on fresh....

It was just a few months back when I blogged about the Winter blues. In the blog I referred to the time when the market, or florists, would have Spring blooms for sale, and I would be the first one to buy them up! Well guess what my friends, the SPRING BLOOMS HAVE SPRUNG! Yes, they are available for purchase. Tulips, daffodils, iris’s oh my! I try to have fresh flowers in my home all of the time. I really enjoy them, and like the name says, they seem to add a bit of “freshness” to my home. I have been purchasing the flowers of this season over the past few weeks, and in my opinion, they are so beautiful. Much like a burning candle, fresh flowers add a sense of warm, and homey-ness to a home. I believe it says “someone lives here, and they care about their space”.  My all time favorite Spring flowers are tulips. I just love, love, love them! I love the variety of colors, and species. While I don’t live in Holland, or Holland, Michigan for that matter, I have found that my local grocer carries a great variety of tulips, at a reasonable price. I think it is great that these days, fresh flowers are affordable. I can recall a time in my past, when flowers were a luxury, and rarely did people have flowers in their homes, unless it was a very special occasion. While I do still think fresh flowers can be a bit of a luxury, I also think that life is a special occasion, and life needs to be celebrated every day! Besides the colors, what I love about a tulip, is that they continue to grow in water, even after they have been cut from the bulb. This is something my mom taught me when I was about eleven. Tulips are the only fresh flower, or cut flower, that will continue to grow in water. One of my favorite things to do, is to arrange tulips in a favorite vase. I typically cut the stems very short to start, and as the days go on, the stems grow and grow and grow. It truly is amazing to me, and enjoy watching the growth process! It is also very important to select the perfect vase, and create an interesting arrangement with fresh flowers. I rarely, ok never, take flowers from a sleeve, and directly insert them into a vase. For me, a lot of tweeking must take place; trimming, arranging, and placing. In other words, much life everything else, I treat my fresh flower with tender loving care!

Today’s activity: go fresh or go home!

Today I encourage to take a few bucks and treat yourself to fresh flowers. You may feel that you don’t deserve fresh flowers, or the old saying…”why should I buy them, they are just going to die in a few days”. I am here to tell you, the amount of joy and happiness that you will receive from having the flowers in your home is priceless!!!  I will guarantee you that every time you look at the flowers you will smile, and you will take pride in the arrangement and placement of the flowers. Perhaps you buy a bunch of tulips, and if you’ve never noticed before, watch them grow over the course of a week. Perhaps you buy a variety bunch, and place them on your bedside table. This way, the flowers are the first things you see in the morning, and the last things you see at night. The flowers may remind you of the color and joys of life. The little things in nature, that add so much enlightenment and cheer to our worlds. If you are anything like me, once you have fresh flowers in your home, you will become addicted, and you will soon be budgeting those flowers into your daily life!