I used to LOVE Christmas!

It used to be the highlight of my year. I’d start decorating my house in October and by December visitors would find themselves transported into a Dickensian version of Liberty’s department store, with me starring as the beautiful, hostess with the mostess, surrounded by red berries, green ivy, hundreds of gold and silver baubles and scented candles.

Nothing much has changed, except I no longer feel that tingle of excitement and fresh anticipation when the season suddenly turns from summer into autumn, when I feel the first nip in the air and the leaves start falling from the trees.

Instead, I start thinking about late nights, early mornings, staffing rosters, hundreds of orders to keep track of, deliveries, Christmas events, wreaths, table decorations and stock levels.

Now, I just walk around, pretending it’s not happening. If anyone mentions Christmas, I start twitching, mumbling “It’s not happening, it’s not happening, no it’s definitely not happening.” As soon as someone mentions the ‘C’ word, I freeze with a sense of fear and trepidation

The time, however  has come where I need to face up to the fact that Christmas is just around the corner and there’s no good ignoring it and sticking my head in bucket or a glass of gin, like I do when I don’t want to think about something.

Christmas this year falls on a Tuesday, which for a small business, especially one that is seasonal and deals in fresh produce, is a complete NIGHTMARE!

I can’t simply close the doors the Friday before and ignore the outside world until the new year.  People want fresh flowers on their Christmas tables, they don’t want to welcome people into their houses filled with droopy Helleborus or wilting roses.

Our flowers come in fresh almost daily in the week running up to Christmas, but flower is in huge demand, the price of the best blooms rockets and this makes pricing pre-orders immensely difficult. The choice of flower is often restricted too, you can never guarantee exactly what’s going to come in, making the days or weeks on the run up to the big day extremely stressful. All of which is manageable when customers realise this and trust that I will (and do) always go that extra mile to ensure they get the best of what’s available, but throw in a diva or two and I’ll be cracking open the special sherry earlier than planned.

I say the ‘BIG DAY’ but to be honest Christmas to most people is never one day (unless you’re a florist) it’s TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!! It runs from early November into the New Year. I’ve already had dozens of Christmas orders in and the garage is packed full of interesting seasonal giftware for the house and garden waiting to come out.

If you’re after a golden cherub, a sparkly Dog Angel or a Christmas frog, then you know where to come. However, I’m not getting these delights out until NOVEMBER so you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.