[madameshawshank]

A friend recently turned 60 ~ 60 flowers I gathered from the Flower Market at Flemington..a short drive from the centre of Sydney. The drought had broken and the rains fell...and fell ...and fell...driving in the early morning was difficult..

Is there anything quite like the bustle of a market in the early morn?

Walking those aisles ..wondering..shall I take all the same...60 exhuberant roses perhaps?

thought I'd take the Rainbow Option...6 bunches of 10.....irises (1 bunch purple and 1 bunch yellow), the palest of pink roses, white tulips, sunny gerberas, tiny carnations..

The present for me was to watch Gabriel arrange them...with such care and joy..

So, to all those reading this ~ I send you such a gathering of flowers from my home, Australia...with joy!

"The earth laughs in flowers."
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"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

[Dawna]

How lovely! I like flowers, but I find it difficult to breathe around certain scented lilies. For some reason, the supermarkets here all seem to put the flower displays by the checkouts, so I have to hold my breath during lily season. It's not an allergy, I don't think, but some sort of sensitivity.

There is a house near mine with a honeysuckle gate. Last night, we were out for a walk in the late evening, and you could smell the wonderful honeysuckle blossoms from well up the block...

[Debbie]

Oh Madame, thank you for bringing back a wonderful memory......

When I was a child my step father and I would go to Flemington markets on a friday morning (really really early) after yarding the sheep at Homebush abbatoir. We would buy bunches of flowers for my Mum and lovely fresh fruit for the rest of the family. Trays of luscious mangoes or peaches or cherries which you couldn't wait to get home and start eating.

We never had breakfast before going in to do the droving (up at 3 or 4 am to start - depending on how much work there was), so we would get back at 7 or 8 in the morning and be starving. A fresh piece of fruit was always the first thing I would eat while Mum arranged her flowers. Then we would all sit down to breakfast before I went to school.

As an adult in Sydney I always grew lots of flowers and foliage plants so could fill a vase easily. I was really missing that here in Paris, but have discovered the flower markets in the different arrondissements and take myself for a wander through every few days. There is nothing like the smell of fresh cut flowers and greenery. It is a feast for the nose and the eyes.
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.