The battle against fruit flies

Since it's now summertime and there's an abundance of fruit, and despite my fastidious efforts in keeping a clean kitchen, we have fruit flies.  They are intensely irritating and seem to be resilient against our apple cider vinegar traps, but progress has been made in the body count thus far.

My parents just left from visiting for the weekend.  I wish that I could take Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and just smash together the best parts of each city, and then my family wouldn't be so far away.  They're not even that far.  But six hours can feel like a pretty long drive sometimes.  Especially with a meowing cat, a mouth-breathing cat (has anyone else experienced how creepy it can look?  I know that they're just using a mouth gland to get a better sense of surroundings, but still!), and a husband who requires the car to stop at least once during the trip.  I'd rather just take it as a straight shot.

My first ever arch, above.  I'm a bit annoyed that it's taken this long to be given permission to make one alone.  Regardless, I think I like how it turned out.  It was a lesson in restraint.  Some of the mechanics with the arch itself prevented me from adding more flowers, but despite this setback, the clients were still thrilled.  So it's that interesting line dividing what we THINK is expected versus what will actually be expected from the client.  Luckily, things worked out really well this time.

Foxglove, just because.  

This orchid friend was a new one at Longwood.  My parents always just enjoy walking around and admiring their grounds, so off to the gardens we went.  It's fun just walking and talking.

Another test in patience is obtaining freelance work - and continuing to obtain freelance work.  I was booked solid in June, and am working for the shop on Friday to round it out.  I hadn't had a freelance job since about three months ago in early April.  It seemed like a big gap, and I'd like that to change.  Consistent freelance work makes me use different skills more frequently, and I love seeing how other people work.  It makes me think a lot.  For future freelance jobs, I need to remember to actually load music onto my iPhone, and bring headphones though.  On the majority of freelance jobs I've done, I've been given a bit of guidance and then left to my devices for the next 7 hours.  Sometimes in a room alone, which I actually really enjoy.  Then I just get to hang out with flowers.  But I might want James Taylor to join us next time.

New website soon?  I'm trying.