Dry in the ‘not completely flooded‘ sense, not Dry in the ‘complete lack of alcohol‘ sense as I plan to hit the Sherry from midday on Christmas Eve.

If you turn up at 12.15pm on Tuesday to pick up your Christmas table decorations you are likely to find me slumped in a heap under the work bench with a bottle of Sherry in one hand and a vase in the other.

We’ve been wreath making for weeks now, but this week we’ve been busy on the table decorations and garlands. For some people Christmas started in early December and I agree that if you are going to ‘do‘ Christmas properly then why not start early. Historically Christmas Day was the first day of Christmas and celebrations ran through to the twelfth day (sometime in January). Now, we normally have a couple of days where the shop is closed and our team of super florists can collapse in a heap of exhaustion or in an alcoholic stupor, before we are back at it, preparing for the New Year celebrations.

While most people are already ‘on holiday‘ we’ve been open all day today in anticipation of an extremely busy day tomorrow and a manic morning on Tuesday, Christmas eve.

My loyal team of florists have been AMAZING. They all have families whom they would rather be spending time with, but instead they are here with me, in the shop. I’m also extremely grateful to all my lovely customers who have been dropping in with chocolates, cake and alcohol. Without them providing sustenance some of the team would have keeled over and I would have lost 2-3 stone in weight. Week-day dinners this week have largely comprised of mince pies and chocolates.

The normal madness leading up to Christmas was exacerbated by the fact that we had two Christmas weddings in addition to over 140 deliveries this week alone!!!!

We’ve had to double up on delivery drivers, having a spare flower elf ride shot-gun in order to look up addresses and spot house names and numbers while the driver tries not to upset the stressed public by driving at 5mph and stopping every 20 yards. Apologies to anyone who has been behind the van this week.

As if we weren’t busy and stressed enough the flooding in the area has been sent to test us. Looking out across the South downs you would think Pulborough was by the sea. The river Arun has burst it’s banks and the A29 has been closed going South so local deliveries have been taking a little longer than usual. However some of our fellow local businesses are suffering more that we are and we really feel for those who have been flooded, have had to close, or who have lost business because of the diversions.

On a cheery note, we have kept our spirits high in the shop with real team-spirit and the odd glass of fizz. Yesterday with 5 florists and 3 drivers in, we had a fun ‘secret-santa’ where no one was allowed to spend more than £5 and had to buy a gift from a charity shop. The presents were amazing and given that I haven’t had time yet to do any Christmas shopping, I think this is where I will be doing all my gift buying.