Showing posts with label Behind the Scenes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Behind the Scenes. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Anna Banana & Apple Jack

We have adopted to little furry friends! Please welcome Anna Banana & Apple Jack to my lovely little flower shop Sweetpea's. We were initially told that Mrs. Banana was 7 years old... However, in fine print we read a weak later "1 year old" scribbled in by the vet. So much for getting two senior citizens... we got ourselves some kittens. Every morning we await their sweet little faces at the door, only to walk in on running sinks, broken vases, Orchids on the floor and one time Mrs. Banana even got stuck in between the 100 year old floor boards... don't ask how and don't worry we got her out and it will never happen again. Life is always an adventure at our quirky little petting zoo... i mean flower shop. Talk soon!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Steering The Ship

We have had a crazy busy week at the shop and I have been all alone. The other floral designer was on holiday and the owner was doing landscaping quotes so it was just little old me in the store. Let me tell you I certainly learned a lot about myself and about responsibility in general. I also was reminded of how sweet my boyfriend is for putting up with me being so mental and stressed out. I adore being busy but sometimes it is a lot for one little florist on her own. Thank goodness Molly (the other designer) is back she is amazing and things are finally under control again. I managed to get one picture of an arrangement in though! Hope you like it.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Flower Auction

One would think that I am crazy to wake up at 4:45am on my one day off to go buy flowers but I absolutely love it. Upon arrival we quickly run around to take a look at what is available and pick out what we want. Shortly after an announcement sounds to tell us that the auction has begun and we take our seats.

In front of us we have a little keypad that has two very important buttons; "A" and "B". In front of us we have two clocks which correspond with the buttons. When the auction begins there are two tracks which begin to pull carts of flowers through. Usually on side "A" there are cut flowers and on side "B" there are plants. In order to stay organized we keep a list of the cart numbers of the things we want and once our carts come up is when the fun begins. So lets say you would like to buy a bucket of Lisianthus which is on side "A". Clock "A" will start off at lets say a price of $5.00 a bunch and begin to go down at which point you have to hit button "A" in order to bid on the bucket. The trick is to get the lowest price possible however you do not want anyone else to get the bucket before you do. Sometimes you jump the gun by accident and pay way to much for something or sometimes you don't bid quick enough and aren't able to get something that you really needed. Once the cart has passed through the bidding area the tracks stop and the staff put stickers on the bucket which has your seat number on it so that you are able to find everything once the auction is over. No matter what I find the auction fascinating and it is such a rush. Not to mention seeing the thousands of flowers in is definitely a nice way to spend a morning.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Toronto Food Terminal

I had my very first trip to the Toronto Food Terminal today and what a cold trip it was. This photo was taken after a visit to the Food Terminal in late August when Mennonite farmers are selling the most exceptional dahlias. In the summer the terminal is packed to the brim with all of the local growers with little stations set up outside their 18 wheeler trucks. However, today there was not even a quarter of the amount of growers were there. Since we did a little over-buying for Christmas some of our little plant friends had to freeze in the back of the pick-up as we rushed back to the store. Fortunately none of them were frostbitten and everything turned out well considering the conditions. Oh again how I long for the summer!