Updates
I managed to eke out the flowers I collected last weekend to all my workshops this week regaling my students with jaw dropping tales from the Chancery Rosewood at the same time. In a week of relentless heat I was dreading my drive on Thursday afternoon to a venue next to the O2 Centre on the Greenwich Peninsula called Magazine. I don’t know the area at all and travelling there in peak rush hour traffic was not good for the blood pressure. After many wrong turns on soulless dual carriageways I arrived a sweaty mess to collect flowers and a few plants from PWC’s annual event. None of the 25 flower arrangements had lasted and so to compensate me I was loaded up with lot of house plants. The house plants were provided for the 2 day event by The Glass house which is a social enterprise creating opportunities for women with lived prison experience. The plants start life in the glasshouses at HM Prison East Sussex Park in Kent where the ex offenders grow and nurture them whilst studying for a level 2 RHS Qualification. Driving back with a groaning boot load of plants made for some interesting driving! Have a great week. Ursula
I was in central London incredibly early yesterday to pick up flowers from 2 venues. The first was my usual weekly donation from Index Ventures in Golden Square, Soho but when I arrived the roads around had been cordoned off in preparation for this year’s Pride events. Not to be defeated I abandoned the car in a loading Bay and ran to their offices. The second venue, the Chancery Rosewood in Mayfair is housed in the former American Embassy on Grosvenor Square. I was there to collect the flowers from the Attitude Awards dinner which had been the previous night. The flowers weren’t ready for me so a kind employee escorted me to them in the ballroom 3 floors above, I took the opportunity to grill him about this fabulous 5* hotel. It had cost £2 billion to refurbish and since their opening last September they’ve had lots of famous people stay. Currently there were American actor Ben Stiller and Katy Perry, though not together as Ben was in their £85k a night suite. I gasped and asked what on earth was in that suite oh, just a personal chef and a butler came the reply. The cheapest room seemed to be a bargain at £1300 a night. Never as I wheeled the donated flowers to my car had I felt more like a floral Robin Hood! Have a great week. Ursula
As a young child I experienced the drought in 1976 and in my mind it was glorious. This week’s weather was horrific - Age UK cancelled workshops, the heat inside my car registered 45 one afternoon and my air conditioning doesn’t work! Neither the flowers nor I could take the heat and on more than one occasion I sought refuge from the heat in my flower fridge! I’ve got a busy week coming up including a trip to the Chancery Rosewood the hotel in the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square so I’m praying for cooler weather. Have a great week. Ursula
This week was both British Flowers Week and the start of the World Cup - 2 inspirational themes for my flower workshops. On Tuesday the ladies celebrated British flowers week in a unique way by making flower crowns. Initially suspicious they all ended up with beautiful arrangements and Raksha (seen here in the picture) couldn’t take hers off and ended up wearing it back home on the bus. She said she wanted to bring joy to people and told me that whilst some avoided eye contact others smiled. Later that day I drove into central London to collect flowers from an event at PriceWaterhouseCooper’s offices down on the embankment. I’d been told that there’d be no problem collecting the arrangements after 6.00 pm but when I finally found the loading bay, no-one was expecting me! Eventually after an hour I was allowed in and escorted to the flowers! On Thursday after England’s successful opening match in the World Cup I switched themes so for my final 2 workshops at the Holocaust Survivor Centre and my early onset dementia group we toasted the team in floral arrangements. It was back into town yesterday to set up the wedding flowers for Erin & Sam at The Libertine next to the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street. I had to hire a van for this and had booked one weeks before. Imagine my horror when late on Friday night I received a call to say that there was no van for me as it had been involved in a crash but not to worry as they’d secured another larger van from a different branch. The van was much bigger and a monster to drive! The logistics around the delivery of flowers to stunning wedding venues can be horrific and yesterday’s was probably the worst. I’d been pre-warned that I would only be allowed to stay 40 minutes in the overly popular loading bay so I was prepared for a speedy set up. The truth was that there was zero space in the loading bay, there was an antiquated lift that only 1 person knew how to operate and 40 minutes was no time to set up in. I wasted 30 minutes driving round looking for somewhere to move the van to but to no avail and returned to where I’d initially parked the van to continue setting up. I think we just managed to get out of the venue before the bride arrived. Fortunately I didn’t receive a parking ticket as there were zero traffic wardens on duty yesterday. I’m setting off shortly for the return leg and dreading it. I’m indebted to my long suffering daughter Mathilda for her fantastic co-piloting skills. Have a great week. Ursula
I’ve been drowning in glorious peonies all week and they’ve been used in everything from funeral wreaths and bouquets to workshops. I had a bride visit on Thursday who’s getting married in Putney in September. She’s passionate about sustainability but she visited on such a dark and gloomy day I found it really hard to be as passionate as she was. It’s actually really difficult to be creative when someone says they’re in your hands as you’re the expert even more so when you’ve only just met! A large shot of caffeine later and we reached a consensus. I much prefer to create flowers for a funeral which leads me on to a moan about the logistics of dropping flowers to a funeral directors. They’re always in the hardest to reach places and I’m never sure if I’ve contravened the parking gods. Fingers crossed my Wednesday morning drop off in Enfield Town didn’t breach any by-laws. Have a great week. Ursula
Every Friday for the past 3 years I’ve run a flower arranging group for people with early onset dementia and we’ve become a family. This year I didn’t run a class in January and when I re-started in February everyone said how much they’d missed the routine of the class. I’ve often thought that it was weird how everything stops in August for the summer holidays so I’m continuing. It got me thinking though about the possibility of a summer play scheme for the elderly and I had this on my mind when I had a meeting with Thea from Barnet Council’s Adult & Social Services earlier this week. I pitched the idea to her but the question of venues arose and volunteers and lunches and to be honest it all became a little complicated - but I do think there’s legs to this. Let me know if you have any ideas on how I can progress this. Have a great week. Ursula
It’s been a crazy time for surplus flowers this week as the scorching hot weather has been relentless - thank goodness for my fridge, which also gave me refuge at times! You know that expression if something is too good to be true then it generally is? This expression is so appropriate for the card machine market. At least 3 times a week I’m contacted by a different card machine provider telling me about the great deals they have and how I can leave 1 contract with one provider and move to them quite seamlessly. What that card machine provider fails to tell you is that every time you switch you have to do a compliance check with the new provider’s bank which is £65. However, if you aren’t able personally to do it because it’s complicated stuff involving terabytes and broadband speeds then for £15 a month they’ll do it for you! This is quite scandalous as it used to be free and quite straightforward and all you had to do was complete a simple form and return it to your card machine provider and they’d do the rest. Surely 1 compliance check should cover you for all card machine compliance, I mean just how much variety can there be. Enraged I contacted the Federation of Small Businesses of which I’m a member and amazingly no-one had ever contacted them about this issue before so they’ve added it to their general work on trying to reduce card fees. I blame Radio 4 You & Yours, who I’m itching to call. Have a great week. Ursula.
First, please accept my apologies for my lack of blog last week but it’s actually been a crazy fortnight. Last week I was at the Marx Memorial Library decorating garlands with political slogans in memory of Walter Crane a famous socialist children’s illustrator. We arrived in Clerkenwell during its Design Week and drove through packed streets of people enjoying the various events taking place in churches and pubs. On Tuesday I drove to The Grove Hotel in Watford to collect my annual donation from Google’s away day (actually 2 days) and the flowers this year were the most spectacular alliums, the only drawback was the overwhelming smell of onions on my return drive. I have a request which is about my blog asI I’ve actually no idea how many of you receive it after 8 years and once I post it simply trust the Spacehive Gods to work their magic and deliver it. It’s come to light that some people have stopped receiving the weekly blog so I’d really be very grateful if you could email me at [email protected] with a simple Yes if you do receive it. Many thanks. Have a great week. Ursula
It’s been an emotional roller coaster this week. On Tuesday my youngest daughter, Ella officially left school. For as long as The Flower Bank has been open Ella has been there. She’s been a constant, good humoured support and her non complaining hands have accompanied me on some wild floral adventures I’m going to miss her. In the meantime, until September, when she’s off to study in Newcastle I’ve got lots of work to keep her occupied. By the weekend I’d rallied as I prepared birthday flowers for two 80th and 90th birthday parties. Time really does move on. Have a great week. Ursula
Meet Tanya (see photograph) she asked me a few weeks ago if I could create some sort of headgear for her to wear to the Jack in the Green festival in Hastings this weekend. I hadn’t heard of the Jack in the Green festival before but it’s a 4 day festival that celebrates summer’s arrival. “The hat has got to be secure enough for me to wear whilst walking in procession and strong enough to withstand some pretty vigorous Morris dancing” she told me. I made a few Heath Robinson’esque prototypes and settled on this version, an old straw wreath ring and upturned basket. Tanya loved it and I’m just praying it survived beyond day 1. My brush with leading figures from the Labour Party continues; you might remember that a few weeks ago I passed by the paparazzi outside Peter Mandleson’s Regent’s Park pad? Well, on Thursday morning I’d just finished a team building workshop at Noa girls in Golders Green and was driving off when I saw a baying mob of paparazzi outside Grodz bakery. I couldn’t believe my eyes, drove on and 3 minutes later Keir Starmer arrived. Elsewhere this week The Flower Bank featured in Best Magazine it’s a jolly piece and reminded me of just how much I’ve done over the years. Have a restful Bank Holiday weekend. Ursula
