A little bit of blue

We are feeling a little bit blue on this long weekend.  Sensing the end of summer.

It's a Do Nothing Kind of Morning

Putting the last little finishing touches on some display work at the store today.  Probably should have gone in early, but stayed home and messed around in Picasa with some ideas for a Holiday card.  Sometimes I just have to do that.  Just play around make something with  no deadline, no goal, no customer, no critic, no clock. So that was fun.  And now, hi, ho, hi , ho, it's off to work I go.

Feeling good about today.

 

The Times they are a Changing....

 

 

Okay, it's been un peu of a wild ride chez Passionflower lately.....as you know  my longtime beloved manager, Miss Becky Tonkin took her show on the road and moved to Astoria where she has been posting really awesome pics like this one above which let us know that she is alive and well and as awesome as always.  I miss her something fierce....And in the meantime, I hired another manager and she worked here for a total of four days  (ouch) and there it was the end of October going into the holiday season and potential for shipwreck was looming.  But lo and behold, the winds calmed, the storm broke, and those lucky stars that follow me around shone their little light on the good ship Passionflower and now all is well with the world  (that's kind of the short fairytale version but accurate)....

So may I introduce you to my new management team:  two amazing young women (both of whom, curiously enough are going through their Saturn returns)  Lila (on the left) and Jamie (on the right) have both been working here a while and stepped up to the plate and said, "Heck yeah, we can run this store for you"....And I think they can.  I know they can.   As in we had a fabulous month in November and my new team rocked it.   So I couldn't be happier, ecstatic really

(like kissing the ground and thanking my lucky stars kind of ecstatic), that we're going into the holiday season with a seasoned crew and a stable team.  And I'm really looking forward to where we're going to take the store moving into the New Year!  Wow, this sounds, uncharacteristically, like me welcoming change.  Who'd a thunk it?  And another thing I think about is that I have a really young crew working here.  There's all told eight of us who work at Passionflower and five of us are under thirty.  That's a pretty young crew.  And I'm excited about that too!  So that's my little update for you in the middle of this holiday madness.  Just file it away in your " sometimes things really do work out the way they're supposed to" file.  :) 

 

top photo courtesy Miss Becky Tonkin facebook feed

My Shadow Self

 

It's been cold around here.  Really cold.  Like I'm hoping my jasmine which is supposed to be hardy to around 20 degrees is going to make it kind of cold.  Despite the temps,  there's still a few things to be foraged from the yard for Thanksgiving flower orders : some cotoneaster with their bright orange berries, huckleberry, boxwood, and  twigs of spirea.

(not to mention the purple callicarpa berries and larch cones that Chris brought in ).

And lo and behold, on my way to work yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving, the sun was out and I 

saw my shadow on the wall and snapped this pic which says just about everything I would ever want to say about how very, very grateful I am to live with all of you on this beautiful planet that we call home.

And another thing it says to me, is that , whenever things get tough, (and it has been a little rough  lately) I can always draw sustenance and nurture from my connection with nature. As long as I have that I just know everything is going to be allright.

A most excellent Thanksgiving Day to you and yours.

 

Birthday Flowers

Summer vacay (you know the little vacation I have going on in my head that is that summertime state of mind) is coming to an end and I'm going to start hunkering down for the winter. Got to get a little disciplined. The new merchandise is coming in at breakneck speed. And we're doing our fall reset. And that's fun .Lots of candles and tea, and gloves, and cozy clothes. Then there's massive amounts of food (and fruit flies) at home that want's to be dried or canned or frozen. And that's kind of fun too (except for the fruit flies). And I want to get back to blogging. Plus I'm in a strong nesting mood. Un peu overwhelmed.

But the days have been warmer and on one of the last of summers evenings, we all headed over to Alison's House for a summer birthday party for yours truly, celebrating my 55th. It's a speed limit kind of thing my friend tells me - the 55th year. And though it was weeks ago, between travels and wedding work and general busyness, in a better late than never fashion, and devil may care, we shall celebrate when we can and how we please, we sat under an outside garden room which had an arbor dripping with grapes ( no joke, you looked up and there were green grapes hanging everywhere) and the walls were various kind of dahlias - in such a room we dined on tamales and fresh corn and greens and later we (I think there were eight of us) ate peach pie by candlelight. And it all felt faintly Dionysian. And I got world's loveliest bouquet in world's loveliest container for a present. Which all made me feel deeply contented and happy. And then Becky snapped a photo of me with a purple dahlia floating above my head.  Happy end of summer to us all.

Dreaming Away on a Cloudy Day

I can be a bit of a dreamer....I've been known to spend weekends driving up the McKenzie to look at houses falling in the river and spent many a Sunday morning driving out to an old schoolhouse (complete with original chalkboards) on River Rd wondering how these might be best restored.  Sometimes I think instead of being a florist, I ought to have gone into historic preservation. And maybe I still will. :) To my mind, there's just something inherently  wonderful about preserving an old building with lots of stories to tell.  And here's my latest fantasy/ developer's  dream. It's a little old church down the street from where I live.  It's just about the most iconic looking farm country church ever, isn't it?  The congregation is willing to give the church away to the right group.  Seems like it could make a wonderful restaurant/gallery/community space/art center/ farmer's market  or about a zillion other wonderful things.  Thought I'd post it on the blog, because it might be your dream too.
I've blogged about this church before. 
Photo courtesy AJ Fisher

What I did on a Saturday in May

 

A perfectly lovely Saturday working the store yesterday.  It all started with Alison bringing me a bag of salad greens from her yard.  I love days that start out with little presents.

 Then we sent out some drop dead gorgeous flowers for graduation at U of O Law School.  My floral crew really outdid themselves and these pics don't do them justice.  They had bearded iris and moonstone peonies in them -  both flowers which have petals that are so paper thin, they're almost etheric. And both of which are only in season for a few short weeks right about now.

Then lots of people in the store when it first opened and  I sold a $400 suzani to someone who really got how fabulous it was.  That always makes me happy.  After that I spent entirely too much time fawning over my new English elderflower drinks from Belvoir farms - reading about them, trying to decide where to display them and how much to charge, taking photos etc......decided to wait until staff meeting to have a little tasting so I'll let you know about that later.

Try on clothes with artist friend, talk to really sweet Mormon couple about their wedding flowers, help a woman find a box to keep her colored pencils in when she travels, listen to cool customer tell me about visiting a bonsai grower in the Florida panhandle, check out the new Cooking with Flowers book that Lila is unpacking,  meet the mom of one of my favorite customers who tells me a super sweet story about her grandsons playing basketball - all the while fluffing and primping the store.  It's days like these I love being a retailer.

Making the World a More Beautiful Place

  In honor of the Dalai Lama's visit to Eugene today - it's kind of a big deal here in our small town and I think we all feel a little blessed - everyone is a little smitten.   Beautiful collage piece (and a typographer's delight)  by our pal Kim Smith from San Francisco.

The Saga of the Frozen Flowers

"Our cooler is freezing."  These are words that strike fear into the hearts of even the most seasoned florist.

We've all had those fears.....You have a big wedding in your cooler and come in to find the thermostat went on the fritz overnight and it's all frozen.  What would you do?  Well I've asked myself this question many times.  And thankfully, I've never had to put the backup plan into action.  And I pray I never have to.   I had a rose supplier once who had his coolers backed up to an alarm system so if things got too cold, he was automatically called.  And the big boys all have backup generators and all kinds of bells and whistles to avoid this problem.  Little tiny folks like me we rely on ingenuity, diligence, keen observation, and dumb luck.  But, honestly, it never occurred to me that I might hear those words circling around Valentine's Day. Banish the thought.  Just inconceivable to think what might happen to have a cooler packed with morning deliveries all ready to go sitting in vases of frozen water.  And thankfully, yet again, my lucky stars were shining.  Because it wasn't until the day after Valentine's Day that Becky's surprised voice rang up in my office.  "Jewel, our cooler is freezing..."  And it couldn't have happened at a better time.  There was hardly a flower to be found in that cooler.  And the tulips and jasmine managed to even survive the tiny freeze.  It's only the second time in almost twenty years that our cooler has frozen up and it happened the day after my biggest floral day of the year.  I might say I dodged a bullet, but I feel more like I just surfed a big wave.  Feeling pretty darn grateful.

The Amazing Becky Tonkin

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 I want to say a few words to Passionflower's amazing store manger, Miss Becky Tonkin.  

 First off , you are a great sport and let me post all sorts of quasi flattering  photos of you for Pflower promotional purposes.  And I super appreciate that. :)

 I also think you could have a second career as a make up artist (I really do,that is if you lived in LA I guess)...just one more of your many talents.

But what I really wanted to say is that I thought you looked spectacularly beautiful at our Holiday Party this year - and you kind of rocked my world with all those jewel tones - the red of the rose, the deep plum of your lipstick and the emerald green of the ayala barr necklace were all just reverberating!!  Thanks for being the most beautiful manager a girl could ask for. 

Considering All that has been and all that will be

Greetings on a perfectly and very rainy Tuesday morning.  It is the beginning of my work week and I am feeling happy and pensive at the same time.  And this Julia Margaret Cameron photo of a woman and a Passionflower seemed just right.

Pantone and the World of Standardization

About every 6 months or so, I announce to Becky my new favorite color.  For a long time it was green, green, green and really it still is green but, since I must strive to amuse Becky, I decide to mix it up every now and then.  And truthfully I'm not really refering to my 'favorite' color, I mean the one that has somehow caught my attention.  And so it was that I picked up a grey magic marker at a collage class with Jill Cardinal about two weeks ago and it's been all gray, all the time.  I just can't get enough of it.

It is the color of shadow.  And, of course, the color of our soon to be skies here in the Northwest. 

The color in my baby pictures, and of the silverware I eat with. "Yes Becky, gray is my new favorite color".

To which she replies, "You mean light black?". And  I am deeply amused.

Image courtesy Pantone.  As a complete aside, I have been fascinated to watch the rise of the concept and the brand of Pantone.  Before 1963 there was no Pantone color system.  (What did those brides who needed their flowers matched to the color of the bridesmaid's shoes do?) The color of the year has only been around since 1999.  And now you can even buy these.    And click here should you like to read a little about the history of Pantone. And when you are done, you can ponder how it is that the colors of the world can be reduced to a mere 2,058 solid colors. 

Our Inner Lives

Have you checked out Becky's tumblr Archaic Youngster yet?  Because it is awesome. 

Click here.  And besides an awesome tumblr, Becky has one of the most fabulously, crazy, bohemian homes I've ever been to.  And we're all going over for a party pretty soon.  So stay tuned for photos.  And I can't believe I haven't blogged about her house before.  Wait and see.

Passionflower painting by Piet Mondrian 1908 - image via archaic youngster

Ode to my Delivery Driver

              

Our delivery driver the Reverend Chuck Buster, died from complications from cancer on Monday August 13th. Chuck was an elder in the Nazarene Church, married for 54 years to his high school sweetheart, he didn't read the Register Guard because it was too radical and never went to a movie rated anything other than G. He was, as they say, a straight arrow - someone completely trustworthy, which is exactly what I want in a delivery driver. Not to mention he was also a whiz with a map (and this was in the days before mapquest) and almost always willing to take that late or last minute delivery. Chuck had slowed a bit in recent years and was only doing deliveries on Saturdays for Passionflower, and I was never able to talk him into wearing a tux and white gloves for Valentine's Day deliveries,  but I consider myself lucky to have had someone like Chuck working for me for as long as I did.
I learned how ill he was shortly before I left for New York and knew he has just a few months left. Little did I know, it was less than a week. I was out of town and unable to go to his service. We sent some beautiful flowers. We are all a little shocked around here. He was the patriarch of his extensive clan, I am sure, surrounded at death, by many who loved him deeply.  Our hearts go out especially to his wife Eunice who was his faithful and loyal companion, accompanying him on most of his deliveries. He will be missed.   RIP Chuck.

photo of arrow tray courtesy John Derian  

The Face of Passionflower

Becky Tonkin, you are completely my hero.  You have a beautiful spirit and a zest for life, a supreme kindness, innate intelligence, not to mention happening to be one of the mosty stylish, creative and funniest people I have ever known.  I thank my lucky stars every day that you chased me down that Sunday afternoon in the Kiva parking lot.  And I know I speak for zillions of Passionflower customers (and some employees too) when I say, "Thanks so much for brightening so many of my days!".

My Loss

Someone stole my iphone from my bag in the backroom of the store which I'm pretty much so upset about I don't really want to talk about it except to say, "when you get an iphone buy insurance".  Which I did not.
Which means I don't really have any new photos to show you (since my iphone has been my camera as well) so I culled this from some old collages I made. I am not sure exactly what I'm going to do since I really, really don't want to fork out $650 for a new phone.  Little did I realize how dependent I have become on that little metal box.

Just Because

I thought you might enjoy this.....the shadow of joy......I like that idea.

Thoughts for the New Year & How We Like to Party at Passionflower

The palm reader said I have the mark of Mars on my left hand....wielding a weapon.....which kind of reminded me of this collage I was playing around with  ( above).  I fully intend to claim and reframe this imagery as though I am carrying a growing staff fighting for truth and beauty in the world.......

    

 We had our annual holiday party last night, the one we always have in January, where we visited he of the neon palm reading sign fame, across from the tattoo parlor on 7th & Lincoln......His name is Charles David and he was great, great, great!!!  His card features a red hand with a blue flame in the center of the palm and his house is crazy, cool with a little kind of creepy/spooky but not too creepy, New Orleans, slightly swampy energy.  He'sbig picture and high on symbolism and imagery.  Plus he laughs a lot.  I cannot say enough good things...Call him at 541-343-5297 should you like to look at your hands with him....In the meantime, I will tell you he told us we are a mostly creative and very independent bunch of folk here at Passionflower......though we each seem to have our own  particular shape and movement :).

Back from My Summer Wanderings

I am back from my little summer blog hiatus.  I've been traveling and it's too hard for me to work in the teeny tiny i phone format, so I'll simply say that I am glad to be blogging again and am bubbling over with all kinds of great things to share with you.  Not too mention that I think everything in my yard grew at least a foot in the two weeks I've been gone.

I wanted to start out by showing you this beatiful bouquet that Erin made for a lucky August bride.  I can't tell you how happy I was to see this picture as I was flicking through facebook in my New York hotel room. It's so great to be able to get away from the store, recharge my batteries, get inspired, and shop for goodies and know that all is in good hands back home.  I am sol lucky to have such an awesome staff.

Marcia MacDonald, I am Looking in Your Eyes

It's been a year and a day since Marcia passed away. I find myself sometimes driving by her old house but mostly looking at her photos and seeing the love in her eyes.