Courses for Horses

August is nearly at a close and over the last few days I have noticed Autumn slowly start to unravel, if you look closely the oak leaves are starting to curl and pass their best, the mornings are chilly and I saw the tiny white beginnings of snow berries on a hedge at Blair Atholl.
It has been quite a month, a month full of flowers, friends and feet finding. My flowers have decorated the Edinburgh Military Tattoo which I was lucky enough to be invited to see as well on a warm clear night. It was magical and filled me with nostalgia as I remembered sitting in the stands as a child with my siblings wearing bin bags to keep dry whilst the pipes and drums kept us warm.
To Salisbury we went to do flowers for the loveliest bride in a beautiful place working with a wonderful team of caterers and organisers who fed us well and gave me tips and advice and made me laugh with stories of previous events. We covered the rafters and tables in the old barn with rich Wiltshire greenery and the leading lady of the weekend was a beautiful orange rose from Columbia.
The last week took me North of Edinburgh to Blair Atholl to do the flowers for the International Horse Trials there. It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I left my workshop with my tent and wellies, not knowing what to expect nor knowing what was expected of me. All my worries evaporated within seconds as I was introduced to the team I would be working with and the course I would be ' decorating'.
Blair Castle sits large, white and regal in the middle of it's beautiful estate, the land is wild yet well cared for and across this ground is where riders and steeds from across the world as well as the country test their skill, courage and fitness tackling the three elements of an international 3 day event- dressage, cross country and show jumping.
My small contribution to this incredible event was to decorate the fences for both the cross country and show jumping with silk and real flowers and Blair Atholl greenery.
  The cross country course is a work of art ..huge looming fences, deep ditches, steep slopes and thick aintree style hedges.. The people who built it are heroes. Peter Wilson and his sons Ben and Chris, Tony Simmonds and Harry Williams. They are five of the kindest, most inspiring and hard working people I have ever been lucky enough to meet. Last week was one of the happiest weeks of my year and it was mainly down to them so for that I am truly grateful.
 So now I head into my favourite season listening to this with a spring in my step, a head full of ideas, the belief that anything is possible and feeling that a big part of the puzzle has been found.
Till next time...