I reckon since it's the day after Valentine's Day and I got flowers yesterday, I'd talk about the long stemmed beauties. Naturally florists everywhere were simply swamped so it was really no big surprise to not receive my flowers until long after five but that was okay. I pretty much figured they were coming. This year I got red roses. Very pretty. Elegant and perfect. Every year my husband buys Valentine's Flowers for the women in his life. My daughter, our mothers and myself get them without fail. He's a busy guy and hey, it's pretty simple to pick up the phone and place an order.I, for one, believe Valentine's Day is rather overblown and overdone. Personally, I don't need a special day to know my husband loves me since he pretty much shows me every day. I'm also sceptical enough to know that this particular holiday merely lines the pockets of florists and greeting card companies. That's okay. Everybody has to make a living, don't they? Don't begrudge them at all. I simply don't think it's a big deal after 28 years of marriage.
But I digress. A couple of years ago right before Valentine's Day, Mr. Regina kind of sighed and said....damn, honey, roses are $60 a dozen this year and I'll be doing four dozen. Poor guy! I said...Why roses? Honey, I love Gerber Daisies. They are my favorites. It was as if a light bulb went off and he looked at me. "You don't mind not getting roses?" My answer was a definite HELL NO. Now, granted this year I DID get roses but personally, I think they are highly overrated. Nothing cheers me up faster than a beautiful arrangement of colorful Gerber Daisies. Being blunt here, I prefer lots of flowers over the traditional roses. Hydrangeas, tulips and irises are stunning, too. Lilies? They aren't just for funerals, are they? I love the way they smell.
About mid-January I decided that fighting winter blahs was pretty much futile without bringing a little color into the house so I've gotten into the habit of picking up a fresh bouquet every few weeks. I'm at the grocery store anyway and I pass by the floral department on a regular basis. Not long ago, I got a very pretty small arrangement for about five bucks, brought them home and put them in my living room. The mood instantly lightened and though spring wasn't here in reality, it kind of FELT like it!
In other news: I'm tickled to death to announce that Panther Moon (book one of a new shifter/menage series) has been contracted by Ellora's Cave. I'm expecting edits in a little over a week so hopefully, I'll have a release date and a lovely cover to show off soon. I'm also nearly finished with Lawman (book five of the High Plains Shifters series). YAY! Writing steadily and cranking out books as fast as my fingers will let me.
15 comments:
I'm with you...give me all the other beautiful flowers over the roses.
Congrats on the new contract. :)
You and I love the same flowers. Gerber Daisies are simple but very elegant. I got a card and something naughty from hubby and a big hug and a kiss from our son. I also got the coolest card from him, too. My birthday was the on the 10th, so Valentine's Day is pretty low key around our house. Birthdays are the big days.
Congrats on the new contract from EC. More money for me to spend.
I'm a tulip gal myself:) Roses are nice, but I'm happy with one rose or an entire pot of tulips!
Congratulations about the contract, Regina!
Flowers. OMG, I love them all. But I suppose my favorites are just bright little daisies and tulips. Tulips are so...delicate. Just something about them. And as far as roses, I love little pink sweetheart roses. Sigh.
I am there with you on the lilies not just being for funerals - lots of people have them at weddings these days too.
Congrats on the book.YAY!!
Lily x
PS - Hubby sounds like a keeper by the way :-)
Thanks Amber and yeah, I'm totally with you on the flowers. Roses are beautiful but half the time we don't know if they'll even open. I'm still trying to figure out why they are so expensive.
HAHAH. Harley we seem to agree about most things, don't we? Sounds like you had a great valentine's day. It was pretty low keyed here, too. Suits me just fine
Molly, I would take the pot of tulips over roses. Love love pink tulips!
Oh Carol, I was in the grocery store a few days ago and found the prettiest pots of mini roses (pink). I had to stand there and ooh and aaah over them.
Yeah Lily..I'm a big fan of lilies too. OMG there is nothing like walking into your house and smelling them. I just always have to remember to wipe off the yellow stuff but I love them.
Tulips are my favorite. I like daisies too.
Congrats on the contract.
Congrats on the contract Regina!!!
I like any kind of flowers there all pretty to me and most all of them smell great.
I used Gerber Daisies in my wedding bouquet because I thought they were some much prettier than roses. I am actually opposed to cut flowers because I can't stand to think of killing something so beautiful and then the pleasure is so fleeting. My husband learned that very early in our relationship. And, I have a total brown thumb so live plants aren't any better :(
Gerbera's are great - Hydrangeas are fantastic. I myself prefer oriental lilies such as Stargazers or Casablanca's they are so fragrant and last much longer. It is a very common misconception to believe florists are lining their pockets this holiday. They work tirelessly for weeks preparing for one day - they don't sit down to eat, they work 16 hour days - up to 20 the days leading up to the holiday. Yes rose prices go up - here is the reason why. In order to supply the world with enough roses for one day all but 15-25% of the roses grown at the farms are cut down in October/November to make sure there will be enough for Valentine's day. So during those months the growers are losing profit and florists are paying more for the product they can get, by Valentine's day they have enough flowers but the growers are trying to make up for their lost profit so they charge the florists more, therefore the florist has to charge more because she is paying more. A florist will charge based on geographic location, time to design, clean and prepare your flowers (labor), the actual cost of their product including vases, packaging, filler, and delivery. Granted a florist may have 100 or more deliveries that day - but that money doesn't go to lining their pocket it goes to support them through the summer. In May-August people grow their own flowers, we plant in our gardens and flower boxes, and that is when florists use any sort of profit because their business hurts in the summer. Floral Trivia - Red roses have no fragrance - most roses have had that scent breed out of them to improve longevity. Also every flower in the world is symbolic of something - i.e. Tulips mean perfect love, Iris's mean I promise, Orange Roses mean Desire, Purple roses fascination, pink roses beauty, Daisy mean Happiness,youth and innocence, white flowers typically represent purity, innocence and grief. Cut your stems on an angle and give them fresh warm water every day/other day an they will live longer. Support your local florist by ordering direct - wire services like FTD, Teleflora, 1-800 Flowers Charge service charged of 10-15 dollars, if you order online through one of these services that florist will never see that money. They will take their costs out of the price of your arrangement. Order local, order direct and get better flowers and more for your money. Hope it was a Happy Valentine's day.
I wish I could have flowers. The majority of them make me itch and my eyes stream. So, because I love them but can't have them, Hubby got a paper one made--very pretty--and it sits in my pen pot on my desk.
:o)
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