming up, they posted photos of spring bouquets with bluebonnets, available for delivery...so I ordered one.

It might sound silly, but I realized having flowers in the kitchen (where I was spending way more time since we were eating three meals a day at home) made me happy - really happy - every time I looked at them.  

When they started offering a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription for flowers...I signed up right away.

Bonus heirloom mums - Nov 2021

Starting in the spring of 2020, I picked up my flowers from their booth every Sunday until the season ended...and in 2021, I signed up again.  Initially, I was going to continue picking them up at the market - but circumstances changed, and they switched to contactless home delivery.

For 32 weeks - from March to November - I would get a text message mid-day on Saturday with a photo of my delivery in front of my house.  It was a highlight of my week, and without question one of the most important acts of self-care I took in 2021.

Then, to my great suprise - while I was in St. Thomas with my high school girlfriends - I got a message from my husband, that the "flower ladies" as he calls them, had left a bonus bouquet (and the sweetest note) at our door.  He put them in a vase, and they were waiting for me when I arrived home from my wonderful trip.  

Around the same time, I had also received a wonderful gift of flowers from a friend - but they weren't fresh - they were Legos!  I resisted the urge to open the box immediately, and instead waited until our daughter came home for a couple of weeks at the end of the year. She and I built them together, and put them in another hobnail vase that came from Petals, Ink.

The Lego bouquet

I'll keep the Lego blooms on my table until March, when my subscription deliveries begin again...except for this week...because I have the anemones.

The past two year have been rough, but they haven't been all bad, and they certainly have taught me some life lessons...not the least of which is do things that bring you joy.  

No matter what life looks like going forward - I know that I will continue to spend time in my kitchen; cooking with fresh ingredients from the farmers market, and keeping flowers on my table.  I only hope that I'll be sharing that space with family and friends again, sooner rather than later.

Until next time.