Grape Hyacinth

A grape hyacinth from our garden

this is our very first Today's Flowers post

find out more here.

Can you help Sally Page of Flower Shop Stories?

Sally Page, author of The Flower Shop series of books is asking for assistance with her new book


"I would really appreciate a bit of help from flower loving bloggers, so please spread the word!
I am working on the final pages of my new book and need just a few more messages. The book, which is due out at the end of August, is packed with masses of flowery photographs and the messages that people send with flowers. From the wonderfully romantic, to the friendly and funny, and at times, very sad - it really shows that you can say it all with flowers!
If you have ever sent or received a great message I would love to hear about it.
The book will be hardback, 128 pages, priced £9.99
And I absolutely love it!
(not very modest I know)"

If you can help please leave a message on her blog Flower Shop Stories

Happy Easter (& a weekly roundup)

It's been a busy week getting ready for the Easter hols at Renaissance HQ
with little being uploaded to the website www.renaissanceshop.co.uk.

It didn't start well with the news of Elspeth Thompson's death, so sad.

But we've had a reminder of new life with our quail starting to lay again, very seasonal.

We went all Eastery over at Renaissance Childrens Notebook with Easter Gift Bags,

Flowering Bulbs for Easter and How to Make an Easter Chick.

And all wistful over at Renaissance Vintage Notebook with a sort of if we had a real bricks & mortar shop we'd stock:

Flowers in vintage containers & Crochet Blankets, Bags & Cushions.

And now of course it's April ,we had to mark April Fool's Day with a little joke or two,
and Easter is upon us.

We'll be spending it together, the whole family is home this weekend, bliss.

Wishing you all a very happy Easter.

Happy April Fool's Day

From our garden -

but not today, did we fool you, no of course not.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Seed Bombs

I expect we've all heard about the folk who go around "seed bombing"

there's laods of interesting information on the Guerrilla Gardening site

Seed Bombs a Guide to Various Forms and Functions

Amazing stuff like blowing eggs and filling them with seeds as well as the

"tradional" mud balls.

Elspeth Thompson 1961 -2010

With great sorrow this weekend we heard of the death of Elspeth Thompson ,a lovely lady who we had only been blogging about a week or so ago.
Our hearts go out to her family,friends and colleagues, especially her husband Frank and her young daughter Mary.

BLESSING
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze
behindthe grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.
John O’Donohue

Weekly Roundup

It's been a wet, wet week here at Renaissance HQ causing endless frustration with pruning and animals.

As for animals our little menagerie has increased by two Silkie bantams who are now settling in nicely with our tiny Seebright and Nankin bantams.

Of course the weather has given us plently of time to enjoy vintage film : The Innocents , look at books : The Flower Shop and wonder what to do with all those books we've read but know we'll never read again , maybe the answer is Green Metropolis. But I rather suspect they'll go to the charity shop as usual.

We've watched The Delicious Miss Dahl on TV and spent quite some time looking at the kitchen Sophie Dahl used. We even found a seller of vintage items whose wares would fit wonderfully into the kitchen: Jolie Trouvaille.

Talking of vintage we continue to add new items to the shop and there is now a rather nice selection of vintage prints there.

We've also continued to post over at Renaissance Childrens Notebook.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.