In this storm I better remember to thank my son and husband. They have been shoveling snow endlessly so that we could function as a family and as a business. They have had to literally carve out spots for employees to park or dig out my vehicles so that I can deliver.

 

Yesterday I had one of my biggest deliveries of the year. I provide arrangements for CADCA which is our nation's anti-drug campaign. This event is usually several thousand people strong so the flower order is huge. I love working with CADCA and their annual forum, the work they do is so important. At the annual forum, coalitions  all across our nation gather to discuss  and share tactics on what is working in their communities to fight drugs.  Evan made a two story shelf system in the mini van because the Holly Chapple flowers cargo van simply would not have been able to get to the event, the cargo vans are horrid in the snow.

 

 

Part of the flower delivery was to go yesterday and the other part was to arrive tomorrow. With the next storm threatening we delivered the flowers early. Staying ahead of these storms has been crucial. We stored the flowers in a huge walk in cooler at the Gaylord Hotel.

 

There were a total of 70 red carnation balls and 70 yellow carnations with green button mums. The red, yellow, and green were the colors of the event this year.

 

Thank goodness we did take the flowers early because we woke up to yet more snow.

 

This is the view from our porch. The little red and white house out in the blizzard is Evan's poor hen house. Yesterday it almost fell over because of the weight of the snow, the kids spent hours yesterday digging the house out of the snow. It looks like they will be repeating that chore again this week.

In spite of all of this snow things still bloom. I took the time last weekend after my wedding to play with some of the leftovers. I used a new flower at the wedding called arbornotium I had never used this unique blossoms before, it is more of a pod or similar to a pine cone.

 

During the week the pod actually bloomed and that was so much fun to see.

 

This was one of the coolest blooming's I have ever seen.  The fluffy burst that actually sprung from the pod were seeds. Somehow in the midst of this storm it is wonderful to see seeds and know that things are still blooming and that they will continue to do so.  This storm has cost me many of my favorite bushes, trees, and shrubs. My favorite Camellia is broken and buried under the snow. I have used that bush more times than I can count. I loved to finish or complete my bridal bouquets with a collar of her dark green leaves. There will be losses, but there will be restoration. That is how it works.