The days running up to Christmas Day itself were absolutely manic. We struggled to get enough Flower in to keep up with the demand and I was pulling in favours from wholesalers everywhere (months of cheeky banter and eyelash fluttering finally paid off) . On Monday morning there was barely space to stand with flower everywhere, hours later the stands and buckets were bare awaiting the next delivery.

When we shut the doors on Christmas Eve John and I sped off in the Flower van, hoping that there was still food on the shelves of Waitrose. I’m not sure what we bought, it was like Supermarket Sweep, I was running down aisles throwing things in without looking. The ‘mini jack fruit burritos‘ were interesting, I’m still not sure what a jack fruit is and I’m not sure I would choose them again, but that’s the fun of last minute shopping. You never know what you are going to get.

I love Christmas but once it’s over I’m as keen as mustard to get everything cleared away and freshened up ready for a new year.

In the past, we’ve been shut on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and have re-opened on the 27th, but because Christmas Day fell on a Wednesday this year I decided not to re-open until Monday, Dec 30th.

I obviously wanted to give the flower ladies a decent amount of time off as everyone mucked in and worked their pretty little fingers off before Christmas.

We also wouldn’t have any fresh flowers available until the 30th.

We pride ourselves on having the freshest flowers available and I know that the flower arriving early on Monday morning will have been freshly picked and shipped.

Staying closed last week was definitely the right decision. I feel like I’ve had a proper break with time to go mad, spend time with the family, stay up late and recover. Now I’m raring to go.

I can’t wait to open on Monday, put away the Christmas stock and design some lovely fresh, spring-like bouquets ready for a new year!!!

I’m SOOOOOO looking forward to 2020, I love the people I work with, the people I see and talk to every week and new people I meet all the time. I know running the flower shop can be stressful at times and occasionally I can be found wailing with a bucket on my head at the back of the shop, but I really LOVE being the village florist (most of the time).

I’ve also been working on a BOOK, yes a BOOK!!!

It will tell readers what it’s really like to be a village florist, warts and all, the highs and the lows, the laughs and the tears, the successes and the cock-ups. A bit like my blog but with all the ‘extra‘ bits that I edit out on a weekly basis.

Hopefully I’ll get it finished and published in 2020.