The Happy Dance......

I think I might have caught up with things that were put on hold for a few days.
Valentine's Day was a huge success at Jubilee Flowers. As a florist we always worry when the holiday falls on the weekend. Heather and I had quite a few planning sessions on Saturday sales. Needless to say her sales blew all records.
The best part for me was having Sarah working with us. We were short a couple girls due to illness.
Sarah grew up working in Mountain Memories and she can pretty much do it all. She helped me fill the cooler with cash and carry flowers. Kept the deliveries in order, wrapped those precious roses from the cold weather and did her share of balloon bouquets. She was having so much fun that at the end of the day I think she was a little sad to have to go back to her desk her job on Monday.

Sandra stopped in and kept us company for a while. Even though I was busy designing flowers as fast as the orders came it. My heart was doing the happy dance having my girls with me.

The Tent......

Visiting with Daddy today, he reminded me that this was the week that we use to put up, "The Tent."
 We had a good laugh at all the times we put it up and filled it with flowers.
We needed the extra room and a tent was the answer. Mountain Memories was a small shop but come Valentine's Day we would fill over 300 orders. We needed a place for overflow and a place for me to design.
Daddy worked hard every year to secure it incase we got high winds when the snow came.
This picture was taken in the early years. The tent belonged to Carl Fred. He used it in his yearly years at Kovener and Sons. Adams Funeral Home was kind enough to let us use it one year. Daddy made a hall way by the side door so drives could be covered in case of rain or high winds when they carried balloons. They could back their vehicles close, load and go. The flowers and my design area would stay warm when the door was opened. Daddy decided we needed a gutter to protect them from getting drenched.
Over the years Daddy mastered the tent and it was secure and warm. He would come up with new ideals each year to make it easier to set up and weather proof.
It was good walking down memory lane.

Ready and waiting.......

The buckets are lined up and ready to be filled. Flowers will arrive Monday from market. Roses will arrive on Tuesday from South America. Yes. South America. Our roses are cut and shipped the same day from the farm. Over 2,000 roses will fill these buckets. Other flowers are, lilys, iris, stock, carnations, daisy's, calla lilys, snapdragons, larkspur just to name a few.
The greens cooler is ready with dozen and half dozen vases ready for the roses. Last count we had 100 vases ready just for a dozen roses.
Today, Heather and I went over our list and everything that we could think of to make the day smooth was done.
If you're prepared and things are in order and all you bases are covered, Valentine's Day will be a success.

21 Valentine's.........

Count down begins tomorrow as soon as my alarm sounds. I've been getting things ready for the big day. Clip boards are ready for the drivers. Their packets are filled with pens, door tags, maps and candy kisses.
Vases are taped and decorated. Balloons are in order ready to be filled with helium. Boxes are stacked ready for those who choose to have their roses boxed.
After all these years it's still exciting. Hard work, yes. If you're organized and got all your ducks (hearts) in a row it's smooth as silk.
This will be my 21st Valentine's Day. Even after all these years there will still be a few bumps in the road. But it's nothing that can't be fixed.