lake district escapades

this weekend i stayed in the most beautiful house i think i've ever visited. this place was something else.

there was a view of lake windermere which was just breathtaking, fine mojitos, a cinema room, a chef! it was a glimpse into the life i clearly am not living.

if there is any justice in the world though one day i'll somehow get back for one last hurrah...

best bouquet award: vivienne westwood man spring summer 2012

this bouquet just made my afternoon. 

*if you require more proof or you're a geek like me you may wish to peruse the video of the show (skip to 10:16 if you're in a hurry).
** image via style.com

learning to blog

my self-imposed exile didn't last long. push on through is the new policy.

apparently it is june but it hasn't stopped raining here for about two months and i am back in a wooly jumper. in your face, summer!

these are from last weekend. 

i am currently favouring brass jardinieres. 

tempus fugit (and internet fatigue)

i've got a ton of photos from recent weddings which i should probably be putting up here instead, but aren't these brilliant. i've always had a bit of a thing for illustration and i love the expression on the second guy, a proper old man squinty face.

i've actually been fairly exhausted of late with the world wide web, the bottomless quest for fresh content, the endless chatter on twitter and the ever increasing spam on facebook. i honestly don't know how the pro bloggers do it. not sure i would be brave enough to unplug and go offline completely but i think i definitely need to step away for a while and go for a run or something instead.

* all images from tempus fugit by the talented lula goce

glass in a glasshouse

crazy glass sculpture in garfield park conservatory, chicago
* all images by dale chihuly from "chihuly in the park: a garden of glass" november 2001-november 2002EMBER 4, 2002

flower symbolism

when i first started up lotte and bloom i borrowed this book off my friend {catherine, i'm so sorry i realised i still have it. will return soon, promise}.

i am fascinated by the symbols that have been attached to flowers throughout folklore. it still seems so funny to me that certain varieties are attributed a certain meaning. i've always felt the same about dream interpretation - how and when exactly did dreaming about your teeth falling out for example mean that you are soon to come into money? how do people know this stuff?

some of the names in this book are wonderful: oxlip, wood sorrel and pimpernel, but my absolute favourite is the tuberose which is rather saucily listed as 'dangerous pleasures'...

into the bright we go

ribbon shopping

i mean, who doesn't love a bit of that, right?

casa horticola

this month's world of interiors features a fascinating profile of a wonderful old shop in porto, portugal which has been selling seeds and bulbs in a beautiful premises since 1921. 

the owner looks to be a bit of a dude and apparently wears a double-breasted suit to work every day with a floral tie.  i adore that impeccable daily dressing thing that some old men do. he and his assistant slowly and carefully weigh out the seeds and bulbs in big handled measuring jugs, package them up in paper bags and hand-write the name of their contents on the front like a herbalist or pharmacist would. 

my favourite quote from the article is in the last paragraph of the article and sums up the brilliance, and necessity, of small specialist shops such as this, "in this little round room that is la casa horticola there is a kind of febrile happiness, a euphoria, a little of what you see in certain patisseries, where people are secretly united by the same obsession". got to love that. 

an almost perfect sunday

a.k.a. beach, park, ice cream, seaside cafe and kite-flying...

a small garden wedding

featuring: two types of ribbon, a wedding dress from a vintage dress shop and a very creative bride who sent me a link to her pinterest board.* 

as often happens in this line of work, time was in short supply so i couldn't get any pictures of the rest of the bouquets and buttonholes. i can tell you that they were packed up in white tissue and a wooden wine crate for delivery. i don't have any photographs of this either but feel free to use your imagination.

*n.b brides it is truly brilliant when you do this.