Warning! counting sheep may cause drowsiness. 
ā¬1,99 tulips back in Lidl. Decided on a pretty bunch to help cheer me up for on my desk 
Now I just wish that I had any arranging skill at all! Iām actually going to have a look on Craftsy as I signed up for the 12 months unlimited classes for $2 back in November - maybe they have some flower arranging ones! Iām also going to try to redo my cutting garden again this year, did it a couple of years ago and it was such a joy to have cut flowers inside up until the first frosts!
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If you put a pin through the stalk about an inch and a half from the flower head, they do not droop.
Oh really??? Do you mean leave the pin in or just poke a hole???
Leave the pin in until the stalks are nice and firm.
It is something to do with gas in the stalks.
And last weeks Lidl purchase was 3 trays of Primulas so did a new little bed by the front door that I can see from my desk for a little bit of colour to cheer me up!
I still need to get the rest of them in!
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Lidl is excellent for that sort of thing! Your flowers are lovely, @toryroo
I went a bit mad with buying seeds there for colourful flowers last week. Must sow them in somethingā¦
Off to find a pin!!!
Thanks Angela, I have been quite good and not bought much this year as I have a huge trug full of seeds from past years and they still seem to work. They have started doing echinacia this year though so did get a pack of those.
I was also THRILLED to find last week the very last left Agupanthus - I had previously nearly bought them online for like ā¬20 a plant or something where the bulb in Lidl was hardly anything (and buy 2 get one free so got 2 hot pink dahlias as my other 2). in Oz they are everywhere and when people separate them they leave the clumps out with a āfreeā sign but iāve hardly even seen them here and I love them!
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and of course itās Motherās day on Sunday (UK) so your suggestion @toryroo was very timely 
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Instant flower arranging 101. Take bunch of flowers and arrange it in your hand so the flowers are not all at same height and look nicely distributed, Cut bottom of stalks to same length. Plunk in a vase.
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No that sounds right up my alley! TBH looking at my tulips i think my vase is too big. I need to buy some more sizes I think!
Good tip! My mother spent hours doing flower arranging - it was what middle class women did back then as it was not acceptable to have a jobā¦ I am completely useless but love flowers so will give that approach a goā¦
Iāve never heard of the pin trick - must get some tulips and try! Does it work with other flowers as well?
I have tried that, but I am not really very good at this sort of thing, I believe my vase is a bit too big too!
Thank you darling. A very lovely thought 
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Our dog drove us slightly demented as a pup. The worst was wanting to chase cars, and bite the front wheels. Then one day he stopped. Such a happy feeling. Enjoy your two walks a day, and your jab!
Thank you Jane, all went well and, after seeing the queues in the streets in England I wasnāt expecting to be straight in within 5 minutes from an almost empty waiting room . And 2 of the people who were there were just spending the obligatory 15 minutes after the jabs before getting the all clear to leave.
2nd jab on the 14th of May.
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Tie a bit of string round the bunch to stop it flopping out of a too wide vase, or you can jam a few sprigs of green something from garden round the edge to fill it up - or both. If vase is too tall then put pebbles in the bottom.
(I am the worst flower arranger in the world, but I used to work in a florist. Normally never allowed to arrange anything, only follow a pattern, but when super busy I was drafted in to fake it)
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Hey, that was a really good tip. My tulips were nice and straight with no droop this morning. 
hope they stay like it.
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Iād better keep a lookout out for the voodoo dolls 
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Peach trees I re-planted after rescuing from sumac grove by our barn, are beginning to bud out. Old apple tree is beginning to bud as well. The apricot and plum trees I bought and planted last spring are showing new leaves and the apricot has a flower bud.
Iāve been planting lots of different trees ranging from tiny evergreens and bay laurel saplings to the fruit trees, hawthorns, and copper beech saplings. I planted a lot of them last spring; but so far not seeing a great success rate (Iām new at this), it seems, at keeping some of them alive. Itās still early spring so perhaps some of the others will leaf out soon too. So Iāll count these fruit trees (and the roses - but roses are so satisfying, some seem to grow/regenerate despite my cavalier planting practices) as successes and keep hoping some of the others will follow suit. Cheers.
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