A bouquet of lavender leaves and rosemary flowers.
These precious hands {Hannah} held a sweet and simple herb bouquet for Mother’s Day. Clay pots that were once filled with dried herbs and lavender have new purposes as containers for fresh herbs. To see and photograph my children holding and preparing these bouquets were as much of a gift as it is to receive them.
I can’t say that the rest of my house is as neat and tidy as this picture of my display shelves, but little by little progress has been made. When it comes to tackling a project or the chore list, I tend to start on something small to motivate me to keep going. In the midst of cleaning and organizing, the forgotten last remnant of Christmas decorations was finally taken down this week. Yes, I did say Christmas.
This is the last weekend in the month of August and it feels like the change in season is approaching just a little faster now. The official start of fall is not for a few more weeks, but for now I want to enjoy these bright and colorful zinnias I have growing in my garden for a while longer. They are a favorite flowering plant by gardeners for many reasons; they are easy to grow, yield multiple blooms, and they attract butterflies and bees to the garden.
With a few weeks of Spring left and before the start of Summer, I always look forward to seeing peonies blooming in my garden. Their long sturdy stems are great for cutting and easy to arrange in vases for displaying. Peonies are beautiful flowers, you can’t go wrong no matter how they are displayed.
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Simple, sweet and no fuss flower arrangement.
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Mix and match a collection of glass vases and bottles . . .
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. . . filled with peony buds and small bunches of flowers for an instant grouping of flowers. By adding a tray for the vases will create cohesiveness.
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In about two days these peony buds will be in full bloom.
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A beautiful contrast of Rustic old bucket against white peonies gave the flower arrangement a little “shabby chic” look.
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This is one of my favorite little spots near our back door where we enter and leave the house. So nice to be greeted with flowers every time I entered the house.
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One large pink peony was all that was needed to fill this white bowl.
For Mother’s Day … I shouldn’t … but I do… like to help Bill with ideas. The simplest things to give are sometimes not obvious for him to think of. When Bill has a great plan, the kids think he’s pretty cool. That’s why I like to ….. but I shouldn’t.
Flowers and chocolates are the classic combination to give for any occasion. Putting a simple twist on the idea can make it more special and personal. Find a few pretty containers and fill them with Mom’s favorite flowers. Arrange the flowers by grouping the same ones together. Then top it off with her favorite chocolate truffles.
I look forward to these gifts again and again.
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A great thing about simple flower arrangements is that they are easy for the kids to help out with and put together. Each one could be moved to another part of the house, wherever Mom wants to enjoy it. .
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Simply beautiful ranunculus, I could be quite content with just that.
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Fran’s Chocolates have been a favorite of mine for 20+ years. I remember going to the tiniest chocolate shop {about the size of a walk-in closet…maybe just a tad bigger} to buy some of the best chocolate truffles. Often times Fran Bigelow would be in the back room making it. Fran’s Chocolates have outgrown that space and expanded to three retail locations throughout the Seattle area. Today, Fran Bigelow is very well known and is considered one of the best chocolatiers in the country. .
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Fran’s Chocolates are made with the highest quality ingredients, hand made in small batches from start to finish. The chocolate truffles are rich and creamy with a crispy thin outer shell. Their salted caramels are dipped twice in a special blend of chocolate made by Valrhona and carefully sprinkled with gray or smoked salt.
The attention to detail is utmost from the start of the first ingredient to the beautiful hand-tied satin ribbon bow on the package.
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Having fun with this picture of Bill at Fran’s Chocolates in Bellevue.
Fran’s Chocolates, truffles, smoked salt caramels and other confectionery are available at many specialty retail stores throughout the United States. To find the best selection go online at Fran’s Chocolates or visit one of Fran’s Chocolates boutiques.
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Fresh flowers with chocolate truffles is a wonderful combination to give for Mother’s Day.