Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers....

   What a busy day... we were swamped all day. Phones ringing, men standing in line and men wondering around not knowing what they needed. What fun....I love the excitement that Valentines Day brings. Yes, it's extra work, long hours and you must be on your toes at all time. But the joy you see when a husband sends his wife flowers for the first time on Valentines since they got married. The man who came in and told us how he has never missed a holiday in 52 years and he writes her a special message on the card and how she has kept all the cards. It's a day for love and friendship.
   One young man I waited on today really likes this girl and he was taking her to dinner tomorrow evening for their first date and he wasn't sure of what flowers to give her. We decided to give her a single rose when he went to pick her up and then give her another rose on the way home. Each card was written with special note. Young love......
   We all left about 7 tonight. Our cooler was full and all orders were filled and ready for delivery. But come 7 in the morning we will start all over again.

Putting up the tent......

   Daddy came back to the house a little bit ago for a visit. He wanted to know how Valentine's Day was going at the Jubilee. He started remembering all the Valentine's at Mountain Memories. Daddy talked about all the times we put up the tent by the back door and how cold it would get. All the precautions we would take for the snow and ice that would usually come. We had some fun times at the shop during the holiday. We laughed about how you couldn't get out the back door with your next delivery unless you were checked off on Nathan's list. Linda lining up vases and running an assembly line, those were some fun memories lots of work and no sleep.

The special....

   Today was suppose to be my day off but due to the Valentine's Day rush I went in for a few hours. I had just finished with my funeral work and in came a customer. We greeted each other and we talked for a few minutes. As I began taking the order for his sweetie, he ask me if we had a, "tight ass special." I started to laugh and told him the "tight ass special" starts as $40 bucks.  He thought that was a good price and made me promisee that I wouldn't tell anyone just how tight he was.

 One of these day's I need to write a book about the happenings in a flower shop. I've heard it all and seen it all. But I'm like a doctor, I've taken an oath to not tell everything.....

Valentine's Day....

   The season is upon us. There were quite a few times today when both lines were would ring at the same time and we would have customers standing in line waiting to place their order. Jan and I made it through the day but tomorrow the pace will pick up even more.
   Today, we received our Gerber's, gyp (baby's breath) and carnations. Tomorrow we get the bulk of our flowers. Tuesday we received our roses. Heather orders our roses straight from the farm in Ecuador. No lay over in Miami to dry out for a few days. They are cut on Monday and we receive them on Tuesday. Can't get no fresher than that.
   Valentine's Day is our biggest holiday next to Mother's Day. You have to stay focused, laugh and have a good time. But the most important thing is to be organized. I did it for 14 years and I mastered the holiday. My little shop use to put out over 300 orders.
Jubilee is ready for the big day. Our list of things that needed to be done is all crossed off. Let the madness begin...... 

Sarah took this picture about 8am one morning as we were ready to load up and head to the high school.

Snow??

   Weather man said we could get about of inch of snow starting about daybreak. Snow, what's that? Do you remember all the snow we had last year? Seems we were shoveling snow almost every week.

Back in 1990 I took a drive around Vernon Twp. and ended up on Twin Bridges road. It was beautiful that morning. The snow had clung to everything. I remember rolling down my window and listening....all you heard was the gentle sound of the Muscatatuck . Peaceful, I set on the bridge for the longest time and took in the beauty. I drove around a little bit longer and realized it was almost 9am and I needed to get to the flower shop. What a beautiful morning.....

I took this with colored film, but everything was black and white that morning.....

Monday's Memories....Mr. Johnson

   Back in 2001 I took a floral class at Midway College in Midway, Ky. The class is sponsored by the Kentucky Floral Association. The course is a week long, eight to ten hours a day studying floral design, care and handling and anything that pertains to being a designer. There is a test at the end of each day and then at the end of the course there is a final exam and you must score high to receive your Master Florist degree. It's not easy, you have to study and be able to design. 
  Mr. Jim Johnson is the instructor. He is a Indiana farm boy and owned his own shop for 14 years before moving to Texas in 1975 to become head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University. Mr. J just retired this past August. He is one of those folks who comes into your life and leaves an imprint. He loves floral design and steps out of the box with each design.
   Mr. Johnson was one of the designers this past weekend at our floral convention and once again I was able to work side by side with him and learn new designs. I found a picture of him and I taken ten years ago and we took another one the other day. Mr. Johnson said neither one of us has aged at all....

Floral Convention....

                                                   Kentucky Floral Convention Rocked.......